Rethinking AI Talent: Key Insights from CeADAR’s Business Beacon Event

CeADAR’s Business Beacon event on June 25th focused on how to attract, recruit, retain and develop talent for AI-related roles.

The session included guest speaker Fredericka Sheppard, Managing Director and Co-Founder of Voltedge Management, who shared practical insights on the current talent landscape and the steps organisations can take to improve their approach to recruitment and retention.

As AI adoption accelerates across sectors, businesses are increasingly trying to understand the skills they need, how to compete for talent, and how to build teams that can deliver real value from AI. 

A Changing Talent Landscape

AI roles are evolving quickly, many roles now require a combination of technical understanding, business awareness, problem-solving ability, communication skills and the capacity to work across teams.

The human-facing side of AI is becoming just as important as the technical side. People working in this space need to be able to communicate with colleagues, customers, leadership teams and external partners. They need to explain what AI can and cannot do, manage expectations, identify risks, and help others adopt new tools in a responsible and useful way.

In this new landscape, the “Human-in-the-Loop” (HITL) model has shifted from a quality-control function into an exercise in contextual communication, where humans act as the vital connective tissue between AI tools and real organisational value.

One theme from the session was the importance of assessing candidates capability as well as credentials. In a fast-changing field like AI, past experience and formal qualifications are useful indicators, but they do not tell the full story.

For employers, this means AI recruitment should not focus only on technical keywords or formal qualifications. Organisations should also look for adaptability, judgement, collaboration, curiosity and the ability to communicate clearly. 

Another key takeaway was noting the effect AI has had on CV submissions and covering letters making it harder to differentiate between candidates. There is now an increased need for screening calls, portfolio submissions and in-person interviews to assess candidates. 

Remote Working

The event also featured insights from Dr Eoin Byrne from Grow Remote, who discussed how remote work options help organisations access and retain talent more effectively.

Eoin highlighted that remote work is not just a flexibility benefit. When designed, it can become a strategic tool, helping employers reach candidates beyond their immediate geography and supporting more inclusive access to opportunity.

Grow Remote offers fully funded remote work training programmes for managers and staff.

CeADAR Training and Placement Programmes

CeADAR’s European Digital Innovation Hub for AI Programme Manager, Laura Plunkett gave a run down of available training programmes offered through CeADAR including the AI For You On Demand Course, Monthly Generative AI Webinars and in-person workshops.  

Laura also explained the Work Ready Graduate Programme (WRGP), a 12-month initiative designed to support industry partners by matching them with talented graduates in AI, Data Science, and Machine Learning. The WRGP is co-funded by Enterprise Ireland and is now taking expressions of interest from companies.

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