People profession has a vital role to play in ensuring employers can harness AI securely and responsibly, says CIPD

At our annual conference in Ireland this week, the CIPD revealed that most Irish employers are yet to communicate a clear strategy on the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in the workplace.  
 
According to our 2025 HR Practices in Ireland study: 

• 58% of workplaces haven’t provided a clear plan on AI usage 

• 67% haven’t delivered any employee training on AI 

• Only 11% believe their leadership teams are fully equipped for an AI-driven world 

• 22% plan to provide clear guidance on AI use in 2025. 

Despite this, 60% of respondents reported seeing improved productivity in their organisation thanks to the use of AI. 

HR urged to lead responsible AI implementation 

The study has been published to coincide with our annual conference in Ireland, where the transformative power of AI in the workplace is set to be a hot topic. 

We’re urging workplaces to improve their standard of engagement with workers on AI.  

As its presence and usage in the workplace grows, it’s vital that employers understand AI and use it correctly and responsibly to protect business and employee data. While AI has a lot to offer, any workplace that hasn’t put an AI policy in place is at risk of getting left behind or falling foul of security issues. 

HR professionals have an important role to play in ensuring businesses prioritise formalising their AI strategy and policies. That said, we recognise it’s a quickly evolving topic and we’ve provided practical guides and resources on our website to help keep you up to date with the latest developments. 

Employers continue to value inclusion and flexibility 

Through the survey, we also explored wider workplace practices in Ireland, with many employers seeing inclusive culture as key to attracting and retaining talent. Two thirds told us that flexible and remote working were an important part of their efforts in this area. 

Among employers with equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) programmes: 

• 78% have inclusive recruitment, retention or promotion practices 

• 77% offer flexible or remote working 

• 60% provide manager training and guidance 

• 45% raise diversity awareness 
• 16% have appointed a dedicated diversity officer 

Domestic abuse and wellbeing policies improving, but gaps remain 

On another crucial topic, we also found that more employers had introduced a domestic abuse policy since the domestic abuse leave legislation came into force in 2023. 44% of organisations surveyed now have a domestic abuse policy – up from 37% last year. 

Other wellbeing-related findings include: 

• 27% have added extra parental leave 

• 20% have policies on miscarriage, fertility or menopause