AI for Business Analysts: IIBA Ireland Event Recap

IIBA Ireland kicked off 2025 with a bang at its first in-person event of the year, and let’s just say—it did not disappoint.

Hosted by the amazing team at Morgan McKinley, “AI for Business Analysts: Enhancing Productivity With Your Own AI” was packed with energy, fresh insights, and a sense of community that reminded us why face-to-face events still matter.

The spotlight was firmly on artificial intelligence and its transformation of how business analysis professionals work. But instead of fear or skepticism, the tone was optimistic—AI isn’t here to replace us, it’s here to elevate us. And that theme resonated throughout the entire session.

João de Oliveira delivered an engaging and practical keynote, taking us from foundational AI concepts to real-world examples, and even pulling off a live demo that had the room buzzing—yes, he built an AI tool without being connected to the internet!

If that’s not wizardry, I don’t know what is.

Here are a few golden nuggets from João’s talk and the overall discussion:

• AI is changing how we work, not if we work. Our roles are evolving from just gathering information to refining and validating the outputs from AI tools.
• Critical thinking is our superpower. AI might generate content, but it’s our analysis and stakeholder alignment that turns it into value.
• Prompt engineering is the new must-have skill. Crafting the right queries gets you the right answers—and it’s a skill that every business analysis professional can and should build.
• Let AI draft your docs. From user stories to business cases, AI can take care of the first draft so you can focus on what matters—strategy, stakeholder alignment, and delivering impact.
• Never stop learning. AI literacy, ethics, predictive analytics, data governance—these aren’t passing fads, they’re essential knowledge for the modern business analysis professional.

Huge thanks to Seán Pardy, Anna Mooney, and the entire Morgan McKinley team for their support in bringing this event to life. And to everyone who joined us—whether you came to learn, connect, or just to see what all the AI fuss is about—we’re so glad you did!

If this event was any indication, 2025 is going to be a stellar year for IIBA Ireland. Stay curious, stay bold, and get ready to build your own AI-powered future.

If you’re interested in local, community-based events on a variety of business analysis topics, there are hundreds to choose from. Chapters around the world host events all the time, in every time zone and numerous languages. Explore IIBA’s Chapter Events Calendar for the full list.

About the Author

James Dean is an experienced, confident, and motivated business analyst with over six years of experience who has worked in various domains such as corporate and business registries, life sciences, and energy. He’s always striving to seek best practices for business analysts and the business analysis profession.