We’re proud to share that Aidan O’Shea has been featured in Business & Finance magazine, where he reflects on his experience as part of the EY Entrepreneur of the Year programme in the Emerging category.
Aidan and Hilary O’Shea co-founded Otonomee in 2020, right in the heart of the pandemic, with a mission to reinvent traditional business process outsourcing for a modern world.
In the feature, Aidan offers valuable insights into his goals and priorities, the impact of AI on the industry, along with practical advice for aspiring entrepreneurs launching their own ventures.
What inspired you to start your company?
There were two major inspirations for starting Otonomee:
The outsourcing industry, where I spent my career, was often characterized by poor employee experiences and the stereotype of call centres as chicken coops. This caused high employee turnover, which impacted the quality of service to clients. We felt we could address this and offer a better service to clients while also enabling a better employee experience through a remote model and by giving our people more autonomy to choose where and how they worked.
Secondly, I played a major part in businesses that had scaled and exited very successfully. After seeing it done before, I wanted to do it again, but this time for myself and felt I had the right experience and understood a formula that was required to lead and grow a startup to becoming a successful business.
What are your main priorities and goals in your role?
My main priority is to ensure we are always delivering value to our clients, always helping them grow and develop their business. We achieve that through having the right balance across the strategy we follow, capabilities we develop and the people and culture that ultimately determine our success.
How do you keep your team/staff motivated?
We keep the team motivated by making sure they continually understand our vision – where do we want to go, how are we different and what are our values. Each member of the team needs to know how they fit into the bigger picture. Communication is key and it’s important to reinforce our ‘Why’ at every opportunity. It’s also critical that we live our values daily and make sure the team is working in a positive and supportive culture.
What are the challenges facing the industry going forward?
The Outsourcing Industry has seen many big changes in the last 5 years with changes in how people want to work and the advent of AI amongst other things. The acceleration of remote working was a trend we observed and followed. AI has brought further change. We see AI as a massive opportunity as opposed to a threat and we believe our agility and adaptability will be an enabler for us to prosper.
Are there any major changes you would like to see in your sector?
We are pushing boundaries every day in how we provide service to our clients. We are moving from more traditional hiring models to give more flexibility to our clients; this will impact business models and pricing. As AI takes away the more basic work, we see outsourcing partners like Otonomee moving up the value chain, supporting customers with more challenging, higher-value, empathetic customer interactions.
What’s the best advice you’ve been given in business?
That advice was to fire ahead and establish a company together as husband and wife – many others told us not to do it, but it’s one of the business’s strengths…complementary skills, alignment and a shared vision.
What advice would you give to others starting out in business?
There are so many variables that are needed to grow a successful business. You need to have a vision for how the world can be different, try to build in a space you know and where your experience, skills and network can be leveraged. And be brave!
What have been your highlights in business over the past year?
Being chosen as Finalists on the 2025 EY Entrepreneur of the Year (EOY) programme has been the highlight. It’s the pinnacle of Irish business awards, and we are privileged to be part of an incredible finalist group of Irish success stories, as well as the wider EoY Alumni.
What does being part of the EY Entrepreneur Of The Year community mean to you, and how important is networking and connection to your journey as a business leader?
The EY network is the most incredible part of our year long programme as Finalists. Being an entrepreneur can be extremely challenging and a lonely place… up until we connected with this network! Every business has experienced what we have, shared insights and learnings are invaluable, everyone is very open and willing to share their journey. We have been hugely welcomed by the EoY Alumni Community.
What is the best book you’ve ever read (non-business) and why?
Bono’s autobiography Surrender. Great rock and roll stories. An unlikely global success from humble beginnings in an underdeveloped Dublin. Some incredible examples of entrepreneurialism, having a vision to change the world and moving Global Governments to support great causes.
What is your favourite hobby and why?
Cycling. It allows me to clear my head while getting great exercise. A lot of strategizing takes place on that bike!
What is your mantra for life?
“Don’t get too excited when things are good, or too down either when they’re bad… the race is long and, in the end, it’s really only with yourself!”
Click here to read the full article: AI had brought further change - Aidan O'Shea, Co-founder and CEO of Otonomee.
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