Emer Walshe
AI & Business Transformation Strategist

I turn AI ambition into working results.

I combine AI strategy, hands-on agentic AI builds and change management, so new technology gets adopted and delivers. Backed by 14+ years leading strategy and operations across telecoms, travel, education and technology.

Agentic AI AI strategy & governance Change management M.Sc. AI Engineering MBA, UCD Smurfit
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Emer Walshe
Emer Walshe signature
14+years in strategy & operations
200k+prospects classified with LLMs for a partnership business case
5,704registrations for an AI Week I piloted, then scaled
487k+customers a year served by teams I led
Experience

Fourteen years of transformation. Now powered by AI.

  1. Jul 2026 – Present

    AI & Business Transformation Strategist

    Independent consultant · advising organisations in the US and Europe
    • Build agentic AI that automates high-value workflows, with human approval and data protection designed in.
    • Take each workflow from process mapping and use-case prioritisation through business case, build, testing and roadmap.
    • Advise leadership on AI adoption, operating model design and the people side of transformation.
  2. Dec 2024 – Feb 2026

    Senior Director, Strategic Engagement & Global Events

    Quantic School of Business and Technology · AI-enabled EdTech, 155 countries
    • Used LLM-based classification on 200,000+ prospects to build the business case for the company's largest strategic partnership.
    • Piloted AI upskilling events, then scaled them into AI Week: 5,704 registrations and 2,100 programme offers.
    • Lifted in-person participation 412.5% year on year and delivered a 5x revenue increase on the events budget.
  3. Jul – Aug 2024

    Business Strategy Consultant

    Decision Analytics · MBA consulting project
    • Identified new revenue opportunities and built the strategic roadmap, presented to the CEO and CTO.
  4. 2020 – 2023

    Founder & Principal Consultant

    Professional English Academy
    • Grew an advisory and training practice for senior leaders from zero to six figures, with 65%+ of new work from referrals and repeat clients.
  5. 2017 – 2022

    Customer Experience & Field Operations Manager

    Jet2.com and Jet2holidays · Spain
    • Led a 50-person, multi-market team serving 487,000+ customers a year.
    • Lean Six Sigma transformation and a real-time transfer-optimisation system: 15% lower cost-to-serve, 12% faster transfers, 25% better airport flow.
  6. 2012 – 2015

    Regional Sales & Operations Manager

    Three Ireland
    • Drove change through a major acquisition integration, onto unified systems with minimal disruption.
    • Turned around an underperforming P&L, cutting losses 85%.
AI work & case studies

AI that does real work, with people in control.

Selected agents and transformation projects. Client names are kept confidential.

01

Map

Map the workflow end to end and find the real bottleneck.

02

Prioritise

Choose the use cases with the clearest value.

03

Make the case

Build the business case leaders can sign off.

04

Build & test

Build the agent with governance and guardrails in from day one.

05

Adopt

Lead the change so the new way of working sticks.

Agentic AI · Payments

Autonomous bill-payment agent

For a US expense-management and bill-payment company, I built an AI agent that automates the bill-payment workflow, working directly with the CEO and co-founders. The most important design decision wasn't technical. It was deciding what stays human.

Human control
A single-use approval gate: nothing is paid until a person approves it
Data protection
Card data is kept out of the model, enforced by automated leak tests
Delivery
Process mapping, business case, build, testing and implementation roadmap

"People adopt what they can see, understand and stop."

1Agent navigates the bill-payment process
↓
2Agent prepares the payment
↓
✓A person reviews and approves
↓
3Payment submitted, card data never seen by the model
LLMs · Strategic partnerships

AI-powered partnership business case

Used LLM-based classification to segment 200,000+ prospects and model ROI for an EdTech company. The analysis secured the company's largest strategic partnership.

200k+prospects classified
LLM classificationROI modellingPartnership strategy
AI proposition · Pilot to scale

AI Week

Tested demand for AI upskilling through small virtual events, then scaled what worked into a full AI Week for a global learning community.

5,704registrations · 2,100 programme offers
Design thinkingAI upskillingData-driven growth
Workflow automation · Content

Brand-voice content agent

An n8n agent that drafts weekly content from a structured ideas pipeline, in a defined brand voice. Content production is now a review step.

n8nLLMsPrompt design
Operations · Transformation

Airport operation redesign

A Lean Six Sigma programme across European regions, with journey mapping, piloted process redesign and a real-time transfer-optimisation system, adopted through the post-COVID restart.

−15%cost-to-serve · 25% better flow
Lean Six SigmaOptimisation techChange leadership
Speaking & workshops

Keynotes and workshops that leave people ready to act.

Bookings

Bring me to your conference, team or event.

Keynotes, workshops, panels and fireside chats for conferences, corporate teams, universities and leadership programmes, in Ireland and internationally.

  • Keynotes (20–45 minutes)
  • Half-day and full-day workshops
  • Panel hosting & fireside chats
Make a booking enquiry

Recent stages

Host, Partnerships Summit · Junior Chamber International European Conference 2026 (1,200+ attendees)

Keynote representing Ireland · Junior Chamber International European Conference 2025 (1,000+ attendees)

Session host · Multiple International Corporate Events

Keynote

The AI gap isn't technology. It's change.

Why AI is working for individuals but not yet for organisations, and what leaders can do this quarter to close the gap.

Workshop

AI literacy & responsible AI for leaders

Practical AI capability: what agents can do today, applying AI tools to real business problems, and governance, data privacy and human oversight.

Workshop

Negotiations: expand the pie & claim your value

How to create more value in every negotiation, and make sure you capture your fair share of it.

Keynote · Workshop

The Art of Saying No

Why effective leaders protect their focus, and practical ways to say no without burning bridges.

Workshop

Public speaking & confidence

Hands-on, practice-heavy sessions for nervous beginners and seasoned presenters alike.

Panel · Programme

Women in leadership

From JCI Ireland's Women in Leadership Programme and "The Unsaid Report", which gathered 300+ women's real leadership challenges.

Recommendations

What people say about working with me.

“
What I appreciated most about working with Emer is how she tackles problems. She's a sharp, structured thinker who keeps a clear head when things get complicated and works through every challenge thoughtfully.
Alexie HarperCo-Founder & Chief Product Officer, Quantic School of Business and Technology
“
I worked with Emer in Three just as we were moving into the transformation of customer service in stores. Emer had a great understanding of the business, however, it was how she led her teams, that's where she excelled. There were some really tough times, adapting to new ways of working, as well as the need for day to day operations, and I really depended on Emer's skills.
Justin HenshawManaging Partner, Clifford Learning & Business Consulting
“
Emer's impact on our organization was immediately felt. She brings a level of insight, strategy, and commercial savvy to community building, engagement, and events. She also secured multiple partnerships and sponsorships, a testament to her ability to balance community building with a commercial lens.
Rachel FletcherMarketing Director, ZRG
Articles & thought leadership

Writing on AI, change and leadership.

Featured · AI & change · Oct 2026

The AI Gap Isn't Technology. It's Change.

AI is already making individuals more productive, but few organisations see it on the bottom line. Drawing on the International AI Summit in Dublin and my own agent builds, I argue the gap is about change, not tools, and that the real design work is deciding what stays human.

Read on LinkedIn ↗
Redesign the workflownot just the toolset
Decide what stays humanand say it out loud
Lead the change visiblyso people come with you
AI for goodUCD Smurfit · Apr 2024

Google's "multi-sided" movement to AI for Social Good

How Google could use its AI for Social Good projects, from wildfire to flood forecasting, to strengthen its platform business and its sustainability record.

↗ ResilienceThe Leading Word · Ch. 03

Marvel almost went bankrupt

How a studio that sold off its best-known heroes rebuilt with what it had left, and why resilience is a decision, not a temperament.

↗ TrustThe Leading Word · Ch. 02

Why did Nintendo build a weaker machine?

Keeping its people through two loss-making years made Nintendo's blue-ocean comeback possible. Trust as strategy, not sentiment.

↗ StewardshipThe Leading Word · Ch. 01

What does Disney sell?

Bob Iger's turnaround, and the difference between running a company and stewarding one.

↗
Contact

Let's turn your AI and Leadership ambition into results.

Whether it's an AI agent, an adoption strategy, a transformation programme or a speaking slot, tell me what you're working on and I'll come back to you.

hello@emerwalshe.com Connect on LinkedIn

Based in Ireland · working with organisations in Europe and the US