The results from our survey suggest that organisations are less concerned about having access to the right AI tools and more concerned that they may lack the skills to use those tools responsibly and productively. In this, NI leaders appear to demonstrate a greater understanding of what they need to bridge the AI gap than many of the respondents in our international Future @ Work 2026 report. Whilst NI HR leaders recognise that investment in people - and not just technology – is critical, the evidence suggests this is still not adequately reflected in spending choices.

The key themes are listed below.

The human gap is the real bottleneck

Whilst half of those who took part in our survey flagged a shortage of AI literacy as the single biggest readiness gap, only a third saw workforce training and reskilling as a priority. A significant number of respondents (40%) said they felt leaders lacked the knowledge or vision to turn AI ambitions into reality, suggesting that AI literacy is a challenge which needs to be addressed at all levels in the workforce. Around 42.4% felt that proving a return on investment remained the biggest barrier to successful implementation of AI within the organisation.

Despite recognising this skills gap, investment priorities seem to remain weighted towards technology (43%) instead of workforce development (25%). Whilst our survey suggests there is a need for NI leaders to consider refocusing their investment choices, NI still shows less bias than wider the global sample, where 74% of respondents felt investment was directed towards technology over people. It seems NI may have spotted the real bottleneck more clearly, even if it hasn’t taken the necessary steps to address it yet.

Entry level roles are shrinking, and demographics make that dangerous

22.7% of NI HR leaders believe entry level roles will face disruption as a consequence of AI deployment. Whilst reducing staffing intake at lower grades might reduce costs in the short term, those businesses which do so could face skills shortages later on. NI, like many developed western economies, has had a falling birthrate for some time, and by 2036, the population will be older and more dependent. Whilst AI can already do some of the work traditionally done by junior workers, businesses that stop recruiting into junior roles could well find themselves struggling to find senior staff with the experience and judgement AI may lack in ten years’ time.

The foundations need work too

Successful deployment of AI processes relies upon solid integration with existing databases and IT systems. Half of our respondents saw a need to improve data quality and technology infrastructure to take proper advantage of AI, and felt that legacy systems presented real challenges which can be expensive and time-consuming to resolve.

Likewise, on the compliance side, 37.9% of survey respondents felt concerned about data privacy and security, and 34.8% about regulatory and compliance uncertainty. NI's unique position at the interface of UK and EU regulatory frameworks creates challenges as well as opportunities and again, recruiting new staff or upskilling existing staff to address these structural challenges is likely to be important.

Everyone can see the efficiencies AI can bring, but few are able to identify new business opportunities

Interestingly, the overwhelming majority of respondents (86.4%) reported efficiency and productivity as AI's top benefit (more than double the 41% figure in our wider global Future of Work survey) but only 6.1% saw AI as a route to unlocking new revenue streams. It seems NI businesses know AI can save time, but they are finding it harder to see how it might reshape what they do and the products and services they can offer.