More than 20% of businesses in Ireland used AI in 2025

Kenneth Fox

Over 20 per cent of enterprises in Ireland used Artificial Intelligence (AI), compared with over 15 per cent in 2024, according to the Central Statistics Office (CSO).

The most common types of AI used across all types of enterprises in 2025 were for data mining (11 per cent) and natural language generation (9 per cent).

When it comes to large enterprises, 58 per cent used AI, with 35 per cent using AI for data mining, while 29 per cent used it for automating workflows or assisting in decision making. More than 17 per cent of small enterprises used AI.

Almost six in ten (59 per cent) large enterprises had a fixed broadband speed of at least 500 Mbps, compared with 35 per cent of small enterprises.

More than one-quarter (27 per cent) of enterprises used Information & Communication Technology (ICT) systems or solutions to reduce energy consumption, with 66 per cent of large enterprises doing so compared with 22 per cent of small enterprises.

More than one in three (35 per cent) small enterprises (10 to 49 people employed) had internet sales, compared with 50 per cent of medium enterprises (50 to 249 people employed), and 54 per cent of large enterprises (250 or more people employed).

In 2025, more than a quarter (28 per cent) of enterprises performed data analytics using transaction records, while 23 per cent performed data analytics using customer information.

Almost two-thirds (64 per cent) of enterprises used cloud-based email in 2025, compared with 52 per cent in 2023.

Commenting on the release, Devin Zibulsky, statistician in the Sustainability and Circular Economy Division, said: "The Information Society Statistics - Enterprises (ISSE) 2025 results show the extent of digitalisation among Irish businesses.

"By surveying enterprises about a range of areas, including internet access, e-commerce, data analytics, cloud computing, and AI, the ISSE release gives a broad picture of how ICT is used in business practices.

Topics and items covered by the survey can change from year-to-year to reflect the development and emergence of new technologies and their role in business.

"This means new modules may be introduced each year, and modules that were not included may be reintroduced in future years."

There was a wide range of fixed broadband speeds in Ireland in 2025, with 22 per cent of enterprises having less than 100 Mbps, 26 per cent having between 100 and 500 Mbps, and 38 per cent having broadband faster than 500 Mbps.

In 2025, 67 per cent of enterprises had information about goods, services, or prices on their website, while 29 per cent of enterprises had online ordering, reservation, or booking, and 22 per cent had job advertisements or applications on their website.

More than a quarter (27 per cent) of enterprises used ICT systems or solutions to reduce energy consumption, while 18 per cent used ICT systems or solutions to reduce materials used or to enhance the use of recycled materials.

Enterprises use data analytics in various ways to support and enhance business processes.

In 2025, 35 per cent of enterprises used Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software, 28 per cent used Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software, while 27 per cent used Business Intelligence (BI) software.

The most common types of data used for analytics in 2025 were customer transaction records and customer information.

Some 28 per cent of enterprises used customer transaction records, compared with 23 per cent in 2023, while 23 per cent of enterprises used customer information such as location, preferences, or reviews, which was up from 20 per cent in 2023.