Joe Connaughton brings over 35 years of experience in business, technology, and sport to his role as senior consultant at AppAdvisor. His method is grounded in one principle: work smarter, not harder – now with the most transformative tool yet: Artificial Intelligence.
Joe has lived through multiple technology revolutions: the rise of personal computing in his early days when he founded a very successful ICT support company. Also, the spread of enterprise IT, and the explosion of mobile and cloud systems in his second business venture in an internationally focussed mobile app publishing company. Each changed the way businesses operate. However, none compares to AI, a shift so profound that it redefines productivity, decision-making, and how work itself is done.
His background spans enterprise IT deployments, operational leadership in small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and three decades of competitive sport. He has seen how complexity, jargon, and trend-chasing derail progress. His approach strips that back: use the right tools, simplify and apply them with discipline, and always focus on tangible business outcomes.
At AppAdvisor, Joe integrates practical AI into business improvement, not hype, but real gains in time, cost, and clarity. From workflow automation to predictive planning, he helps clients adopt AI as part of a bigger strategy rooted in Lean principles, strategic foresight, and cultural clarity.
Joe doesn’t follow trends; he aligns tools with purpose. In today’s noise-heavy landscape, his value lies in cutting through it.
Joe(y) is a former Roscommon GAA player and now a fanatical supporter, an occasional cyclist and a very poor golfer.
See my 30 videos the essence of working smarter – not harder.
Jack leads AppAdvisor's AI advisory and digital strategy work for Irish SMEs. He is the next generation in the business, working alongside his father Joe to bring a current, practical lens to how small businesses adopt new technology.
He holds a First Class Honours degree in Business Information Systems from the University of Galway and is CompTIA Security+ certified. He has worked hands-on with SMEs across Ireland, the USA, Canada and Australia on cloud systems, automation, cybersecurity and practical AI. Not the version you read about in headlines, but the kind where a small company gets hours back every week because the right system was set up around it.
AI is where Jack spends most of his thinking time. He stays close to the latest models and tools, and pays particular attention to the EU AI Act and what it means for Irish businesses adopting AI. Most owners do not need a robot. They need clarity, direction, and someone honest enough to tell them what is worth using and what is hype.
Where Joe brings decades of business judgement, Jack brings the detail: tool selection, workflow automation, AI strategy and the systems that quietly run a modern company. Our work is advisory first. When a client wants hands-on help putting the plan in place, Jack can take that on privately, outside the Digital for Business programme. He also knows how younger customers buy, scroll and decide, which feeds into the marketing and customer experience advice we give.
The goal is simple. Make technology serve the business, not the other way around.
Away from work, Jack is usually into something physical: hanging off a chin-up bar, chasing a football through muck, or halfway through a new health kick he read about the night before. He likes getting stuck into things that are hard, awkward or slightly cracked.
