Getting it right on Resilience: Ireland CEO Outlook 2026

For CEOs, resilience has two sides. It is about protecting what the organisation has already built, from its operations, people and customer relationships to its data, reputation and financial strength. But it is also about ensuring that the business is ready and capable of acting when new opportunities emerge.

Both dimensions have particular relevance for Irish business. As a small, open island economy, Ireland is highly exposed to international supply chains and imported energy. In 2024, Ireland imported 80 percent of its energy requirements, the fourth-highest level of energy import dependency in the EU and well above the EU average of 57 percent.

Fossil fuels met more than 81 percent of Ireland’s primary energy requirement, while transport fuels and natural gas accounted for three-quarters of the energy used by the enterprise economy.

Ireland’s position at the end of long, carbon-intensive international supply chains therefore leaves businesses exposed to disruption, energy-price volatility and the cost of moving goods and people.

At the same time, our highly digital and interconnected economy faces an increasingly complex cyber-threat landscape. The National Cyber Security Centre has identified the geopolitical environment, evolving technology and supply-chain security as three systemic cyber risks for Ireland.

Against this backdrop, resilience cannot be treated simply as a defensive capability. It must protect the business today while preserving the confidence, resources and agility needed to invest, adapt and grow.

1. Protecting what we have built

Irish CEOs are entering the next three years with a combination of confidence and caution. Economic conditions can shift quickly, regulation is becoming more complex, cyber threats are intensifying and businesses remain under pressure to modernise their operations. Yet our survey suggests that leaders are not pulling back.

Confidence balanced by caution

Almost three-quarters of Irish CEOs, 73 percent, are confident in their company’s growth prospects over the next three years. The same proportion is confident about Ireland’s growth prospects, while 68 percent express confidence in the global economy.

This confidence does not mean that CEOs are underestimating the risks ahead. It reflects a belief that organisations can continue to grow if they protect their existing strengths, invest with discipline and adapt quickly as conditions change.

The confidence to act is one of a leader’s greatest strengths, but it must be balanced by the humility to test assumptions and confront vulnerabilities. That combination helps organisations protect what they have built and move decisively when opportunities emerge.

Irish CEOs are realistic about the uncertainty ahead, but they are not allowing it to limit their ambition. What stands out is their determination to keep investing and growing, while building the resilience and agility needed to respond quickly as conditions change.

Ryan McCarthy

Managing Partner

KPMG in Ireland

Building resilience amid uncertainty

Confidence should not, however, be mistaken for complacency. CEOs are making decisions against a backdrop of continued cost pressures, geopolitical volatility, technological disruption and significant capacity constraints.

Protecting operations, customer relationships, data and reputation remains essential. But businesses must also retain the ability to move quickly as markets and conditions change.

According to Tom Woods, Head of Clients and Markets at KPMG in Ireland:

“Business leaders are operating in an environment where uncertainty has become a constant. Alongside ongoing cost pressures, CEOs must navigate geopolitical volatility, technological disruption, and capacity constraints.

Building resilience is therefore no longer a defensive measure, but a strategic imperative. Policies that improve infrastructure, strengthen the talent pipeline and enhance Ireland’s competitiveness will be critical to supporting long-term growth.”

Energy and cyber in focus

For Irish businesses, two areas of exposure stand out: Ireland’s dependence on international energy and supply chains, and the growing scale and sophistication of cyber threats.

Ireland’s 80 percent energy import dependency and continued reliance on fossil fuels mean that changes in international supply and prices can quickly affect business costs and competitiveness.

Analysis by the Central Bank of Ireland shows how movements in international energy prices can pass through the Irish economy. Under its severe oil and gas price scenario, full cost pass-through could increase the overall price level by approximately 5 percent, with about a quarter of that increase transmitted indirectly through the supply chains of non-energy goods and services.

Building cyber resilience

Digital exposure presents a different but equally significant risk. As organisations deploy AI more widely and become more dependent on connected technologies, a cyber incident can disrupt operations, compromise data, affect customers and employees, and damage hard-earned trust.

Every CEO surveyed expressed concern about AI-related identity theft and data privacy. Almost two-thirds of CEOs in the Republic of Ireland, 63 percent, and 60 percent in Northern Ireland regard this as a top leadership priority and already have a mitigation plan in place. Leaders are also concerned about their organisations’ exposure to cyberattacks and their ability to detect and prevent fraud.

The national risk assessment reinforces those concerns. The National Cyber Security Centre warns that accelerating cybercrime, increasingly sophisticated state-sponsored activity and weaknesses in technology supply chains could have cascading effects across interconnected sectors including energy, transport, healthcare and financial services.

Investment patterns demonstrate the seriousness of the threat. Cybersecurity and digital resilience is the leading area of increased risk-mitigation investment, selected by 48 percent of CEOs in the Republic of Ireland and 38 percent in Northern Ireland.

But technology investment alone will not create resilience. It requires coordinated ownership across leadership, technology, risk, legal and operations, supported by clear board-level accountability.

Dani Michaux, Dublin-based EMA Cyber Leader at KPMG, says: “Bad actors target people as well as systems, using increasingly convincing methods to exploit trust and influence behaviour. CEOs must set the tone, building a culture in which people question, verify and report concerns quickly. Effective cyber resilience combines technology and controls with strong leadership and human judgement.”

2. Maintaining critical operations

Resilience depends on an organisation’s ability to maintain critical operations through disruption. That requires financial strength, operational agility and a clear understanding of the infrastructure and resources on which the business depends.

Energy is becoming an important test of that capability. It can no longer be viewed solely through the lens of sustainability. Access to affordable, reliable and lower-carbon power is increasingly connected to operational continuity, competitiveness and the ability to support future investment.

Building greater energy resilience

Our survey suggests that business leaders are responding pragmatically. Almost six in ten organisations across Ireland, 59 percent, plan to diversify their energy supply through renewable and lower-carbon sources. That rises to more than two-thirds, 68 percent, in the Republic of Ireland.

At the same time, one-third of organisations, 33 percent, are focused on reducing energy demand through efficiency measures.

These actions can help organisations control costs and reduce their exposure to disruption. However, individual businesses cannot address Ireland’s wider energy vulnerability alone.

Demand for power is also rising as organisations invest in AI, digital transformation and more data-intensive operations. Ireland’s long-term competitiveness will increasingly depend on its ability to deliver the generation capacity, grid infrastructure and policy certainty needed to support continued investment.

Climate confidence strengthens

Confidence in achieving climate goals has strengthened markedly across the island of Ireland. In the Republic of Ireland, the proportion of CEOs confident that their organisation can meet its 2030 goals has almost doubled, rising from 29 percent in 2025 to 55 percent in 2026. In Northern Ireland, confidence has increased from 34 percent to 48 percent.

Although both figures remain below the global result of 64 percent, the increase suggests that organisations are becoming more confident in their ability to decarbonise.

According to Johnny Hanna, Partner-in-Charge of KPMG in Northern Ireland:

“Northern Ireland businesses have shown considerable resilience in navigating changing trading arrangements, cost pressures and wider economic uncertainty. There is growing confidence in their ability to adapt, but delivery will depend on access to reliable energy, modern infrastructure and a stable policy environment. These are essential not only to protecting existing investment, but to enabling businesses across the region to grow.”

The focus is now shifting from setting climate ambitions to delivering them. Reducing energy demand, diversifying supply and moving away from imported fossil fuels can lower emissions while reducing exposure to volatile prices and international disruption.

The transition to a lower-carbon economy can therefore strengthen both national resilience and business competitiveness.

3. Preparing for opportunity

The second side of resilience is readiness. Protecting the business is essential, but resilience must also give CEOs the confidence and capacity to invest when opportunities arise.

More than a quarter of CEOs, 28 percent, say their organisation is taking greater risks to capture opportunities, compared with just 10 percent becoming more cautious. Many leaders see volatility not only as a threat to be managed, but also as a period in which stronger and better-prepared businesses can invest, differentiate and gain ground.

Creating the conditions for growth

Business ambition must be supported by the right conditions for growth. Public policy has an important role in encouraging investment, enabling innovation and helping businesses scale, priorities also reflected in the competitiveness agenda of Ireland’s 2026 EU Presidency.

According to Orla Gavin, Head of Tax at KPMG in Ireland: “Readiness is vital to resilience: businesses must withstand volatility while seizing opportunities to invest and grow. Ireland’s EU Presidency is an opportunity to champion a more competitive, pro-growth Europe through greater simplicity and certainty, support for innovation and scaling Irish businesses, and keeping Ireland attractive for global investment.”[

Resilience as an enabler of growth

The same principle applies to technology. Strong cyber resilience does more than protect an organisation from loss.

It gives the business greater confidence to adopt AI, introduce new digital services and pursue technology-led growth. Similarly, a more secure and diversified energy system does not simply reduce exposure. It expands Ireland’s capacity to support new investment and growth.

For Ireland’s CEOs, resilience ultimately means being prepared on both fronts: protecting the operations, relationships and trust on which the business depends, while maintaining the capacity to invest, adapt and respond when opportunities emerge.

In an environment where disruption is constant, the organisations best placed to grow will be those that can do both.

Ireland’s CEOs are ready.
Are you?

Chat with our leadership team about how the trends uncovered in CEO Outlook 2026 apply to your business and sector - connect with us to turn insight into action.

Ryan McCarthy

Managing Partner

KPMG in Ireland

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Getting it right on Resilience