Which AI tools? Most job ads don't say

If a job ad asks for "AI tools" and names none, answer it with names. Say which tools you use, what you use them for, and how you check what comes back.

We read 636 Irish marketing and sales job ads that were live on 24 September 2026. They are part of The AI Ask, our quarterly count of what these ads ask people to do with AI.

Employers name their other tools. Salesforce is named in 51 of the 636 ads. Excel is named in 43. Canva is named in 22.

With AI it is different. 56 of the 636 ads ask the person to do something with AI.

So we looked in every ad for nine well-known AI tools, among them ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Copilot. 6 of the 636 ads name one. In 3 of the 6 the name is not something the ad asks of the applicant. That leaves 3 ads that ask the applicant for one of those tools. Osborne Recruitment lists ChatGPT. DocuSign asks for familiarity with Gemini and NotebookLM. MongoDB asks for a deep understanding of coding tools such as Claude Code and Cursor.

I don't read this as employers not caring. I think it is early. An employer can know it wants people who use AI well and still be working out which tools it needs. That is my view, and the ads can't prove it.

This is one day of ads, and 56 is a small number. We count again in December.

Here is what to do.

1. If you are applying and the ad says "AI tools", name yours. Give the tool, the task you use it for, and how you check the result.
2. If you are hiring and you know which AI tools your team uses, name them in the ad and say what they are for.
3. If you are hiring and still working that out, say so in the ad. Then ask candidates which tools they use and why.

Sam