The Cyber Ireland Pulse Survey 2025 aimed to understand the business outlook of the cybersecurity sector over the past year and next 12 months.
Cyber Ireland member companies were surveyed in September 2025. A total of 56 companies responded to the survey, 36% were large national or multinational companies and 64% were small or medium-sized enterprises.
Respondents’ organisations are primarily external cybersecurity providers and their roles are senior leaders including Founders, CEOs, C-Suite, or Cybersecurity manager.
Business Outlook
In 2025, have the following increased, stayed the same or decreased:
Looking ahead for the next 12 months, what is the business outlook:
Sales Growth: There has been strong sales growth over the past 12 months, with 63% companies increasing sales domestically and 46% with increased exports. This looks to continue into 2026, with 68% expecting domestic sales to increase over the coming year and 66% expect to increase exports.
Cost of Doing Business: However, over the past 12 months, 89% of cybersecurity companies experienced an increase in the cost of doing business. Looking ahead to the coming 12 months, 82% expect the cost of doing business to increase. To remain internationally competitive, we must address these increasing costs, while it also represent an opportunity for companies to take stock, streamline operations and invest in innovative growth strategies.
Recruitment: The strong revenue growth is reflected in recruitment for the sector: 80% of cybersecurity companies are currently hiring or plan to hire in the coming 12 months. Only 20% are not hiring and no companies plan to reduce their workforce.
Challenges to the Sector
Top challenges that companies are facing in the coming 12 months:
There are expected challenges for the sector over the coming year, the top three being: 1) revenue growth, 2) cost of doing business and 3) skills, which includes recruitment, upskilling and retention.
There are cybersecurity skills shortages, both in Ireland and internationally. The hardest roles to fill for companies are security architects, governance risk and compliance (GRC), followed by cloud security.
These roles are challenging to recruit for due to high salary expectations and a lack of candidates with the necessary skills or experience in the market.
Other challenges include technology advancement (and adoption of AI), uncertain economic conditions, regulatory changes and compliance, and securing funding or investment.
To what extent are companies integrating AI technologies in operations:
Adoption of AI is critical for business, and for cybersecurity companies who are implementing AI technologies as part of their operations. 28% are AI leaders, with AI fully integrated across the company or significant implementation across multiple areas. Another 33% have partial implementation in specific areas. 39% are piloting selected technologies or in the early stages of exploration.
This research provides an understanding of the business outlook and challenges for the sector. Cyber Ireland will advocate for our sector’s needs, working with our partners across the public and private sectors to ensure we realise Ireland’s Cyber Potential.
Eoin Byrne, Cluster Manager, Cyber Ireland commented on the launch of the research: “The cybersecurity industry is critical to providing national cyber resilience, underpinning the growth of our digital economy, but also as a key economic sector in its own right. We must invest in developing our cybersecurity sector, through scaling Irish cybersecurity companies and ensuring we remain a competitive and attractive location for multi-national cybersecurity operations. Establishing a National Cybersecurity Research and Innovation Centre must be a priority to realise our potential to be cyber leader in Europe.”
Brian Honan, Cyber Ireland’s Chairperson and CEO of BH Consulting said: “ The cybersecurity threats we face impact all organisations and don’t stop at borders. That’s why Cyber Ireland is built on public-private partnerships bringing together industry, education, research, and government. We’re also working on an All-Island basis with partners in Northern Ireland, and right across Europe to improve cybersecurity through collaboration, developing skills and innovation.