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Irish duo's Solidroad start-up lands $6.5m in funding as its AI takes over contact centre staff training

Irish duo's Solidroad start-up lands $6.5m in funding as its AI takes over contact centre staff training

Mark Hughes is sitting in Solidroad's Dublin office, patiently waiting for his US visa to arrive before he rejoins the rest of the AI-powered start-up in San Francisco.
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PayPal to add 100 high-tech jobs in Dublin with AI fraud and data science centre
PayPal to add 100 high-tech jobs in Dublin with AI fraud and data science centre

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time6 hours ago

  • Irish Times

PayPal to add 100 high-tech jobs in Dublin with AI fraud and data science centre

PayPal is to create 100 high-tech jobs in Ireland as the payments company establishes a new artificial intelligence (AI) fraud and data science centre here. The payments company is hiring across AI engineering, data science, software development, risk modelling and cybersecurity. PayPal, which already employs about 1,500 people here, said the new jobs would be located at the company's headquarters in Dublin and would support key areas such as loss prevention and enhancing customer experiences. 'As we shape the next generation of digital payments, the talent and innovation coming from Ireland will play a critical role,' said Aaron J Webster, global chief risk officer at PayPal. READ MORE 'This expansion reflects both our confidence in the local ecosystem and our ambition to build an AI-driven, data-powered future that embeds trust and safety in every transaction. We are proud to deepen our commitment to Ireland and to invest in highly skilled roles that will help shape the future of PayPal globally.' The expansion is being supported by IDA Ireland. Minister for Employment Peter Burke said the move was a strong vote of confidence in the State as a location for high-value tech investment. How will the updated National Development Plan shape Ireland in years to come? Listen | 35:59 PayPal said the expansion was a 'new chapter' for the Irish operation, which was originally set up as a customer service hub. It is now being developed as a centre for innovation and the Irish team is expected to play a key role in the global network, working closely with the company's other innovation hubs. However, last year, the company laid off almost 300 staff over two separate rounds of job cuts as the global operation slimmed down amid fierce competition in the payments markets. At the time, the company said it would continue to hire for strategic roles. Those job losses followed cutbacks in 2023, when the firm said it would reduce its global workforce by 7 per cent, including a number of jobs in Dublin and Co Louth, with its office in Dundalk also closed as part of the cost-cutting plan. The new roles will erase some of those losses, although it still leaves it below pre-2023 levels.

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Irish Independent

time3 days ago

  • Irish Independent

Impact of AI explained to EU Ambassadors by Wicklow-Wexford TD

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Is it time for a new kind of CEO at Apple?
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Irish Times

time5 days ago

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Is it time for a new kind of CEO at Apple?

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