Tag: #sas

Workers in the data and analytics industry are optimistic of pay rises and job stability into 2025

A recent study of data analytics and AI workers in Ireland has revealed a positive outlook for salary growth with 63% expecting to see a salary increase of up to 10% this year. Workers in the data and analytics industry are optimistic of pay rises and job stability into 2025

The survey by the Analytics Institute and leader in data and AI, SAS, also reflects optimism around hiring as 37% of organisations in Ireland confirmed their intention to increase their data workforce by more than 10% this year. Job stability looks positive too, with 81% of employees intending to stay with their current employer in 2025.

Respondents revealed that job satisfaction remains high with nearly three-quarters of workers saying they would recommend their employer to a friend, while 39% said they enjoy their current role “a lot” and 50% said they enjoy it “a moderate amount”.

The findings have been revealed in the Data Salaries and Job Sentiment Analysis 2025 report, which surveyed 200 professional Analytics Institute members working in data analytics and AI roles. It highlights the latest trends shaping the data sector from salary expectations and job opportunities to employee sentiment and training requirements.

Alan McGlinn, Ireland Country Lead at SAS, said: “These findings prove that demand for AI and data-related skills remains high, and this is reflected in salary levels, increases and rising optimism about wage growth in 2025.

“While employees with these skills are in demand, those with the right combination of skills will be in particularly high demand. The findings reveal that those who changed employer within the last 12 months received significantly higher salary increases, and we might start to see more rapid career progression for some individuals and higher staff turnover.”

Data visualisation and BI reporting were revealed as critical skills to the sector, with 70% of people still believing them to be important, along with project management. Meanwhile, the report showed statistical modelling and prescriptive analytics as declining skills areas due to reduced demand for traditional predictive approaches. Not surprisingly machine learning and AI has gained consistent importance, growing from 30% in 2023 to 34% in 2025.

Lorcan Malone, Chief Executive of The Analytics Institute, said this sheds light on the key drivers for talent retention and workforce upskilling within the data analytics and AI sectors.

He added: “By understanding these dynamics, businesses can better position themselves to attract, develop, and retain the talent they need to stay ahead in an increasingly competitive market.

“The rapid expansion of AI technologies is beginning to reshape the world of work. As companies seek to leverage these technologies, they must ensure their teams are not only equipped with the latest technical skills but also able to adapt to a constantly changing landscape. This makes investing in talent development and upskilling initiatives more critical than ever.”

While employees with these skills are in demand, those with the right combination of skills will be in particularly high demand. For those who had changed jobs within the last 12 months, the top reasons employees gave for this were:

●      Increased salary (67%)

●      For a more interesting and challenging role (32%)

●      For increased remuneration (21%)

●      For better working conditions / culture (14%)

For those who hadn’t changed employers in the last 12 months, a high proportion had still received a salary increase, but beyond this, other important factors for jobs satisfaction they highlighted included:

●      Meaningful work (64%)

●      Supportive boss (48%)

●      Hybrid work (43%)

●      Career progression (32%)

●      Nice colleagues (30%)

Overall, the report proves that as businesses increasingly rely on data -driven insights to make critical decisions, the demand for professionals with key skills remains high. Organisations that understand the incremental gains that employees with these core skills can deliver across their business, are willing to reward the best performers with significantly higher salaries and the added support to do their jobs well.

To find out more about how SAS can help businesses to work smarter with data and AI visit www.sas.com.

The full report can be found here – analyticsinstitute.org/resource/salaries-and-sentiment-analysis-2025.html

New research reveals high usage of ChatGPT in Irish workplaces

ChatGPT is a more popular and widely used generative AI (GenAI) tool in Ireland than in the UK, a recent study of senior key decision makers in the UK & Ireland has revealed.

The study, conducted earlier this year by Coleman Parkes Research Ltd. and commissioned by SAS, surveyed 200 UK & Ireland GenAI strategy and data analytics decision-makers to pulse check major areas of investment and the hurdles organisations are facing around the technology.

It asked questions about organisations’ current plans to deploy GenAI, how the technology is integrated into their strategic planning, and what challenges they are facing. Find out more by reading the report entitled Generative AI Challenges and Potential Unveiled: How to Achieve a Competitive Advantage.

The research found that ChatGPT is by far the most popular GenAI tool in Ireland, with 29% of those who use GenAI in their professional lives saying it is the tool they used most often in the workplace. Meanwhile, other tools, such as DALL-E 2 and Jasper, were only used by 4% of respondents.

ChatGPT was also the most used tool in the UK, with 10% of respondents saying they use it in the workplace. However, Google AI was not far behind, with 8% of respondents selecting it as their preferred tool.

Proprietary/closed source large language model (LLM) was found to be the most common approach to adopting LLMs in Ireland, with 27% of organisations having already done so. However, this was the least common approach in the UK, with only 11% having adopted this approach.

Instead, open source LLM is the most popular option in the UK, with 33% having already adopted this approach, compared to 24% in Ireland.

The study found that more organisations in Ireland are fully prepared to integrate GenAI (11%) than in the UK (7%), but data privacy is the greatest concern in both regions, with three-quarters of organisations in Ireland ranking it as their top worry.

Meanwhile, the biggest challenge in implementing effective governance and monitoring for GenAI is technological limitations in both the UK & Ireland, with 45% of organisations in Ireland ranking it as their top challenge, compared to 28% in the UK.

Despite this, 58% of organisations in Ireland plan to introduce GenAI over the next three years, with 31% of them aiming to do this within the next year. Adoption is expected across many departments, with marketing, sales, IT and finance the most common – a clear majority (75% and above) are either using or planning to use GenAI in these areas.

Customer engagement and personalisation is seen to be the greatest potential benefit of adopting GenAI, with over three-quarters of Irish organisations saying they believe improvements will be made to their organisation in this area.

However, UK organisations are less enthusiastic about the benefits of GenAI. Just over half (56%) believe that customer engagement and personalisation will be improved, while 50% think it will improve the accuracy of predictive analytics. For Ireland these percentages are 77% and 64% respectively.

Speaking on the findings, Jean De Villiers, Head of Analytics at SAS Ireland, said: “There are promising signs of innovation in Ireland, with more organisations saying they are fully prepared to integrate GenAI than in the UK. Our research shows senior key decision-makers in Ireland recognise the many benefits of GenAI, and are aware of the improvements that it can make to customer engagement, predictive analytics, and competitive edge.

“It would appear to be just a matter of time before more organisations in Ireland implement it, with over half planning to do so in the next three years. First, they must tackle the challenges that they are encountering, such as technological limitations, which are being seen more widely in Ireland than in the UK. We are looking forward to supporting our customers through their journey towards trustworthy AI and GenAI adoption, and assisting them in using our technology to achieve the positive outcomes they seek.”

The SAS study sets out a number of recommendations that organisations should follow to successfully deploy GenAI, including the four steps below:

  • Strategic deployment

  • Comprehensive governance

  • Technological integration

  • Expert guidance

SAS’ global report on GenAI adoption has also been published, which provides further guidance around best practices and strategic insights aimed at empowering businesses to harness the technology’s full potential, along with comparisons across key markets and industry sectors.

Find out more by reading the full global report here.

One in three would switch provider after 5 minute wait for good answer

One third of UK & Ireland customers say they would switch to another provider if they don’t get a satisfactory response in five minutes or less, according to new research from analytics leader SAS. The research also highlights that 75% of customers would change provider if a competitor offered a faster service.

SAS’ Hyperautomation report reveals new customer-centric demands and a raft of fast evolving expectations, accelerated by the pandemic. Customers are increasingly demanding experiences that excel beyond attractive prices. While two-thirds (64%) of consumers say that competitive prices are very important when choosing a business or service provider, they are now rivalled by other factors such as convenience (59%) and speed of service (51%).

The consequences for businesses that can’t offer a fast, high-quality service, as well as cost savings, are dire. To keep pace with fast-evolving new customer expectations and to win the customer retention battle, businesses must be able to deliver a fast, frictionless, online service whenever the customer wants it.

While customers are placing a high value on speed and convenience, they are not prepared to sacrifice quality of service.  More than half (56%) only want experiences to be faster if this also guarantees no mistakes are made or a better service is delivered. Achieving speed and quality requires hyper-efficiency from organisations – a quality only achievable through technology capable of intelligent decision-making.

Efficiencies must translate into great customer experiences

As the cost of living soars, organisations nevertheless have the ability to foster trust from consumers by providing rapid, high-quality services made possible through technology.

Business leaders and decision-makers agreed improvements in workforce productivity (38%), employee satisfaction (34%), and costs (34%), were seen during the pandemic due to hyperautomation (the simultaneous use of digital operating systems, workflow, robotic process automation, and artificial intelligence – typically via the cloud – to deliver high value autonomous processes through intelligent decisions). This enables a faster, quality service where it’s also possible to pass cost savings on to customers.

The need for hyperautomation is clear considering the current impact of simple, linear automation on customers. Many express little trust in using automated services, regardless of sector. Government fared worst, with just 34% expressing any significant level of trust in automated government technologies.

Customers shared that they are not yet comfortable with today’s digital-only experiences; just 13% of respondents would want to use digital-only to interact with customer services. Automated tech which lacks intelligence can’t rival human interaction, respondents indicated, with three-quarters (74%) expressing they are frustrated when they realise they are communicating with a robot. Nearly nine in 10 (88%) said that speaking to a human is an essential part of the customer service experience, with 64% of these mentioning this is because they feel more understood when speaking to a human.

The results show that businesses need to make consumers feel like they are being understood by delivering quality experiences and outcomes quickly and efficiently. The current views reflect the fact than online services primarily consist of basic robotic process automation and unintelligent chatbots, rather than the fast, intelligent online experience that is possible with hyperautomation. In fact, less than a quarter (24%) of organisations have currently implemented hyperautomation.

Customers are willing to accept automation, but have high standards

Automation is recognised as key to setting a new standard in customer experience. It is valued by 91% of the C-suite, who are looking to technologies that can automate repetitive processes. They want this for employees, for customers, and for regulators. Fortunately, the vast majority (82%) of senior decision makers in businesses across the UK and Ireland believe that hyperautomation will be important in the next 12 months, and two-thirds (67%) have either implemented it already or plan to in the future.

Customers are willing to accept hyperautomated services – and even have positive expectations. Half (49%) of consumers expect an automated service to provide speed and convenience, while a third (32%) expect it to show understanding of the issues and specific services relating to their circumstances. Half (50%) of respondents say that they would use a fully automated customer service if they were satisfied that their enquiry could be adequately resolved.

“Now is the chance for organisations to meet multiple business goals at once, improving efficiencies and mitigating costs, while still offering a superior experience to customers. It’s possible to have the best of both worlds thanks to hyperautomation solutions which can be easy to use on low code / no code platforms delivered via the Cloud”, said David Shannon, Head of Hyperautomation, SAS UK & Ireland.

“As we face the prospect of rising cost inflation, it’s imperative that businesses take steps to deliver what customers now demand, which is a fast, frictionless, and effective online service at a competitive price. Without this, organisations will be overtaken by the competition and fail to foster long-term loyalty to the brand.”

To see the results of the survey and learn more about hyperautomation, read the report by SAS entitled Hyperautomation: Using AI to transform your business.

Sport Ireland packs winning punches with SAS

Ireland’s elite boxing team based at the Sport Ireland Institute is looking to build on its Olympic success in Tokyo at the AIBA World Championships which have just got underway. To do this, it will again be using data analytics provided by SAS to drive innovative coaching techniques. The software provides coaches with deeper insight to help boxers achieve their full potential and also identifies potential flaws in opponents.

Following the success of in-competition analytics used by the Irish Swimming Team, Sport Ireland Institute  introduced the technology to the boxing ring.  Both sports are challenging to track and extrapolate data, to give coaches deeper understanding of how to adapt training methods and even deliver insight during competition. SAS Visual Analytics collects data from video feeds to facilitate analysis and performance enhancement in almost real time.

Alan Swanton, Lead Performance Analyst at the Sport Ireland Institute has directly seen the advantage of data analytics adoption in sport. Alan said: “Success in combat sport has been largely based on the subjective views of the coach and athlete. SAS Visual Analytics helps to assess the effectiveness of an athlete’s tactical plan, which can provide coaches with an added level of confidence as they advise boxers on the best strategy to take in their next fight.”

Live data can be gathered during competitive events, allowing coaches to track techniques and positions such as punches landed and conceded, the stance held for landed punches, the type of punch and other variables. These are then used to help assess the effectiveness of the athletes’ tactical plan. The technology is also able to compare a boxer’s performance against the different styles of their opponents.

Speaking about the partnership Scott Comber, Senior Director of Consulting and Professional Services, SAS UK & Ireland, said: “Applying analytics across high-performance sport is quite literally a gamechanger, with limitless potential to help athletes and teams get more value from data and bring improvements to training and performance at every level. Visual analytics presents a fantastic opportunity to drive innovation in boxing that helps athletes and their coaches adapt training methods and inform tactics between competitive bouts. We’re delighted to work with Sport Ireland to expand the capability of performance analysis for boxing and to play a part in giving athletes every possible chance of success in elite competition.”

Zaur Antia, Head Coach of the Irish Olympic boxing team, said: “This tool gives us insight into the tactics used by upcoming opponents.  When we analyse their previous bouts we get a better understanding of how they change their tactics against different styles and types of opponents.  This information is a critical element in how we prepare effectively for upcoming bouts in competition.”

Performance analytics are ultimately created with the athlete in mind. The technology cannot replace the hard work of coaches or athletes, but boxers can rest assured that their coaches have the key insights it takes to push them towards personal success.

Kellie Harrington, Olympic Champion at the Tokyo Olympics in the 60Kg weight category, said of her coaches: “They spend hours reviewing video and analysis in the days ahead of upcoming contests, using bout analysis created by the analyst to assist their decisions and development of the tactical plan.  This gives me confidence, knowing that coaches are prepared; then l feel fully ready to execute the game plan which they have put together for me.” 

In addition to providing top-level analysis of a boxer’s performance during competitive events, Sport Ireland Institute is also using SAS Visual Analytics to dive deeper into an athlete’s performance – valuable data that coaches use during post-match analyses and to compare Irish athletes against other world-class performers.

Find out more about Sport Ireland Institute’s use of analytics in boxing.