Workplace strategy must adapt to aging and AI, Kincaid says
Central Bank of Ireland Deputy Governor Colm Kincaid called on public sector leaders to overhaul workplace strategies for demographic aging and artificial intelligence. Speaking at the DPER Management Conference on September 10, 2026, he stressed long-term institutional stewardship.
Older workers, migration and algorithmic tools
Kincaid highlighted structural shifts reshaping public administration, noting that Irish labour force participation among 65-to-69-year-olds rose from 23 percent to 30 percent between 2019 and 2025.
Inward migration accounted for nearly two-thirds of Ireland's 500,000 population increase in the five years to 2026, with net arrivals exceeding 316,000. Addressing rapid artificial intelligence adoption, Kincaid cautioned against both passive delay and uncontrolled implementation.
“We will need to preserve the core human capabilities of context, empathy, judgement,” he stated.
The Central Bank of Ireland maintains a hybrid model allowing staff to work remotely up to 50 percent of the time.
Cultivating capability beyond annual cycles
Drawing a clear distinction between strategy and operational planning, Kincaid argued that annual budgets cannot build multi-year institutional capabilities.
The Central Bank extended its strategic horizon to 2027 to navigate geopolitical tensions and technological disruption.
Citing a 2025 OECD study of 57,000 European civil servants, Kincaid pointed out that only half felt they were growing professionally, while just one-third reported organisational support for internal career mobility.
Eloquent prose masks operational hurdles
Kincaid presents a thoughtful vision of public stewardship, yet poetic metaphors obscure entrenched civil service inertia.
Competing with private tech salaries for AI talent requires legislative reforms far beyond central bank remits.
Absent concrete benchmarks, this broad strategy risks remaining an aspirational exercise.