Ireland ranks in the top 15 countries with the strongest AI talent.Getty Images

Global demand for AI talent now exceeds supply by 3.2 to 1, with more than 1.6 million open AI roles but only around 518,000 qualified professionals available.

As businesses increasingly look beyond their domestic markets to fill specialist AI roles, Employer of Record experts at Teamed analysed global data to identify the countries with the strongest AI talent.

The rankings combine investment, hiring demand, talent concentration, research output, patents and workforce indicators to identify where businesses can access leading AI talent and why international hiring is becoming an increasingly important strategy.

The United States ranks first overall with an AI Talent Score of 9.18/10, supported by unrivalled investment in AI startups ($180,305 million) and generative AI ($52,843 million). However, despite its financial dominance, the US records a lower AI talent concentration than countries including India, Canada and Israel, suggesting global competition for skilled AI professionals is becoming increasingly intense.

While the United States dominates global AI investment, several European countries achieve world-leading AI talent scores with far smaller funding levels.

Sweden, Finland, Germany, Switzerland, Ireland and the Netherlands all rank among the global top 15 thanks to strong AI hiring, talent concentration and workforce quality. This suggests Europe is increasingly competing on its ability to develop and attract skilled professionals rather than simply outspend rivals.

Ireland

Ireland ranks 14th in the AI Talent Index with a score of 7.53/10, benefiting from a highly skilled AI workforce and strong demand for AI professionals. The country recorded an AI hiring index of 26.62% and an AI talent concentration of 1.38, placing it among the stronger performers for attracting and retaining AI talent.

However, Ireland attracted just $435 million in AI startup investment and $10.5 million in generative AI funding, while registering only 41 AI patents in 2024, the lowest patent total among the top-ranked countries, highlighting opportunities to strengthen AI research, innovation and commercialization.

Tom Price-Daniel, Co-founder of Teamed, says: "We are seeing AI hiring become more of a global recruitment problem. In countries like the UK, plenty of businesses are realizing the people they need just aren't available on their doorstep. Hiring internationally opens up a much bigger talent pool, but that's where things get complicated. Every country has its own rules around employment, payroll, tax and benefits, and those systems weren't really designed for companies hiring across borders. Frankly, the uncomfortable truth is that finding the right person is only half the job. Without the right infrastructure, global hiring can kind of feel like building a house with no foundations."

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The world's top countries for AI talent

  1. United States
  2. India
  3. Canada
  4. United Kingdom
  5. Israel
  6. Singapore
  7. Sweden
  8. Korea
  9. Australia
  10. France
  11. Germany
  12. Finland
  13. Switzerland
  14. Ireland
  15. Netherlands

* Countries included in the final tables were selected based on data availability across the chosen metrics. As a result, some countries, such as China, which has a strong AI presence, are not included due to data availability.