We recently hosted our Dublin AI Meetup. The event brought together professionals from the technology and change sectors to explore the latest AI advancements and share real-world use cases, showcasing the practical implementation and business impact of AI across industries.
The session was moderated by Eric Booth, Technology Recruitment Lead at Nicoll Curtin, and featured two expert speakers. Lynsey Byrne, RPA Manager at Bord Gáis Energy, shared her experience leading intelligent automation initiatives within a major energy organisation. Jamie Hackett, Specialist Solution Architect for AI at Red Hat, brought a technical perspective on the rise of agentic AI and the role of open source in enabling it.
It was great to see so many people at different stages of their AI journey engaging in the conversation, asking questions, and sharing their own experiences.
Highlights from the discussion
1. Beyond the Bot: Building Trust in AI-Driven Change
Lynsey Byrne explored how organisations can adopt AI with confidence and clarity. She addressed common concerns about job security, privacy, and accountability, encouraging teams to see AI as a supportive tool rather than a replacement. She posed a thought-provoking question: “If you could add 10 people to your team, what work would you like them to do?”
Byrne shared how her organisation introduced AI through small, high-impact automation pilots, delivering measurable time and cost savings. She highlighted the importance of transparency, workshops, and open communication in helping people understand the technology and building trust throughout the change process.
2. The Power of Open Source When It Comes to Agentic AI
Jamie Hackett discussed how open source is speeding up progress in agentic AI. He highlighted the main capabilities of these systems, such as tool use, multistep planning, reasoning, orchestration, and communication, and why building them is more challenging than it appears.
Hackett also introduced Llama Stack, a modular platform that standardises the Agent API layer, making it easier to build, scale, and deploy AI applications. He walked the attendees through how it connects to models, tools, and logs, and demonstrated how experts can develop agentic RAG systems, query vector databases, and interact with models directly through JupyterLab.
Thank you to everyone who joined us. We look forward to hosting more meetups that support Dublin’s tech community and foster meaningful discussions about the future of intelligent systems.