ARTICLE
9 July 2026

Technology Report 2026 – Return On Investment: The Key Commercial Question

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William Fry

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William Fry is a leading corporate law firm in Ireland, with over 350 legal and tax professionals and more than 500 staff. The firm's client-focused service combines technical excellence with commercial awareness and a practical, constructive approach to business issues. The firm advices leading domestic and international corporations, financial institutions and government organisations. It regularly acts on complex, multi-jurisdictional transactions and commercial disputes.
Irish organisations face mounting challenges in demonstrating measurable returns from their AI investments, with 69% of larger companies actively concerned about ROI and only 11% reporting positive results to date. As new EU regulations including the AI Act, DORA, NIS 2, and the Data Act introduce stringent requirements, many are forced to revisit first-generation AI contracts that inadequately addressed risk allocation and return metrics.
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We are delighted to share the third edition of the William Fry Technology Report.

69% of larger Irish organisations remain actively concerned about extracting measurable return from the AI solutions they have already procured, and only 11% report a positive return to date.

The issue is compounded by first-generation AI contracts that transferred risk to the buyer while leaving the return question undefined, and which many organisations are now revisiting as the EU AI Act, DORA, NIS 2, and the Data Act introduce requirements those contracts do not adequately address.

Dr. Barry Scannell, Partner in our Technology group, examines what renegotiation looks like in practice, the five principal barriers to scaling AI identified in this year’s survey, and how the economics of AI contracts are beginning to shift in favour of buyers prepared to negotiate.

Explore ‘Return on Investment: The Key Commercial Question‘below, or read our full report here.

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