Interview #6 of our St. Patrick's Day series, and we're heading somewhere a little different: Hong Kong.

Niall Dorr is the founder of ImageDeep, an AI-powered video monitoring company protecting people, premises, and assets across Asia. He left Carlow in 2014, followed his wife to Beijing, then Hong Kong, and never looked back. What started as a family adventure became the foundation for a business built at the intersection of computer vision, robotics, and AI.

He was 44 when he made the leap. Proof that it's never too late.

Stay tuned for the remaining interviews over the coming weeks and keep an eye out for our St. Patrick's Day newsletter, where we reveal the full results of our survey with over 120 Irish founders across the globe.

My journey to Asia kicked off in 2003 when I visited Singapore for the first time while working for Hewlett Packard in Leixlip, Ireland. I was really impressed by the country's wealth, innovation, and clear sense of direction. Back then, I never imagined I'd one day live here and build my career on my own terms.

Fast forward to 2014: I was in Carlow, serving as Director of Innovation for a growing Irish company. My wife got a fantastic job offer in Beijing that included full accommodation and, most importantly, a school place for our four year old daughter. We took the plunge, and it worked out brilliantly. Our daughter is now 14 and speaks Mandarin and Korean fluently.

I left Ireland when I was 44. Some may feel they are too old to move abroad. In fact, it's an ideal age. With age comes respect.

A year later, my wife landed a role at Harrow International School in Hong Kong. So we packed up and moved again.

When I first arrived in Hong Kong, I knew literally no one except my wife and daughter. I dove into LinkedIn, searching for C-suite execs, reaching out for coffee meetings. Those conversations gave me a solid understanding of Hong Kong's fast-paced work culture, its love for innovation, and the government's real support for tech growth.

That's when I decided to launch my own company: ImageDeep. I'd seen how reliant the security industry was on manned guarding, with many of those guards retiring. Today, ImageDeep delivers remote custom video monitoring services across Asia, protecting people, premises, and assets — specialists in computer vision, robotics, and AI.

I'm really optimistic about scaling our proprietary products, like camera-to-cloud AI solutions, and growing as a reliable sourcing partner. I've spun off ImageDeep Sourcing into its own entity to focus on that. We're seeing strong interest from OEM partners in adding automated inspection systems on factory floors, plus rising demand for Physical AI platforms and in areas like intelligent transport systems. ImageDeep is well placed.

In today's noisy digital world, standing out is harder than ever. What I'm noticing is that real success still boils down to the basics: face-to-face relationships. We keep the team lean, mostly admin and sales, and we're increasing our presence on trade shows, in-person meetings, and building genuine trust. Being physically based in Hong Kong lets us host visitors easily, run demos, and close deals on the spot.

Being Irish has absolutely helped along the way. The Irish Consulate used to host packed early Tuesday morning meetups every month, perfect for linking up with long time expats and newcomers. I'm a member of the Hong Kong Irish Chamber of Commerce, which runs regular events. For St. Patrick's Day this year, they're co-hosting a celebration with the American Chamber, and the annual St. Patrick's Gala Ball is coming up, always a big highlight. It's a warm, supportive community.

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