Australia is leading the global adoption of Artificial Intelligence (AI), with 76% of Australian businesses using AI daily, compared to a global average of 57%, according to a new survey by Avanade. The survey, which included over 3,000 businesses and IT leaders, focused on the workplace impact of AI and how to safeguard roles as AI scales.

By the end of 2024, AI is expected to offer more than just efficiency gains. Employees are anticipating AI to inspire creative ideas and innovation. Two in five Australian businesses surveyed believe that AI will maintain or increase the number of human roles in their organisation by 2024, with most expecting headcount to increase by up to 9%.

Australian businesses view workplace platforms and tools such as Microsoft 365 and Teams as a top investment priority to scale AI. 70% of respondents said employees will need some new skills or a completely new set of skills to work with generative AI tools like Microsoft Copilot by the end of 2024. 96% of employees believe their organisation needs to shift to an AI-first operating model in the next 12 months to stay competitive and meet customer expectations.

"While businesses and IT executives are enthusiastic about driving business value with AI, the findings also reflect the increasing interest and curiosity we are witnessing from leaders and their people globally,” said Florin Rotar, Chief AI Officer at Avanade. “Not only do businesses need to take action to ready their people with the essential skills needed to utilise AI effectively, but now is the time for leaders to prepare for an AI-first future by crafting well-defined and responsible strategies.”

"The signal from our Avanade AI Readiness Report is clear – AI will continue to be integrated into our everyday lives, reimaging the way we work, collaborate and create,” said Lourens Swanepoel, Data and AI Lead, Avanade Australia. “Australia has always been an early adopter of emerging technology, and it is encouraging to see that Australian organisations are ready to embrace AI to augment their work. However, to fully reap the true potential of AI, businesses will need to ensure that the workforce is equipped with the skills and knowledge to effectively collaborate with AI systems in a responsible manner.”

Australia leads globally in confidence rating in their leaders for understanding AI and governance at 67%, followed by the United States at 58%. 87% of organisations surveyed in Australia have implemented some or a complete set of guidelines/policies for responsible AI. 96% of employees are confident their organisations and IT teams have the knowledge and resources to scale AI. 52% say their organisation has complete human capital and workforce planning processes in place to safeguard headcount as generative AI is scaled. However, 29% of employees admit they do not have the utmost confidence that their organisation’s risk management processes are adequate for an enterprise-wide technical integration of generative AI.