Lack of AI playbook puts Australia down readiness ranks
The lack of clear plans or trained staff has dragged Australia down the AI readiness rankings over the past year, even though most employees remain concerned about the effect it will have on their jobs.
ServiceNow released the findings from its AI Maturity Index on Monday, leading experts to warn businesses to reassess their plans for artificial intelligence or risk missing out on productivity gains.
The warning comes as the federal government prepares to host a summit on boosting productivity, and after the Productivity Commission named AI as one of its five focus areas for the coming year.
The company's AI Maturity Index, prepared with Oxford Economics, surveyed more than 4400 senior business leaders from 16 countries including 560 Australian executives.
It found Australian businesses were less prepared to implement AI than they were in the previous year, falling from a score of 46 points out of 100 to 35.
The lower grade reflects one in three business leaders saying their companies had a clear vision to change using AI, and 37 per cent said they had the right mix of skills and talent in their workforce.
The result was particularly surprising, ServiceNow emerging technology director Dani Magnusson said, as most Australian companies planned to increase AI spending over the coming year.
"We've got 82 per cent of organisations investing in AI but only a third of those organisations setting a clear vision and strategy for how it gets implemented across the organisation," she told AAP.
"Businesses aren't planning for AI."
Keeping the technology "siloed" in individual business departments was holding back progress, Ms Magnussen said, although businesses should also consider whether their employees had the right skills to implement AI reform.
"There's no question it will give us more productivity and more capacity and it will take away some of the parts of the jobs and the roles that we don't enjoy doing today," she said.
But the survey also identified widespread fear among employees, with six in 10 Australian executives saying workers had raised concerns about job security due to generative AI.
The research predicted the technology could be used to automate 670,000 roles by 2030, while it created a comparatively few 150,000 technology jobs.
The findings should encourage more workers to learn about the technology, management consultancy Bain & Company's Asia Pacific AI head Richard Fleming said, and for organisations to make AI tools available to staff for experimentation.
"It's now our responsibility to start individually using AI and working out how do I use it in my everyday life, how do I use it at work to build skills and understanding," he told AAP.
"We should be embracing AI and training people on how to use it, training them on the risks, and that becomes a broad responsibility."
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Age
3 hours ago
- The Age
Power giant warns of ‘two-speed' green shift which benefits only the rich
Millions of Australians face being left behind in the race to greener energy, one of the nation's largest power distributors has warned, as renters miss out on huge savings from solar panels while homes without off-street parking cannot install electric vehicle chargers. From this year, home-owners with solar panels stand to benefit from even bigger electricity bill cuts following the introduction of federal government rebates wiping thousands of dollars off the cost of installing batteries that can soak up their excess energy. Increasing home battery uptake has many advantages: it will enable Australia to harness more of its world-leading per-person solar panel uptake to use after sunset, drive down greenhouse gas emissions and smooth out volatile price swings across the market. But the household clean energy boom may create winners and losers, warns Ausgrid, the largest power distribution company on Australia's eastern seaboard. The company points to renters and lower-income Australians who are unable to make the switch and are forced to stay on increasingly expensive fossil fuel-based energy supplies. 'The problem we see is that if you don't own your own home, or have the financial wherewithal, you are faced with the full system cost of the transition,' said Rob Amphlett Lewis, Ausgrid's group executive of distributed services. Loading 'What we are in danger of is a two-speed transition that works for the 'haves' and is paid for by the 'have-nots'.' Ausgrid and other Australian distribution network service providers are seeking to expand their reach beyond building and maintaining the network's poles and wires and into other future-facing functions where they believe they are well placed to deliver more efficient outcomes for consumers. Their push, however, has opened a major new rift in the industry between network operators and a wide range of other electricity market participants, which are urging regulators against any waiver from 'ring-fencing' rules designed to prevent monopolies from encroaching on competitive markets, and argue it could drive up costs.
Sydney Morning Herald
3 hours ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
Power giant warns of ‘two-speed' green shift which benefits only the rich
Millions of Australians face being left behind in the race to greener energy, one of the nation's largest power distributors has warned, as renters miss out on huge savings from solar panels while homes without off-street parking cannot install electric vehicle chargers. From this year, home-owners with solar panels stand to benefit from even bigger electricity bill cuts following the introduction of federal government rebates wiping thousands of dollars off the cost of installing batteries that can soak up their excess energy. Increasing home battery uptake has many advantages: it will enable Australia to harness more of its world-leading per-person solar panel uptake to use after sunset, drive down greenhouse gas emissions and smooth out volatile price swings across the market. But the household clean energy boom may create winners and losers, warns Ausgrid, the largest power distribution company on Australia's eastern seaboard. The company points to renters and lower-income Australians who are unable to make the switch and are forced to stay on increasingly expensive fossil fuel-based energy supplies. 'The problem we see is that if you don't own your own home, or have the financial wherewithal, you are faced with the full system cost of the transition,' said Rob Amphlett Lewis, Ausgrid's group executive of distributed services. Loading 'What we are in danger of is a two-speed transition that works for the 'haves' and is paid for by the 'have-nots'.' Ausgrid and other Australian distribution network service providers are seeking to expand their reach beyond building and maintaining the network's poles and wires and into other future-facing functions where they believe they are well placed to deliver more efficient outcomes for consumers. Their push, however, has opened a major new rift in the industry between network operators and a wide range of other electricity market participants, which are urging regulators against any waiver from 'ring-fencing' rules designed to prevent monopolies from encroaching on competitive markets, and argue it could drive up costs.
West Australian
4 hours ago
- West Australian
Private R&D investment by Australian businesses falling, report finds ahead of roundtable
Private investment into research and development in Australian businesses is slipping backwards and comparatively lower to similar other nations, a new report shows. The report — collated by the Business Council of Australia ahead of Treasurer Jim Chalmer's productivity roundtable next month — identified a raft of targeted policies to boost business potential. It proposes offering extra incentives for collaboration and commercialisation, cutting red tape, and consolidating grants into major national programs. The report estimates that for every $1 spent on R&D, it generates $5 in economic value and $7 billion in gross domestic product (GDP) annually. If the suite of measures are implemented, it's expected to grow productivity in Australia 0.1 per cent each year. It also recommends a simpler R&D Tax Incentive by standardising tax offsets of 18.5 per cent above the company rate and removing its current $150 million cap. It's hoped having a single, consistent rule rather than the current different benefit rates depending on company size or how much they spend, would encourage firms to invest in R&D, especially smaller players. As for scrapping the cap, the policy is designed to allow businesses to claim tax offsets for all of their eligible R&D spend rather than just the first $150 million under the current framework. BCA chief executive Bran Black said the targeted policies were designed to fix Australia's productivity problems by unlocking investment, boosting jobs and wages. He said reversing the current trend, which has seen R&D investment drop 24 per cent in the last decade, would help drive innovation and productivity nationally. He said it was important businesses were given the 'right environment' to invest: 'If we don't act now then we will keep losing innovators, capital and ideas to other nations'. 'Better tax, collaboration and commercialisation policies will give businesses the confidence to take the next step and create new Australian technologies that benefit everyone's lives,' he said. The report will form part of a joint industry submission with well-known Australian software firm Atlassian and medical device company Cochlear. Cochlear chief executive and president Dig Howitt said policy reform and 'well-funded strategies' would be critical to unlocking more R&D in Australia. Atlassian chief of staff Amy Glancey said by supporting major companies to invest in R&D it would have a trickle down effect to create a better environment for entrepreneurship and innovation. Dr Chalmer's roundtable will be held at Parliament House August 19–21 and is expected to shape a shared agenda on improving productivity, strengthening budget sustainability, and building economic resilience. It has prompted a number of state-level consultations and spin-off roundtables, including one held on Friday by Independent MP Allegra Spender involving economists and industry figures in Canberra. The BCA, along with other industry bodies, companies, and government representatives, are finalising submissions ahead of the August roundtable, outlining ideas across tax, regulation, innovation, skills, and digital transformation to help lift Australia's productivity.
