‘We are excited to tap into Cork’s technical talent’
A cybersecurity and compliance company is continuing to expand operations out of its international hub in Cork, it announced on Tuesday.
The ongoing investment will bring new specialist roles to the city centre location, including data scientists and artificial intelligence (AI) and large language model (LLMs) specialists, as Proofpoint launches its AI Innovation Centre.
Proofpoint has said cyberthreats are growing in sophistication and attackers are no longer simply targeting infrastructure; they’re targeting people. Proofpoint research shows in response to this, 87% of global chief information security officers (CISO) are looking to deploy AI-powered capabilities to help protect against human error and advanced human-centred cyber threats. Proofpoint has developed human-centric solutions designed and deployed with data privacy and security at front of mind.
Proofpoint’s new AI Innovation Centre will create a privacy-attested AI environment, ensuring the safety and anonymity of all data used to train Proofpoint’s models.
To drive this initiative, Proofpoint will be bringing 45 new specialist roles to its Ireland location, with a continued growth trajectory of up to 100 additional roles over the coming years. The roles will include data scientists, and AI and LLM specialists.
Looking ahead, Proofpoint will also bring a security operations team to Cork, and increase roles in other functions such as its data security team. As part of this, Proofpoint is also expanding its office space in Cork.
Remi Thomas, Chief Financial Officer at Proofpoint, said: “Our ongoing investment in our Ireland-based business is critical to our international growth, and to strengthening our ability to protect European organisations. Today’s cyber-attacks are growing in sophistication, and AI plays a critical role in an organisation’s defence against these threats.
“We are excited to tap into Cork’s technical talent base to further strengthen our industry-leading AI-driven solutions, enabling us to detect and prevent emerging threats at an unprecedented scale, while keeping data secure.”
Kevin Leusing, Chief Technologist, EMEA at Proofpoint, said: “AI is a defining capability that truly sets Proofpoint apart. We have some of the most extensive human-centric threat intelligence data, which amplifies the power of our AI solutions, and ensures that our models are continuously improving and adapting to new threats,” he said.
“The launch of our AI Centre here in Cork will further enhance these capabilities by integrating the latest AI advancements with our unparalleled dataset, staying ahead of even the most sophisticated attackers.”
This project is supported by the Government through IDA Ireland.
Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment Peter Burke, said: “The ongoing expansion of Proofpoint in Cork is a clear reflection of Ireland’s continued success in attracting world-class companies to establish their international hubs here. The creation of up to 100 new roles in the coming years, including in AI and large language models, further strengthens our position as a global technology and innovation hub.”
Michael Lohan, CEO, IDA Ireland, said: "Cork continues to cement its position as a leading cybersecurity hub, and (this) announcement from Proofpoint underscores the region’s growing significance in this sector.”