Irish manufacturing operations eye-up increased profits from AI, but Ireland lags EMEA counterparts on AI adoption and investment – say Irish and EMEA manufacturing operations executives surveyed by PwC

Manufacturing companies in Ireland and across EMEA strongly believe in AI’s potential to increase profitability, but Irish operations, often part of global organisations, lag their EMEA counterparts’ expectations. Nearly three-quarters (73%) of Irish manufacturing operations expect AI to increase profitability by 2030 (EMEA: 84%). Of this, over a quarter (26%) expect AI to increase profit margins by at least 6% by 2030 (EMEA: 40%).

This is according to a new report by PwC ‘AI in Operations – Revolutionising the manufacturing industry’ published in Ireland today. The research aims to explore how far manufacturing companies have progressed with AI adoption, identify challenges and the benefits to be expected.   The study includes respondents from over 400 manufacturing operations’ executives in over 30 countries in Europe, Middle East and Africa, including Ireland. In Ireland, 43% of respondents are pharma/life science and med-tech multinational operations with the balance being retail & consumer and industrial products.

Irish manufacturing firms lag EMEA counterparts on realising financial benefits from AI

The survey reveals that just 4% of Irish and EMEA manufacturing companies have already realised significant financial benefits and return on investment from AI, reflecting a relatively low level of AI maturity.  A further 11% report that they have received measurable financial benefits (EMEA: 13%). However, Irish firms lag their EMEA counterparts: Over a quarter of Irish survey respondents (29%) reported no business benefits from AI (EMEA: 14%).

Where benefits were realised, manufacturers across EMEA reported their top areas of benefit from AI in operations as (1) reduced operational costs including energy, buildings and administration (Ireland: 60%; EMEA: 44%); (2) improved decision-making (Ireland: 53%; EMEA: 43%); (3) improved operational productivity (Ireland: 50%; EMEA: 40%), (4) reduced personnel costs (Ireland: 43%; EMEA: 41%) .   

Irish manufacturing firms are investing less in AI than their EMEA counterparts 

The survey suggests that Irish manufacturing operations are investing less in AI initiatives compared to their EMEA counterparts. Scaling AI requires moving beyond experimentation and proof of concept and requires investment.  As companies move beyond a focus on piloting, they can expect to invest more substantially to scale.  In the last five years, 32% of Irish manufacturing operations invested less than €1 million in AI related initiatives (EMEA: 29%). 15% invested in excess of €6 million compared to 41% for their EMEA counterparts.

Comprehensive AI adoption only reported by a small minority but the majority are piloting and in the process of scaling AI – Irish manufacturing firms looking to catch up with EMEA peers

In Ireland and EMEA, progress is slow on AI implementation with Irish manufacturing firms being less advanced than their EMEA peers in terms of fully integrating AI across their businesses.   

Just 3% of Irish manufacturing companies have fully integrated AI into their operations compared to 8% for EMEA companies.  At the same time there is a lot of AI innovation and piloting going on with many Irish firms clearly looking to catch up:  70% of Irish respondents are piloting and scaling up their AI projects compared to 55% for EMEA counterparts.  We can therefore expect a surge in widespread AI implementation in Irish manufacturing in the years to come.

Gary Hanniffy, Director – Manufacturing, PwC Ireland, said: “Like many businesses, the manufacturing industry is facing significant uncertainty stemming from geopolitical disruption, economic fragmentation, supply chain volatility, tightening regulation, climate change, technology transformation and increasing costs. AI offers a real opportunity for business model reinvention for manufacturing operations and our study shows that the potential benefits from AI will justify the effort.  The survey suggests that manufacturing operations can become more competitive as a result of full scale AI adoption. 

“The survey highlights that a majority of Irish manufacturing operations, consisting largely of pharma, life sciences and med-tech multinational companies, are piloting AI initiatives rather than having moved to scaling and integrating the technology right across their business operations while EMEA companies are more advanced in their implementation journey.  At the same time, they do have high expectations for realising the benefits from AI in terms of profitability and other financial benefits.  

“Getting to the next level requires investment and results here are mixed, with some companies planning significant investment levels, others are not yet ready to commit.  In Ireland, in particular, more investment in AI is also needed to keep up with EMEA peers.”  

Adopting AI does not come without its challenges 

The survey highlights a number of key challenges for successful AI  implementation.  These include:  data quality;  IT & data security;  reliability of AI-generated content and data availability.

Firms further along the AI journey tend to have a more co-ordinated, centralised governance approach

Strong organisational structures and processes are essential for steering and delivering a successful AI strategy and to enable safe and secure outcomes.  The survey highlights that those manufacturing organisations who have integrated and scaled up their AI projects are using an organisational governance model that involves a central AI team (Ireland: 100%; EMEA: 71%).  On the other hand, the majority of those organisations who have just started piloting AI lack coordinated governance and are using non centralised organisational structures (Ireland: 76%; EMEA: 58%). This finding is in line with PwC’s earlier 2025 GenAI Business Leaders survey indicating that more work needs to be done on AI trust and governance such as building appropriate governance structures.   

Áine Brassill, Operations Transformation Partner, PwC Ireland, concluded:  

“While the initial focus regarding AI implementation is on operational and productivity improvements, the real interest lies in the potential to disrupt and fundamentally reinvent existing business models.  AI Agents will make the ability for AI systems to autonomously perform tasks a reality, enabling decision making and delivering real competitive differentiation.”  

“However, building trust in AI will be critical for customers, regulators and employees.  Companies need to be confident in the integrity of solutions that will drive safe and secure AI outcomes.  Taking a responsible approach, including upskilling employees, will be critical to getting the most from AI alongside confirming future compliance with regulators and the EU AI Act.” 

About the survey

The new report by PwC ‘AI in Operations – Revolutionising the manufacturing industry’ is published in Ireland today.  The research aims to explore how far manufacturing companies  have progressed with AI adoption, identify challenges and the benefits to be expected.   The study includes respondents from over 400 manufacturing operations’ executives in over 30 countries in Europe, Middle East and Africa, including Ireland.  In Ireland, 43% of respondents are pharma/life science and med-tech multinational operations  with the balance being retail & consumer and industrial products.  EMEA respondents are a balanced proportion from the automotive, aerospace, retail and consumer goods, industrial products, pharma, life sciences and med-tech and transport & logistics sectors.