Reflections and insights from the Medical Technology Ireland conference in Galway

Lloyd Hines shares his key takeaways from the Medical Technology Ireland conference in Galway and what they mean for the future of the medical device sector.

I always come back from a conference with a notebook full of half‑finished thoughts, and this year’s Medical Technology Ireland event in Galway was no exception. Over two days, I spoke with everyone from engineers through to business leaders at leading contract manufacturers, suppliers and OEMs.” The same themes kept surfacing, whether in panel discussions, conversations on the exhibition floor or over coffee between meetings.

Here are the six that stood out most for me.

AI: opportunity, compliance and risk

AI remains a serious topic of conversation. It is now being embedded into every stage of device development, not just to solve problems teams are dealing with today, but increasingly to help anticipate what might come next.

There is clearly excitement around the impact of AI, but there is also an air of caution, and rightly so. Questions around data security, cybersecurity, compliance and validation all need to be considered when using AI in such a highly regulated environment.

Vertical integration is an increasing competitive advantage

OEMs are increasingly looking for suppliers who can support them end‑to‑end across design, regulatory, manufacturing and supply chain, helping to reduce complexity, speed time‑to‑market and de‑risk the supply base. The appetite for piecing together multiple single-capability partners is shrinking.

For businesses in the supply base, the message is clear. Those positioning themselves as true end-to-end partners are better placed to both win and retain this kind of work.

Choosing the right long-term partner matters more than ever

Technical capability is the easy bit to assess. The harder question is whether that partner will still be the right fit as products, volumes and requirements change. Can they scale with you? Can they support you through the product lifecycle? Will they continue investing in the capabilities you need?

For OEMs, changing partners once a product is in production can be a significant undertaking, making the long-term fit just as important as what a CMO can deliver today.

Supply chain resilience, not just capability

I sat in on a really good panel discussion on supply chain resilience, and it opened with something refreshingly honest, things will go wrong at some point, so plan for that rather than pretend otherwise. It’s not really about whether a supply chain works well when everything’s going smoothly, it’s whether it holds up when something doesn’t. That means actually having visibility across the chain, understanding where the dependencies sit, and having the right communication lines already in place, not scrambling to build them after something’s gone wrong.

Smarter, smaller, more complex devices

Long-term monitoring, implantables, smart catheters, there’s a lot of genuine momentum here, and it’s exciting to see. But it also raises the bar. As the devices themselves get more sophisticated, so does everything that goes into developing and manufacturing them, better materials, tighter tolerances, more capable systems behind the scenes.

Bring suppliers in early

Bring your CMO partners in early. Not after the key decisions are made, but from the start, as part of the actual team rather than someone you call in once the design’s locked. Every time this came up, it was tied to the same outcome, fewer surprises, better results.

Given everything above, from increasing device complexity to the importance of resilience and long-term partnership, early involvement feels less like a nice-to-have and more like a necessity.

What this means for hiring in MedTech

These themes don’t just shape technology and operations, they shape the people organisations need too. A few things stood out to me:

• End-to-end thinking is becoming a valued skill. As OEMs look for partners who span design, regulatory, manufacturing and supply chain, professionals who understand how those functions connect are increasingly valuable.
• Digital and AI fluency is moving into the mainstream. Teams need people who can make the most of AI tools while understanding the compliance and risk considerations that sit alongside them.
• Collaboration and communication matter as much as technical skill. Early supplier involvement and supply chain preparedness both depend on people who can build strong working relationships and keep information flowing.
• Complexity demands specialist depth. As devices get smaller and smarter, expertise in advanced materials, precision manufacturing and development systems becomes harder to find and more important to secure.

Final thoughts from my attendance at Medical Technology Ireland

Events like this one are a good reminder that some of the most useful insight comes from the conversations around the programme, where people talk candidly about what’s working, what’s keeping them up at night, and what they’re really looking for in a partner, or a new hire.

The common thread across everything above is confidence: confidence in a partner’s ability to scale, a supply chain’s ability to respond, and a team’s ability to deliver increasingly complex devices. In a sector moving this fast, the organisations that build that confidence early, through the right partnerships and the right people, will be the ones best placed to succeed.

Lloyd Hines is a Principal Consultant at Carrot Recruitment, supporting organisations across the Medical Device Contract Manufacturing sector. Lloyd attended the Medical Technology Ireland 2026 conference in Galway.

Looking for recruitment support within MedTech?

Over the last five years, Lloyd has established himself as a trusted recruitment specialist within the MedTech CDMO market. He works with a diverse range of organisations, from publicly listed and privately owned businesses to investor-backed companies, helping them attract and retain high-calibre talent across North America, Europe and Asia.

His extensive international network and focus on building genuine, long-term partnerships have become a key part of his approach. Lloyd takes the time to understand the needs of both clients and candidates, providing market insight and recruitment advice beyond simply filling a role.

Whether you’re looking to strengthen your team, considering your next career move, or want to understand what’s happening across the market, Lloyd is always happy to have a conversation.

Lloyd Hines

Principal Consultant