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Carolan Lennon on redefining leadership in the age of AI
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From transforming Ireland’s telecoms industry to leading Salesforce Ireland through the next tech revolution, Carolan Lennon has built her career on courage, curiosity, and consistency. Recently recognised as CEO of the Year at the IMAGE PwC Businesswoman of the Year Awards 2025, Carolan shares how to lead with values, empower teams, and navigate the rise of intelligent AI agents, all while staying true to what really drives progress: people.
Carolan Lennon, Country Leader of Salesforce Ireland, has built a career not on a rigid path, but on strategic, values-led pivots that have kept her at the vanguard of technological change.
During her time as Eir’s (first female) CEO she successfully navigated the transformation of Ireland’s telecommunications sector before making the decisive move to global software giant, Salesforce – a transition that has culminated in her recent recognition as CEO of the Year at the IMAGE PwC Businesswoman of the Year Awards 2025.
Here, Lennon speaks about the career choices that defined her success and the current leadership challenge: integrating intelligent AI agents into the future of work.
We are entering one of the most significant shifts in how businesses operate - this is not about simply adding automation, but about fundamentally reimagining how people and intelligent AI agents work together.
The foundation: curiosity and calculated risk
Lennon’s career began with a clear professional commitment: to build a life and career in Ireland. She secured a grant to study IT and Maths at UCD, but an early graduate job lacked the sense of purpose she required. This drive for more meaningful work spurred her first major professional gamble: pursuing a full-time MBA at Trinity College Dublin (TCD).
This decision was a significant financial leap, requiring her to step away from a stable job and fund a course that she describes as a “game-changer.” “I think it was something like £13,000 at the time to do a full-time MBA in Trinity and it was one of the best decisions I ever made,” she recalls. “We had bought our first home, an apartment in the Financial Services Centre – we’d enough money to pay the mortgage and to live for one year, but that was it.”
The emotion of this period remains today: “I absolutely adore Trinity, when I walk in there now, under those arches, onto the cobbles, the hair on the back of my neck still stands up.”
It was the MBA that secured her first start in her telecoms career with a job in Eircell, the Irish company that was later acquired by Vodafone.
“I had the opportunity to combine my tech background, with my MBA, to set up their CRM. It was a whirlwind few years. I did my MBA in 1997, got married in 1999 and then went from their head of CRM to the consumer director over seven years, and had three kids along that time as well,” she explains.
Speaking about her trajectory at the time, she just puts a lot of it down to luck in timing. “I think it was just a great fit, I loved what I was doing. Mobile was flying and there were loads of opportunities, it was a great time to be working in the industry, ” she says. “In terms of pivots in your life – that sliding doors moment – I think deciding to do the MBA and move into mobile technology was a game changer.”
The telco mastery: From consumer to network strategy
Lennon’s tenure in telecommunications was marked by her passion for the industry’s constant evolution. “It’s probably all of the change. I mean, if you think about where it started, in Eircell, it was the start of mobile. At that time it was mostly only business people who had mobile phones, and then when we opened the market everyone who wanted a mobile phone could have one,” she explains.
“It was a time of huge change. When I first joined I was ‘direct to consumer’ sales but then the wholesale business took off and I was offered a role there. So, on a Friday, Sky and Vodafone were my biggest competitors in consumer sales, then on Monday they were my biggest customers,” Lennon remembers.
She went from fast-paced consumer sales with early predictions to a world where deals took over a year to pull together. “It was really strategic, because you’re investing millions in the network, and you need to get it right,” she adds. Her next move was becoming managing director of Wholesale & Networks, inspiring her with even more passion for what she was doing.
“Networks are the heart and soul of a telecom business. Once you work in that arena you understand what’s involved in building and repairing and maintaining networks. Access to strong, reliable networks makes such a difference in people’s lives,” explains Lennon.
She went on to become Eir’s first female CEO, a role she held for four years after she was appointed to lead the telecoms business in 2018, having served as MD of the Wholesale and Networks division since 2016.
As CEO, Lennon oversaw developments including major investments in the company’s 5G network, the roll-out of a new mobile brand and the key acquisition of Evros.
And then Lennon sought a new challenge and driven by a desire to avoid working for a direct competitor she pivoted once more. “Eir was my first love; it would have felt disloyal, so I wanted to change the industry,” she explains.
Navigating the matrix at Salesforce
Lennon’s transition to Country Leader for Salesforce Ireland in 2022 presented a completely different operating model. She admits she underestimated the scale and complexity of moving to an American multinational. “I probably underestimated the change from industry and how challenging that would be, and completely underestimated the different model, the scale, the American multinational and the matrix,” she says. Her early days were spent simply trying to understand the inner mechanics: “I don’t know how to get anything done. How do I figure out how to get anything done around here?”
Crucially, what attracted her to Salesforce was its explicit focus on its corporate values. When she researched and interviewed with the firm, she found that: “Everyone talked about the values in a way that made the values feel quite real, as opposed to, you know, maybe a poster on a wall somewhere. Everybody knew them and got them.” She also noted the deliberate focus on diversity and inclusion, observing that her first five interview panels were all women.
Now three years in, Lennon feels “very settled,” leading a diverse, multidisciplinary team of over 2,900 people. She feels a deep sense of pride in the Dublin hub, where she hears over 20 different languages spoken. “I walk around the tower in Dublin and I hear different languages being spoken. I wish I understood them! I just love hearing it. It feels so diverse and multicultural,” she shares.
Leading into the age of agentic AI
Lennon’s focus is now firmly fixed on guiding the Irish market through the next technological revolution: generative AI and the rise of the intelligent agent. She sees this as a moment of profound organisational change.
“We are entering what I believe is one of the most significant shifts in how businesses operate,” she explains. “This is not about simply adding more automation, but about fundamentally reimagining how people and intelligent AI agents work together.”
She believes this shift will unlock unprecedented efficiency and growth. “In this new model, AI agents do not just support individuals or teams, they can help transform entire organisations, creating opportunities for new revenue streams, new ways of working, and a scale of efficiency that simply has not been possible before.”
Lennon stresses that at Salesforce, they are approaching this change through a “values lens,” ensuring they have “honest conversations about transparency, fairness and the broader impact of our work.” The goal, she concludes, is not just an upgrade, but a fundamental improvement to the work experience. “Employees can spend more time on meaningful work, customers benefit from more personalised experiences, and businesses unlock entirely new models for growth.”
In terms of pivots in your life - that sliding doors moment - I think deciding to do the MBA and move into mobile technology was a game changer.
The power of consistency and curiosity
Lennon’s leadership philosophy is built on calmness and consistency, particularly during “the tough times,” which she sees as the real test of a leader. “I have built a lot of teams and they talk about trust, a lack of blame and really getting behind people when there are challenges,” she notes. “You’ll never have a career without challenges, but if you get behind your people and support them, they’ll find their way through.”
This embrace of new challenges extends to her personal life. She has taken up horse riding, a challenging pursuit from her childhood. “I started it a couple of years before COVID, and I absolutely love it, because you cannot be thinking about other things when you’re on a horse. You have to absolutely focus on the animal.”
This commitment to focus and lifelong learning is her core advice to rising professionals: “Remain curious and agile. Put your hand up and try something, you can always pivot.” Her own journey, from the foundations of the mobile network to the cutting edge of AI, is perhaps the perfect lesson for rising stars to highlight that strategic curiosity is the ultimate competitive advantage.
Photography by Kieran Harnett
This is the fourth in a series of articles written in collaboration with The Currency. Chief Executive of The Currency, Tom Lyons, was a judge at the annual IMAGE PwC Businesswoman of the Year Awards.
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