Google and Bank of Ireland have launched a partnership making up to 10,000 licences for the Google AI Professional Certificate available to Irish SMEs at no cost, as reported by Think Business, as new research reveals a significant gap between awareness and adoption of AI tools across Ireland's small business community.

Research commissioned by Google found that AI could generate €45bn in potential GDP gains for Ireland over the next decade, representing an 8% lift in national output driven largely by productivity improvements across an estimated two thirds of the Irish workforce.

Despite that potential, a separate Google and Amarách survey found that while 80% of Irish SME owners believe AI is a positive development, only 37% say they are using it regularly or widely in their operations, with more than half already feeling they are falling behind competitors.

Karen Stolberg, Vice President of Google Customer Solutions for the UK and Ireland, said the hesitation stems less from resistance to technology than from a fear of getting it wrong. "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. That is an incredibly human response to a time of change," she said.

Stolberg highlighted the competitive pressure building beneath the surface. Only 6% of Irish SMEs say AI is central to their operation today, a figure expected to rise to 15% within three years. Ireland currently sits at the EU average for AI adoption but lags behind Northern European leaders including Denmark, Finland and Belgium.

The Google AI Professional Certificate is a seven-part programme built on Google's existing AI Essentials course, designed to take learners from a basic understanding to a working AI-first approach. It includes 90 days of free access to Google AI Pro and is available through the Think Business SME AI Academy Hub in partnership with Bank of Ireland.