When people think about the world’s cybersecurity powerhouses, Silicon Valley, Tel Aviv or Singapore often spring to mind.

Ireland is less frequently mentioned, yet it has quietly become one of the most important locations for cybersecurity talent, research, and innovation.That transformation is something I’ve witnessed first-hand.

When TrendAI (formerly known as Trend Micro) established its European operations hub in Cork in 2003, we became the first dedicated cybersecurity company to set up in the city.

Back then, the focus was on multilingual customer support, finance, IT and sales.

More than two decades on, Cork has evolved far beyond a back-office operation. It is now home to two of TrendAI’s global threat research teams, alongside our Managed Detection and Response, Incident Response and Information Security functions.

Increasingly, it is where the research shaping our understanding of tomorrow’s cyber threats is taking place.

Today, more than 280 people work for TrendAI in Ireland, supporting customers in over 15 languages. Our average employee tenure is 6.5 years, while our leadership team averages more than 12 years with the company.

Four of TrendAI’s seven European Legal Directors are also based in Ireland. Those figures speak to something increasingly valuable in cybersecurity: experience.

Ireland’s success is often attributed to tax incentives, but that misses the point. In TrendAI’s case, the decision to invest here was never driven by tax. In fact, the financial regulations governing our Japanese HQ mean we do not benefit from lower corporation tax.

The reason is much simpler: talent. Ireland consistently produces highly skilled graduates with strong........

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