New research from Deloitte Digital suggests that Australia is trailing its global counterparts when it comes to preparedness for Generative AI in the workplace.

In the third wave of the consulting firm's new quarterly 'The State of Generative AI in the Enterprise: Now' report, Deloitte Digital surveyed more than 2,700 respondents from director to C-suite level across six industries and 14 countries, including 100 Australian leaders.

According to the report, Australia felt less prepared than its global counterparts in areas such as data management, tech infrastructure and strategy - nearly two-thirds of Australian respondents only felt slightly or moderately prepared in terms of strategic readiness. The exception was risk and governance, where preparedness had quadrupled to 28%.

Talent issues were a key concern for Australian organisations in their Gen AI uptake, with only 20% feeling prepared from a talent respect. The majority of respondents indicated talent was one of their top two barriers to adopting Gen AI.

Implementation challenges remain the top barrier faced in Australia regardless of expertise level. Only 10-20% of Generative AI solutions in Australia make it to production, compared to 20-40% globally. However, nearly 90% of respondents express moderate or high trust in their organisation's Generative AI tools and applications.

Regulatory compliance emerged as Australia's biggest concern, acknowledged as an issue by 40% of respondents.

The lack of preparedness comes despite the fact 63% of Australian organisations are increasing their investments in Generative AI. That figure rises to 80% among organisations that consider themselves to have 'high expertise' in the field. However, organisations with 'low expertise' face challenges in measuring the impacts of their Generative AI investments, with 90% reporting difficulties in seeing the return on investment (ROI).

Productivity is the top benefit sought by 71% of Australian respondents leveraging productivity applications with integrated Generative AI solutions. A significant 60% of respondents believe that Generative AI will transform their industry within the next three years, while 80% feel it will transform their own business within the same timeframe.