OpenText currently employs 275 people across its Cork and Galway sites, with the majority based in Cork. The 400 new roles will more than double that headcount, with hiring spread across software development, R&D and digital operations. The centrepiece of the expansion is a new Centre of Excellence in Cork, which will serve OpenText's clients across Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
What OpenText Is Building
Teams at the new Cork Centre of Excellence will focus on three areas the company describes as foundational to trusted enterprise AI: agentic AI, sovereign cloud and cybersecurity. That includes work on multi-agent orchestration, sovereign data zones and continuous compliance for AI systems operating in regulated environments.
For OpenText, the expansion is about proximity to clients who need AI deployed with tighter control over data governance and cyber resilience. Chief Digital Officer Shannon Bell pointed to growing demand from organisations across regulated and mission-critical sectors that want to deploy AI securely and govern it responsibly in increasingly complex digital environments.
Building that capability out of Cork and Galway, rather than centralising it elsewhere in Europe, signals confidence in the depth of talent available in those cities specifically.
Why the Timing Matters
The announcement was made in Dublin alongside Taoiseach Micheál Martin and IDA Ireland CEO Michael Lohan, and IDA Ireland is backing the investment. It's described as the largest Irish investment to date by a Canada-headquartered technology company.
The timing isn't incidental either. It lands just as Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney visits Ireland this weekend, reinforcing a deepening economic relationship between the two countries. It also comes as Ireland prepares to take on the EU Presidency — a period during which the government has been keen to position the country as a serious hub for AI and digital infrastructure policy in Europe.
The Regional Dimension
That regional dimension matters beyond this one announcement. IDA Ireland's most recent figures show 57% of all FDI investments secured in 2025 went to locations outside Dublin, continuing a multi-year shift toward regional balance.
Other AI-linked regional wins this year include Datavant's new R&D centre in Galway (125 jobs) and Ericsson's €200m investment in its Athlone facility. OpenText's move fits a clear pattern: multinationals are increasingly willing to build serious AI and cloud capability outside the capital, and Cork and Galway are two of the cities benefiting most consistently from that trend.
What It Means for Local Business
For Irish SMEs and suppliers in the south and west, that scale of hiring tends to ripple outward. Recruitment agencies, commercial property, local services and tech subcontractors in both cities can expect increased demand over the next three years, alongside tighter competition for skilled talent in AI, cybersecurity and cloud roles — areas where salaries are already running well above the national average.
The Bottom Line
Ireland keeps landing major AI infrastructure investment, and this one lands outside Dublin, in a city where OpenText is set to more than double its existing headcount. If you're a Cork or Galway business in tech services, recruitment, or commercial property, 400 new high-skilled jobs over three years is worth factoring into your own hiring and growth plans now.
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