One billion people in the global workforce will have to be retrained and upskilled by the end of the decade, due to the emergence of Artificial Intelligence (AI), according to a leading global strategist.
Speaking at the American Chamber of Commerce Ireland (AmCham) 2023 Global Business Conference in Croke Park, Haim Israel, Head of Global Thematic Research at BofA (Bank of America) Global Research, highlighted the impact that this technology can have on society and on business and the importance of utilising this technology, saying we are “on the edge of a revolution.”
“Every day we generate 2.5 quintillion bytes of data, we are generating knowledge – a quintillion is a million trillion that we are generating every day,” he said. “This number is multiplying itself every 2 years, next year it will be 4 quintillion, 6.5 the year after that.” However, while we are generating “massive amounts of knowledge” we are using only 1 percent of this.
Israel said: “These technologies are going to change everything…it democratises data.”
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“Those 2.5 Quintilian bytes of data that will soon be four Quintilian everybody can access from here onwards – you don’t need special skills you don’t need special education you don’t need to be a data scientist from here onwards, we can start using AI now today.”
In a world where resources such as key minerals for producing electric vehicles are becoming scarce, Israel highlighted the importance of business utilising new technologies to solve these challenges. However, he also said that we have continually underestimated the speed at which new technology will be needed and adapted and the companies must work faster in order to be part of this revolution.
“The current number of mobile phones we have today on the planet was expected to be here in 100 years, we missed mobile technology by 100 years because we thought in linear terms. Cloud computing, 89 years, processing power, 81 years, renewable energy 75 years.”
AmCham was honoured to be joined at its 2023 Global Business Conference by keynote speakers including Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Simon Coveney TD, and Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage Darragh O’Brien TD. Conference attendees also heard from US Ambassador to Ireland, Claire Cronin and Irish Ambassador to the US, Geraldine Byrne Nason, as well as top business leaders from across a range of sectors speaking at the Conference.
Speaking at the Conference, minister Coveney said: “To everybody in this room, can I say that you have my absolute commitment in Government, to ensure that we do focus on that enterprise strategy, to protect the interests and the risks that many US companies have made by coming to Ireland and growing an international business here.”
Minister Coveney highlighted the “extraordinary relationship” between the United States and Ireland from a business and trade and political perspective. He said: “We see trade across the Atlantic between our two countries at the highest level it’s ever been in terms of goods and services moving in both directions.”
There are now more than 950 US multinationals in Ireland employing 209,000 people and spending €31 billion on the economy each year. There are also 650 Irish companies with operations in the US employing more than 100,000 people across all 50 states.
Minister Coveney said: “This relationship is one that is absolutely invaluable from an Irish economy perspective but also it provides the revenue streams for Ireland to be able to respond to the multiple crises that we’ve had to respond to in recent years in terms of domestic pressures and international pressures.”
Minister O’Brien told business leaders at the Conference that the Government is “catching up” and “getting to grips with” home building, but that “capacity” to build them was still an issue.
He said that housing is the “number one priority for this Government” and that from talking to colleagues across Europe and recently in the US it is not something that is unique to Ireland. “The pressures that we feel in this country around housing, housing supply, growth in population, housing cost, affordability in particular, planning issues, that aren’t just unique to this country.”
Minister O’Brien told the audience that he does “not underestimate the scale” of the challenge but said that he does know we are making progress and are on the right path.
The 2023 Global Business Conference was sponsored by Bank of America, with The Irish Times as the official media partner and the US Chamber as our US conference partner.
Speaking at the Conference, AmCham 2023 President Seamus Fives said: “The US FDI sector is now a key cornerstone of the Irish economy.”
Fives who is also the VP of API Operations at Pfizer Pharmaceuticals said that US multinationals have a very positive view of Ireland as an investment and growth location. He added that there are a number of key opportunities for Ireland, including “continued investment in Ireland’s research capacity”, that can ensure we remain a top location of choice for business.
He said: “Attracting best in class research talent into the country, and creating and developing Centres of Excellence, where academia, industry and researchers can work together and collaborate to build an ecosystem will support our further move into that innovative area.”
Fives also welcomed the Government target set out in the Enterprise White Paper to increase expenditure on research and development in the to 2.5 percent of GNI by 2030.
Elaine Murphy, AmCham 2023 vice president and site lead and VP at Signify Health Ireland Technology said that Ireland is a “nation of high performers” noting that we are the most productive workers in the world according to the OECD.
Murphy said: “That is phenomenal and something that we need to consistently champion. But we also need to show that we are leaders in terms of getting that wellness space, right and getting that work life balance correct. So again, I think we can be phenomenal in this space.”
Addressing the Conference, Brian Moynihan, CEO Bank of America said Ireland’s competitive advantage is “significant.”
“Ireland serves as a hub for the Transatlantic relationship between the United States and Europe. Our economists at Bank of America expect Ireland to be the fastest growing economy in the euro area both this year and next.”
Moynihan highlighted the importance of utilising the creativity, money and expertise in the private sector in addressing the needs of society, and in particular the “core need to drive the just transition to a sustainable future” which Moynihan said this is “not only great for society but it is great business.”
AmCham’s 2023 Global Business Conference also featured a number of panel discussions on topics including supporting FDI, sustainability, and attracting global talent.
Speaking on the ‘Voices of the Global Irish’ panel, Sukhmani Khana, solutions sales director at Microsoft said: “Moving to Ireland has given me a lot of career growth and a lot of professional development. But I think for me what I really appreciate is the personal evolution that I have had.”
Kahana said that the global exposure she has gotten since moving to Ireland has made her a better person. She said: “That is all because of the way that I have been able to interact and learn about so many different cultures and learn from them and adapt myself. So that is really what global exposure means, it is how you evolve as a human being yourself and I think it makes you a better person in the whole context of it, so that is what I appreciate the most.”
Speaking on AmCham’s panel on the ‘Opportunities for Ireland as a Global Centre of Sustainable Excellence, Chris Collins, country president for Schneider Electric Ireland said that we could produce “10 times Ireland’s energy needs” if we utilise Ireland’s wind resources.
Speaking on the same panel, Kay Hope, head of ESG for Global Fixed Income Research for Bank of America highlighted the focus that investors are now putting on sustainability and green bonds.
“Investors do care about sustainability. We saw just under $1 trillion dollars equivalentof green, social, sustainability and sustainability-linked bonds issued in 2021.”
Hope noted that this market is expected to continue to grow noting that there was an EU green bond issued last month that was “just over nine times oversubscribed” despite the volatile market.