Google and Bank of Ireland have launched a partnership that will give up to 10,000 Irish small- and medium-size enterprises free access to the Google AI Professional Certificate. The move follows research that puts the potential contribution of artificial intelligence at €45 billion to Ireland’s GDP over the next ten years.
Scale of the opportunity
The study, commissioned by Google, estimates an 8% lift in national output, driven by productivity gains across roughly two-thirds of the workforce. Currently, only 6% of Irish SMEs say AI is central to their operations, a share that is expected to rise to 15% within three years.
Despite the upside, adoption remains limited. While 80% of SME owners view AI as a positive development, just 37% report using it regularly in their day-to-day activities. More than half of respondents say they are falling behind competitors.
Barriers and competitive pressure
Stolberg, Google’s Vice President of Customer Solutions for the UK and Ireland, said the main obstacles are skills gaps, cost concerns and the fear of making mistakes. Oftentimes it is not nervousness around the tech itself, it is the nervousness of making a mistake or feeling that you don’t have the right skills.
Ireland matches the EU average for AI uptake but trails the Northern European leaders such as Denmark, Finland and Belgium. The risk, according to Stolberg, is that Irish SMEs will lag behind their nearest peers rather than the United States or Asian economies.
In practice, the partnership offers a seven-module programme built on Google’s AI Essentials course. Learners progress from basic concepts to an AI-first mindset, and receive 90 days of free access to Google AI Pro. Scholarships are distributed through the Think Business SME AI Academy Hub.
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McNally Family Farm in North Dublin illustrates one use case. The farm feeds historic operational records, supply-chain variables and weather data into Gemini and asks plain-English questions, receiving actionable insights without hiring a data analyst.
OpenHive, an Irish conservation group protecting the native black honey bee, faced a bottleneck in digitising handwritten field notes. By photographing the notes and running them through Gemini, the organization turned them into searchable records, freeing volunteers to focus on bee health.
Brands including BKultured and IPERA Skincare are using Gemini for prototyping and market research, work they would previously have outsourced to agencies.
Stolberg advises owners to start small. She says, “You certainly don’t need to become an AI expert to benefit from it.” She suggests starting by committing just one or two hours a week to hands-on learning, allowing oneself the space to get more familiar, learn one new thing, and let the curiosity build from there.
Participants receive a structured curriculum that expands on the core AI Essentials material, guiding them from basic concepts toward practical implementation.
Podcast Launch Highlights AI Adoption Challenges
Episode 344 of The ThinkBusiness Podcast featured Google’s Karen Stolberg to mark the partnership’s launch. Stolberg, Google’s Vice President for the UK and Ireland, joined the show to discuss the new initiative.
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