This article was originally published in the Business Post in December 2025 as part of their Future of Work report. Read the original article here. Kevin Hall, Senior Systems Engineer, Datapac.
Hybrid work has moved on from adaptation
The debate about hybrid working is largely settled. For most organisations, the question shifted some time ago from whether to offer it to how to make it work consistently well. Teams are asking how they can give every employee the same quality of experience regardless of where they are working from.
Part of what is driving this is generational. A growing proportion of the workforce has only ever known remote or hybrid working as the default, and for them, a five-day office routine is the exception. They bring expectations shaped by polished, intuitive digital experiences, and the workplace needs to meet that standard.
Delivering that consistency requires more than having the right tools available. It depends on how the environment is structured and how well it supports the way people actually collaborate. Many of the organisations Datapac works with are investing in Microsoft Teams Rooms as part of this effort. These spaces give in-person and remote participants a more equal meeting experience, reducing the friction that makes hybrid collaboration feel uneven. When integrated with the broader Microsoft 365 platform, they help hybrid work feel less like a compromise and more like a considered way of working.
The focus has moved from tool availability to configuration, governance and experience over time. Organisations are learning that the return on their Microsoft 365 investment is largely determined by how well the platform is set up and maintained, not simply whether it is in place.
AI is gaining ground, but organisations are taking a measured approach
Interest in AI is high across most sectors, but the majority of Irish organisations are approaching adoption carefully. The conversations Datapac is having with customers are focused on practical questions: where can AI reduce routine workload, how can it help teams get more from existing data, and what needs to be in place before it can be introduced safely.
The arrival of Microsoft Copilot has moved these conversations forward. By placing AI capabilities within everyday Microsoft 365 tools, it has prompted many organisations to take a serious look at whether their digital environment is ready for it.
At Datapac, our approach to supporting AI adoption follows three phases. The first is Readiness: getting the Microsoft 365 environment into the right condition, with access controls, permissions, governance structures and configurations properly in place. Without this groundwork, AI introduction tends to create more problems than it solves.
The second phase is Adoption. Rather than rolling AI out broadly from the outset, we help organisations establish a cross-departmental group of users who can test Copilot in real working conditions, identify genuine use cases and surface measurable business value. This creates internal advocates who understand both the capability and the boundaries of the technology.
The third phase is Expansion. With validated use cases and a clear picture of where the value lies, AI can be introduced more widely and with much greater confidence. This staged approach is slower than simply turning Copilot on for everyone, but the outcomes are more durable and the risks are better managed.
What the pattern tells us
Across hybrid work and AI, the same theme keeps emerging. Organisations that make the most progress are not necessarily those who adopt the newest tools first. They are the ones who invest in building the digital confidence to use those tools well.
Leaders want to know that the systems supporting day-to-day operations are secure, resilient and capable of supporting what comes next. A well-configured Microsoft 365 environment plays a central role in that. It strengthens security, improves how information moves across the organisation, and provides a stable foundation for the technologies that are still emerging.
Datapac has been supporting Irish organisations through technological change for over four decades. That experience shapes how we approach Microsoft 365 today: not as a product to deploy, but as a platform to build on.