Artificial Intelligence: the next competitive advantage for our industry
by Gareth Sherry
Artificial intelligence has entered a completely new phase. Many businesses first encountered AI as a useful assistant that could help write emails, summarise reports or improve marketing content. While those capabilities remain valuable, the technology has evolved rapidly. Today’s AI is no longer simply answering questions or assisting with individual tasks; it is increasingly capable of executing complete workflows on behalf of a business.
This new generation of agentic AI represents a fundamental shift in how businesses will operate. Rather than asking AI to help complete a task, businesses can now instruct AI to perform the task itself, under human supervision. It can gather information, analyse documents, interact with multiple software platforms, make recommendations, trigger workflows and report back on completed actions.
For our industry, this presents one of the most significant opportunities we have seen in decades.
A defining moment
Every major technological shift creates a competitive advantage for those who adopt early. Over the next three to five years, artificial intelligence will become as fundamental to business as email, cloud computing and mobile technology have become today.
The companies that begin implementing AI now will gain valuable experience, refine their processes and build efficiencies that become increasingly difficult for competitors to replicate. Those who delay risk finding themselves trying to catch up with businesses that have already embedded AI into every aspect of their operations.
This is not simply another software upgrade. It represents a new way of working that has the potential to transform productivity, decision-making and customer service across every department within a business.
Ai is changing the digitalisation journey
For many years, manufacturers have invested heavily in digital transformation. The traditional approach often required expensive software implementations and years of work to structure business data before meaningful insights could be extracted.
Artificial intelligence is changing that landscape.
While good digital systems remain extremely important, today’s AI models are increasingly capable of understanding and working with unstructured information including emails, PDF documents, CAD drawings, spreadsheets, meeting notes, photographs and technical documentation.
For many SMEs this means AI can begin delivering value immediately using information they already possess, while digitalisation continues in parallel. Rather than replacing digital transformation, AI has the potential to accelerate it by making existing business information significantly more useful.
From assistant to digital colleague
Perhaps the biggest misconception surrounding AI is that it remains simply a chatbot.
The real opportunity lies in connecting AI securely to the systems businesses already use every day. Email platforms, Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, SharePoint, OneDrive, ERP systems, CRM software, production planning tools and document management systems can all become part of an intelligent workflow.
Instead of employees manually moving information between systems, AI can coordinate those activities automatically.
Imagine a tender arriving by email.
An AI agent could automatically create the project folder, extract key project information, identify similar previous projects, distribute drawings to the appropriate estimator, generate supplier enquiry lists, prepare document checklists, create internal tasks for relevant departments and even draft the initial client response.
What currently takes hours of administration could be completed in minutes.
The estimator still provides the expertise, commercial judgement and final pricing – but the repetitive administration disappears.
Multiply this across finance, procurement, customer service, HR, production planning and quality management, and the productivity gains become substantial.
“Rather than relying on one general-purpose AI model, we are beginning to see AI solutions trained specifically for industries such as construction, manufacturing, healthcare, finance and engineering”
The future of AI is not one chatbot
It is a team of specialised digital agents quietly working alongside your people, completing repetitive work while allowing employees to focus on higher-value decisions that require human expertise.
Importantly, this is not about replacing people. It is about enabling people to achieve significantly more by removing the repetitive administrative tasks that consume so much of the working day.
Industry-specific AI will become increasingly powerful
Another important trend is the emergence of AI systems that are becoming increasingly specialised. Rather than relying on one general-purpose AI model, we are beginning to see AI solutions trained specifically for industries such as construction, manufacturing, healthcare, finance and engineering.
These specialist AI systems understand industry terminology, workflows, compliance requirements and technical processes at a much deeper level.
For the contract manufacturing, joinery and interior fit-out sectors, this presents enormous potential. AI will become increasingly capable of supporting product design, CAD development, estimating, procurement, production scheduling, quality assurance, health and safety compliance, installation planning and customer support.
As these specialist solutions continue to improve, it will become increasingly important that businesses understand how to evaluate, integrate and deploy them effectively.
IWIN’s AI awareness and implementation programme
Recognising both the opportunity and the pace of change, IWIN will launch a dedicated AI Awareness & Implementation Programme over the coming months. Details will be shared on our website, groups and social channels
Working with trusted enterprise AI specialists, including ZamZek and Worsta, our objective is to help members move beyond simply experimenting with AI and towards implementing it securely and effectively across their businesses.
Rather than taking a one-size-fits-all approach, IWIN will deliver a series of practical Google Meet webinars, each focusing on a specific business function and demonstrating how agentic AI can be applied to solve real business challenges.
Planned topics will include: HR and recruitment, Tendering and estimating, Production planning and scheduling, Sales and marketing, Finance and administration, Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), Health and safety, Quality management, Customer service, Project management, Product design and CAD workflows, Training and Heatlh & Safety.
Each session will showcase practical examples of AI in action, demonstrating how businesses can securely connect AI to existing systems such as Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, ERP platforms, CRM software and document management systems to automate repetitive workflows, improve decision-making and increase productivity.
The programme has been designed specifically for manufacturers and interior businesses, giving members direct access to trusted experts, practical demonstrations and proven implementation strategies.
Our goal is simple – to ensure members have the knowledge, confidence and trusted support required to identify the opportunities within their own businesses and begin implementing AI in a safe, secure and commercially beneficial way.
Details will be shared on our website, groups and social channels.
The opportunity is now
Although AI is advancing at an extraordinary pace, enterprise adoption across much of our sector is still in its early stages. That creates an opportunity.
There is still time for Irish manufacturers to position themselves at the forefront of this technological shift, building capability before widespread adoption becomes the norm.
Over the coming years, AI will become increasingly embedded in every business function, from the office to the factory floor, and businesses that understand how to deploy it effectively will be better positioned to improve productivity, respond more quickly to customers, attract skilled employees, and compete both domestically and internationally.
Artificial intelligence will not replace the craftsmanship, creativity, experience and relationships that define our industry.
It will, however, become an increasingly powerful tool that enables our people to deliver more, make better decisions and unlock new levels of efficiency.
At IWIN, we believe this represents one of the most important opportunities facing our sector, and we look forward to helping our members understand, implement and benefit from this rapidly evolving technology.
