Highlights From Belfast’s Connected AI Conference

Last month, Belfast Metropolitan College hosted Connected AI: Northern Ireland’s AI Support Ecosystem. The conference brought AI experts together from all over Northern Ireland, with an aim to grow Belfast and the surrounding areas as an AI tech hub. Here are some of its main takeaways.

Agentic AIs in Private Sector Business

The main focus of the event was on agentic AI use cases for small and medium-sized businesses. Belfast’s ongoing fascination with AI is driven by the Centre for Digital Innovation and Technology, which, through the Belfast Region City Deal, funds projects aimed at boosting the city’s economy. For that to happen, AI has to become a useful and valuable addition to private business ventures.

A hands-on “AI Agents for Business” workshop was held, showing attendees how generative AI isn’t just a smart chatbot; it can independently manage some admin processes. The session focused on automating workflows, cutting down the kind of busywork that wastes time and frees business owners/employees for more impactful work.

It seems the right angle to introduce AI to businesses, especially in the context of the UK trying to level up its tech hubs. As more businesses focus on offering digital experiences online, AI will continue to find its place as an efficiency driver. From basic admin to entertainment services like iGaming, AI can play its part in the backend to bring costs down, improve productivity and give customers a better deal. For example, it’s used by a casino game aggregator that provides new operator sites with 25,000+ games. It gathers player behaviour insights and suggests game recommendations based on what they’ve already played.

Closing the AI Skills Gap

AI is still a sci-fi concept to many people, driving a lot of curiosity when it’s brought up. That’s why Connected AI focused on turning “curiosity into capability”. That is, closing the skills gap that persists with generative AI. In a country that still wrestles with a digital literacy crisis and fast-paced tech sectors, it requires all hands on deck.

This is where the focus on agentic AI is important. Anyone can prompt an AI chatbot, though knowledge of prompt engineering is ideal, but agentic AI use requires breaking down a task into logical steps, then commanding the AI to run through them.

That’s why ‘support’ was the word of the day, with Belfast Met’s Interim Director of Development and Partnerships, Siobhan Lyons, saying, ‘Getting to grips with AI can feel overwhelming, but the message from today is simple: businesses don’t have to navigate it alone. This conference brings together practical expertise, real examples and clear routes to support, so employers can take confident next steps, whatever stage they’re at.’

Connected AI emphasised the need to build an AI ecosystem that fosters educational outcomes, not just profit-driven ones aimed at small businesses. With a network in place, the successful AI ventures in Belfast and Northern Ireland could share some of their insights with others, creating a stronger, more robust tech economy in the city.