Over the last two months, I’ve been working on something new.

I’m still full-time at Mastercard. That hasn’t changed.

But alongside that, I’ve become a founding partner at EirePlan, an AI planning Ireland platform focused on making planning systems more navigable, structured, and actually usable.

This isn’t a dramatic pivot post. It’s more about why I decided to get involved.

The Problem Isn’t “AI in Planning”

Planning isn’t just documents and PDFs.

It’s layered legal hierarchy:

• National policy
• Regional frameworks
• County development plans
• Local area plans
• Case law
• Environmental constraints

Most “AI for planning” tools default to chat interfaces.

But planning decisions depend on:

• Policy hierarchy
• Geographic scope
• Version history
• Legal traceability

If you can’t trace where something came from, it’s not useful.

That’s where EirePlan is different.

Planning Intelligence, Not AI Theatre

We’re building a structured planning knowledge engine, something I briefly explored during Entrepreneur First last year, not just another chatbot. If you’ve ever met me, you’ll know I’m skeptical of anything with “AI” casually slapped onto it.

The focus is on:

• Mapping policy hierarchies correctly
• Indexing decisions and statutes
• Structuring spatial constraints
• Returning answers with proper references

Engineering first. AI second. The goal isn’t replacing planners. It’s helping professionals move faster with clarity.

More about the thinking here: 👉 https://eireplan.ie/blog

Why I’m Involved

I like working at the edge of technical capability and commercial execution.

Planning is one of those spaces where strong engineering actually matters. It’s complex, slow, and document-heavy, especially in Ireland. There’s real opportunity to improve how planning data is accessed and understood without pretending AI can make legal decisions.

That balance is the most interesting part to me.

Where It’s Going

We’re currently onboarding paid pilot users in Ireland and refining the platform in real-world environments.

Ireland is the starting point. The broader ambition includes expansion into the UK and Germany, markets with similarly layered planning systems where structured AI can make a difference.

No hype. Just building carefully and validating properly.

If you’re working in planning, proptech, legal-tech, or adjacent to AI planning Ireland, it’s worth keeping an eye on EirePlan.

And if you’re building something part-time while still holding down a full-time role, it’s possible. You just have to be deliberate about it.