IBM announces 75 new R&D jobs in Waterford

In addition to the jobs, IBM Z is opening a new global development lab in the county.

A year after announcing 800 high-tech jobs in Ireland, IBM is creating another 75 R&D jobs at its Waterford site. The new roles will be based around developing IBM’s leading enterprise infrastructure Z and Linux One.

In addition to the jobs, IBM Z is also announcing the launch of its latest global development lab in Waterford. With this, IBM Z has 12 global development labs spread worldwide.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with SiliconRepublic.com, IBM Z and Linux One general manager Ross Mauri is all praise for the Irish talent pool and work culture.

“I was attracted here because of the talent pool,” he said. After speaking with IBM subsidiary Red Hat’s CEO Matt Hicks and visiting the location himself, Mauri is convinced that the Irish south-east is a match for what he wants.

“[The jobs are] going to start off with 75 and we’ll see where it goes,” he added.

Earlier this week, Mauri visited the IBM and Red Hat teams based in Waterford. He also visited the South East Technological University (SETU) and met the college deans and president.

“I went to the Walton Institute and learned about the research they do [and] looked at their data centre,” he said. The Walton Institute is an information and communication technology research and development centre based at SETU.

“It’s perfect for a development lab. I’m very happy that we made this decision,” Mauri told SiliconRepublic.com

New employees will be hired during a three-year period starting in 2025. Elaborating on the roles, Mauri explains that the team will be developing the Linux operating system.

“These people are going to essentially write system-level code.” The new hires could also be speaking with clients or collaborating with Mauri’s 11 other global development labs.

Mauri is looking for young talent that wants to stay and grow in the south-east. “It just seemed like a perfect place … a place where people want to stay,” he said.

IBM Z is the company’s enterprise-grade mainframe computer system used by nearly all the world’s top banks and insurers, as well as a large number of government, healthcare, airline and retail organisations.

The system’s latest iteration, the Z-17, launched earlier this year, provides new AI capabilities, as well as a quantum-safe system, the company claims.

Mauri, who leads the charge as its GM, explains that Z-17 can conduct a “full AI inference fraud detection” on every bank transaction in a matter of milliseconds.

Moreover, the Z-17’s quantum-safe system means that IBM’s clients can future-proof their data in the inevitable event that quantum technologies advance enough to decrypt secure communication and digital signatures.

While IBM does not reveal its clients for security purposes, an IBM spokesperson said that “Ireland has and continues to be a key priority market” for the company, and that today’s (26 June) announcement with the Irish Government, along with IDA Ireland “underscores [the company’s] commitment to driving both innovation and growth locally”.

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