Breakfast Business

Joe Lynam is joined on the show by Kate English Deloitte to look at today's business news.

Thursday's business news review along with Newstalk Business Editor Joe Lynam.

AI is rapidly demonstrating that it could destroy seemingly established sectors by doing in seconds for a few euros what up to this might have taken months and enormous fees.  So what should Chief executives and C-suite experts be doing to prepare themselves and make themselves irreplaceable for another few years at least.  On top of that, how do senior executives motivate their staff who will also be worrying about their own futures?   All to discuss with Gavin Megaw Senior Company Director who advises Chief Executives in times of stress. 

 My next guest has devised an AI chatbot which solves problems for tenants on behalf of landlords.  The company is called MARC and is already working with the likes of Sherry Fitzgerald and DNG lettings and hopes to expand into the US by talking to some of the giant property managers over there.  He’s only 22 and quit university to create the company and his name is Aaron Devitt the founder of MARC. 

It’s the 6th largest economy in the EU with its largest port and some of its most important companies including ASML and Unilever.  It’s also the 5th biggest trading partner for Ireland and now as a brand-new centrist coalition government.But what can we expect in economic terms from the new Rob Jetten minority government  in a time of trade anxiety and pressure from the US? All to discuss with Titia Ketelaar Commentator for the Dutch national broadcaster NRC. 

Most people will have booked their Easter holidays by now but some will still be deciding where to go for the summer or Christmas.  There’s plenty of choice and much of the research these days is done online.  But where are we holidaying these days and will the onerous checks to go to America including all your family’s details make selling holidays an issue?  All to discuss with Bladhana Richardson is with TravCorp Holdings which owns Destination2 . Also opening an affordable luxury’ store Destination2 in Ireland for the first time.

Wednesday's business headlines with Newstalk's Business Editor Joe Lynam.

The Spanish bank: BankInter is launching two new savings products this week and unlike all other fixed term savings plans, you can withdraw some of your savings and not lose all of your interest. It comes as the bank announced that it has 7% of all new mortgages being sold in Ireland under the brand-name Avant money. Joining Joe on the show was Ciarán Byrne, head of Everyday Banking at BankInter.

Last week the giant AI provider Anthropic issued a plugin to its Claude Large language Model.  When tested it was capable of carrying out the functions of many large software companies including the likes of Salesforce, Adobe, Workday and ServiceNow.  This led to a major sell-off in their shares and fears of the end of an era for Software as a Service or ‘SaaS’ companies. But is that overdone and how will AI and SaaS coexist? All to discuss with Alan Gleeson Sales and Marketing Consultant with 20 years' experience in SaaS. 

Newstalk's Business Editor Joe Lynam takes a run through Tuesday's business news headlines.

Last month the government announced significant changes to the rules surrounding data centres.  Gone was the moratorium imposed by the previous environment. Minister Eamonn Ryan and in came strict new rules for energy creation and usage. Digital Infrastructure Ireland says that the new rules are not enough and the likes of EirGrid and the ESB need to improve the provision of electricity infrastructure themselves. All to discuss with Michelle Wallace, Interim CEO of Digital Infrastructure Ireland.

The recent action plan on Infrastructure delivery cited the number of judicial reviews as one of the key reasons why big projects don't get completed on time or on budget. Irish courts take much longer than their European peers and one of the reasons for that is the fact that we have far fewer judges. Seán Guerin Senior Counsel and Chair of the Bar of Ireland believes that making Judicial reviews more difficult is a mistake.  Seán explained by to Joe this morning.

Monday's business news review with Newstalk Business Editor Joe Lynam and Kathleen Brooks from XTB.

Getting in the door with prospective clients is never an easy business.  Sometimes it’s via friends or existing customers.  Other times you have to do it the hard way and simply ring them up or slip into their DMs.  Aidan O’Driscoll has a cold calling service to get leads with the key officers within certain companies and business is good. Aidan spoke to Joe all about his business which is call Align which he is the founder.

The US government now demands to see your social media history before issuing a tourist visa or ESTA to that country.  That includes Irish would-be travellers and sports fans if Ireland qualifies for the World Cup this summer.  And Trump is already having an impact.  Foreign visitors to the US fell 4.2% last year while international travel worldwide grew 4%. Joe spoke to Gloria Guevara the Chief Executive of the World Travel & Tourism Council who carried out the research and began by asking her what the US authorities would be looking for in our social media history. 

Friday's business news and markets along with Joe Lynam and Aidan Donnelly from Davys. 

If you’re already a trained pilot but are between jobs.  Well you might not have to go too far to join an airline.  One of Europe’s largest low cost airlines Wizz Air is on the hunt for captains and first officers. Training takes place outside of Ireland and successful candidates would operate from Luton airport.   Joe was joined on the show by Yvonne Moynihan, Managing Director of Wizz Air UK to chat about their recruitment drive.

Joe Lynam takes a look at today's business news headlines.

Does your local chamber or business lobby group want to encourage people to spend more money in the locality? How about a type of payment card which can only be spent in a very specific area?  That's the idea being used by Chambers in Ireland in its new Town & City Gift Card.  It’s being created by a company called Miconex Ireland using MasterCard technology.  But will it work and create a localised Euro spending system?    All to discuss with Colin Munro the Chief Executive of Miconex.  

The Digital Hub in the Liberties area of Dublin was designed by Bertie Ahern two decades ago to lure high technology companies to the west inner city.  But the Digital Hub survived and is now home to 59 start-ups and scale-ups.  But plans are afoot to expand into a living as well as working quarter with 550 homes being built. But will they be affordable to ordinary people and will the area be able to attract big name digital clients?  All to discuss with Fiach MacConghail, Chief Executive Officer of The Digital Hub.