Catherine O.

“Are we ready to redesign work for the age of AI?” That was the question at the centre of the keynote I had the privilege of delivering last night at the CIPD Southern Region event in Cork, hosted in collaboration with MTU. More than 100 HR leaders in the room. And judging by the level of discussion, curiosity and challenge — it’s clear that HR leaders are thinking deeply about what this next wave of AI means for our organisations, our people, and our profession. At Salesforce we talk a lot about building the Lean Agentic Enterprise — where humans and AI agents work together to deliver work faster, smarter and with greater impact. But the real transformation isn’t about technology. It’s about redesigning work itself. One framework that really resonated with the audience was Salesforce’s 4 R’s approach to building the agentic workforce: 🔹 Redesign – rethinking workflows so humans focus on judgement, creativity and strategic work while agents handle routine tasks 🔹 Reskill – equipping our workforce (and ourselves!) with the skills needed to collaborate with AI 🔹 Redeploy – unlocking agility by moving talent into higher-value work as automation evolves 🔹 Rebalance – continuously optimising the partnership between humans and intelligent agents This transformation places HR right at the centre. As I shared in the closing of the keynote: “The organisations that win in the next decade will not simply implement AI. They will reimagine work. And HR will be the architects of that future.” The evening was made even richer by a fantastic panel discussion with Clodagh Hogan and Patrick Shields , expertly hosted by Caroline H.. The conversation with the audience was so engaging that we stayed well beyond the scheduled finish time continuing to answer questions. I left with new insights, fresh perspectives and some great new connections. A huge thank you to CIPD Southern Region and Munster Technological University for bringing together such an engaged HR community. The future of work is not humans versus AI. It’s humans and AI working together, each bringing their unique strengths. And HR leaders have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to help design that future. Curious to hear from others in this community: Where are you seeing the biggest opportunity right now — redesigning work, reskilling talent, or governing AI? #CIPD #FutureofWork #Salesforce #HR #AItransformation

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📣 📣 Irish Gender Pay Gap Reporting Changes 📣 📣 Ireland have the The Gender Pay Gap Information Act 2021 in which when it came in 2022 employers of 250 or more employees had to annually report the employee pay gap report. In 2024 the employee count was reduced to 150. Now, in 2025 employers of 50 or more employees will have to now report their pay gap data. This has been brough in through S.I. No. 212/2025 - Employment Equality Act 1998 (Section 20A) (Gender Pay Gap Information) (Amendment) Regulations 2025. https://lnkd.in/eMPAS8vG How to report: https://lnkd.in/eWvvkJWg

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Thrilled to now be partnering with one of the leading Energy providers on the island or Ireland, allowing Energia's 1,100 employees to put their 2 volunteering days per annum to good use with amazing local causes. ⏩ Within 8 weeks of deciding to move forward with Rosterfy, over 80% of staff had already been onboarded and applying for opportunities. 📈 “Now everyone can see what’s going on and what’s available. We’re starting to see lots of new interactions and new volunteers coming forward. It’s something people were asking for.” ⚖️ “Previously we were trying to count everything manually. Now it’s much more accurate and professional. Rosterfy is saving us time and giving us much more confidence.” Really exciting to see Corporate Companies embracing volunteering for the benefit of the local communities that they serve #TechforGood #CorporateVolunteering #SocialImpact

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A great article in the Journal today discusses remote working and highlights the significant value that Ireland can attract in the remote-first business landscape. We have a vast array of talent that is currently being impacted by the return-to-office push. Emer Currie notes that the new Right to Remote Work Bill will not improve access to remote work. For those interested, you can read the article here: https://lnkd.in/dy6vjTJ7.

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The latest CSO figures show something interesting: job vacancies continue to cool slightly, but employment levels remain high. It’s a strange mix — fewer advertised roles, but very steady demand for talent inside organisations. From what I’m seeing, this creates a very practical challenge for Irish employers. Teams are busy, budgets are tight, and there’s little room for mis-hiring. So hiring processes are slowing down, not because people aren’t recruiting, but because they’re being more cautious. The risk is that slow decisions can lead to losing strong candidates who are still moving quickly. A balanced approach seems to work best in this climate: keep the bar high, but shorten the steps that don’t add value. You don’t need more interviews. You need clearer ones. The market may be cooling, but the cost of a bad hire hasn’t. #IrelandBusiness #LabourMarket #MyTwoCentsByPierre

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Better communication. Quicker service. Happier customers. Vines Group, a BMW and MINI retailer in the South East, turned to Keyloop Message to streamline service interactions, cutting call volumes and improving team coordination. Monique Limerick shares how it’s transformed the customer journey. Watch the story: https://ow.ly/qtZo30sNjr0 #Keyloop #AutomotiveRetail #CustomerEngagement #DigitalTools #BMW #MINI #ServiceEfficiency

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The Irish HR & Payroll regulatory landscape is evolving fast and 2026 is shaping up to be a pivotal year. With Auto-Enrolment already underway and Pay Transparency legislation just around the corner, staying ahead of the curve is more important than ever for Irish businesses. To help bring clarity to the complexity, we’ve published the latest edition of Tax Facts, a concise, practical guide packed with up-to-date insights on what employers need to know. Feel free to download a copy or bookmark it for future reference. It’s a goldmine of information.

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“𝐁𝐞 𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬, 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐟𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬”. Yesterday I had the privilege of joining a forum theatre session. The session explored a workplace meeting where subtle (and not so subtle) micro aggression, passive aggressive remarks and uncomfortable dynamics were being played out. The audience was invited to observe, reflect and then step in and identify what felt inappropriate and suggest new ways the characters could shift the conversation towards more positive and inclusive outcome. One audience member summed up perfectly: 𝑩𝒆 𝒄𝒖𝒓𝒊𝒐𝒖𝒔, 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒇𝒖𝒓𝒊𝒐𝒖𝒔. That simple phrase really struck a chord. When we find ourselves triggered, our heart racing, breath shortening, tensions rising-it’s a reminder that our amygdala doing its job. It’s protecting us. But in those moments, we have a choice. We can react or we can respond. 𝐂𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐬 𝐮𝐩 𝐬𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐮𝐞. ❓What helps you to stay curious when emotions were run high?

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Today’s announcement from Enterprise Ireland on new market research grants to help companies respond to tariff challenges is a very welcome development. As a senior business researcher, my work is directly aligned with this need - providing evidence-based insights on market viability, competitor intelligence, tariff impacts, and alternative opportunities. This research plays an important role in supporting businesses as they navigate uncertainty and adapt their strategies in the face of new trade realities. I am also included on Enterprise Ireland’s list of available market researchers, which I hope will make it easier for companies to connect with the right expertise as they take up this valuable support. #enterpriseireland #marketresearch #secondaryresearch #irishbusiness #tradedevelopment #exportsupport #competitoranalysis #businessgrowth #tariffs

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New case study 📣: Bord Bia - The Irish Food Board + Bloomfire How Bord Bia is scaling global insights with THE SOURCE (their centralized AI knowledge hub powered by Bloomfire): • Connect insights across 15 international offices • Save time + reduce duplicated research • Make expertise easy to find and reuse The impact speaks for itself: ✅ Faster access to market intelligence ✅ Less duplication, more alignment ✅ Critical expertise always within reach #CustomerStory #KnowledgeManagement #enterpriseintelligence

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From November 2025, more than 6,000 Irish employers must publish gender pay gap data, making it accessible to employees, investors, and the wider public. For HR leaders, this is a chance to demonstrate transparency and build trust through clear, timely communication. Organisations that prepare early by aligning analytics, governance, and messaging are better positioned to respond confidently and proactively. Access PeopleXD Evo supports Irish employers with tools to: ✓ Automate pay gap calculations and reporting ✓ Benchmark pay equity in real time ✓ Develop clear, compliant messaging that supports employer reputation 📘 Read our Gender Pay Gap FAQ: #PayTransparency #GenderEquity #IrishHR #PeopleStrategy

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Interesting analysis on employers in Ireland implementing 'quiet redundancies' to scale back workforces in the face of uncertainty, tariffs and AI. #Redundancy

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Building resilience and managing workload are essential skills in today’s fast-paced working environment. Recently, our employees in our Dublin office took part in a resilience and workload management workshop led by Fitvision The session focused on practical tools to help employees better understand stress, manage energy levels and build habits that support long-term wellbeing at work. It was a valuable opportunity to pause, reflect and take away techniques that can be applied both professionally and personally. Thank you to FitVision for an engaging and insightful session, and to everyone who took part.  #Workhuman #EmployeeWellbeing #ResilienceAtWork #WorkplaceWellbeing #LifeAtWorkhuman #ForceForGood

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There’s a lot of quiet change happening around shift-based working in Ireland. As more organisations rethink flexibility and fairness, the question of how to recognise shift or weekend work is becoming part of broader pay and people discussions. Different sectors seem to be taking different paths — some through allowances, others through time-off models or flexibility frameworks. It’s an evolving space as Reward teams balance fairness, competitiveness, and new ways of working. Curious how other organisations are approaching this — are shift allowances or premiums being revisited as part of broader reward design? #Reward #HR #Ireland #Compensation #FutureOfWork #PeopleStrategy#shiftallowances#shiftpay

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PROGRAMMATIC CASE STUDY | Magners Digital Out of Home works best when it reacts like people do!🤝 Magners Irish Cider's 'That's Magnertism' campaign tapped into real-time weather moments last summer using Programmatic Out of Home (PrOOH) to deliver timely and relevant exposure. From data-led panel selection to bold large-format digital billboards across the UK, the campaign showed how PrOOH can reach the right audience, in the right place, at the right time. How'd they do it? • Leveraged retail data to identify cider lovers. • Built brand fame on our large formats across key UK cities. • Utilised an always-on weather trigger for when the sun showed up. The outcome? Swipe through the case study below. Want to learn more about programmatic Out of Home?👇 https://okt.to/IOs1ir Numodo | Magners Irish Cider | Broadsign | The Trade Desk | Republic of Media | #DOOH | #ProgrammaticOOH | #PrOOH

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Virgin Media Ireland is using AI and PI to resolve issues before customers even realize there is a problem. This is their story: https://celon.is/4bJyJ0k

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Customer service is key to surviving agency model transition, finds expert panel Monique Limerick said: "Pricing is no longer a differentiator, so customer experience matters." https://lnkd.in/ek4NeKmt

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