Irish finance leaders are feeling the heat of the AI race. New AccountsIQ research, reported by FF News, finds that 82% of finance leaders in the UK and Ireland feel pressured to adopt AI faster than they would like, rising to 91.5% in Ireland against 80.3% in the UK, the higher of the two markets. For Irish finance leadership, where AI use is already climbing quickly, the finding shows how to turn urgency into disciplined progress.

This pressure deserves to be read as ambition rather than anxiety. The same research clearly shows leaders trust the technology, and what they want is a pace that matches their controls. The findings point to three priorities for advisory firms: high confidence in AI outputs, the demand for human oversight, and the governance needed to make adoption defensible.

Confidence is notably high. The CFO Mindset 2026 survey of 1,036 senior finance decision makers at mid sized companies, 200 of them in Ireland, found 81% fully or mostly trust AI driven outputs in finance processes, while 41% describe the pressure to move faster as significant. AccountsIQ chief executive Darren Cran said the hesitation lies in introducing AI with the controls finance requires, not in the quality of its work.

Oversight matters just as much. Some 76% worry their organisations could become overly reliant on AI in decision making, and many want results that can be explained to boards and auditors months later. That instinct is professional scepticism at work, and it is a strength audit professionals are well placed to reinforce across finance teams.

Irish evidence shows why governance sets the pace. EY's Ireland CFO survey found AI adoption in finance leapt from 12% to 47% in a year, while PwC Ireland found only 21% of organisations have formal AI governance structures, up from 7% in mid 2024. Firms are not standing still, and Deloitte Ireland partnered with AccountsIQ in September to automate mid market financial reporting.

Leaders can close the gap in several practical, achievable ways. Start with tasks the research highlights as well suited to AI, such as transaction coding and anomaly detection, and document who approved each output. Build governance alongside tools, so every figure can be traced to its source. Upskill finance teams, as the 60% of Irish finance leaders investing in training already are. Advisory firms can offer controls readiness reviews to mid market clients.

The direction of travel is encouraging for the Irish finance sector. With trust in AI high and appetite for oversight strong, firms that pair speed with accountability can lead on innovation while protecting credibility. Done well, that balance will strengthen financial reporting and confidence in Irish accountancy at home and abroad in the years ahead.