According to a recent global study about trust, attitudes and use of artificial intelligence by the University of Melbourne ⁵, AI adoption has significantly increased since 2022 including in Australia. Unfortunately, one of the key findings of the study is how frequently employees are using AI in complacent and inappropriate ways.

Trust in AI has declined in the same period. Australians in particular are very wary of AI. We have the lowest opinion of perceived benefits of AI outweighing the risks, across all 47 countries in the University of Melbourne study. These trends suggest that the rapid adoption of AI has prompted a recalibration of trust in AI tools and an increased awareness of the need for organisational support and governance of responsible AI use.

Productivity must be a significant focus for Australia in the coming decade, and enhancing our innovation culture is a significant opportunity. The Australian business ecosystem, from startups through to private businesses and large listed companies, has a significant role to play and opportunities to grasp.

Executives are right to focus on how to safely adopt AI solutions

There is a natural nervousness of diving headlong into implementing AI solutions without the right safeguards. Leading organisations have implemented strong safeguards including clear governance over the use of AI tools in their organisations, but a deeper understanding of the opportunities, and therefore the appropriate checks and balances, needs to emerge. This requires a level of attention and immersion from those leading organisations that can be difficult given the level of complexity they face each day. Carving out the time to understand the art of the possible, the tangible opportunities (at both the top and bottom lines) and the risks involved is difficult, but critical.

Artificial intelligence will dramatically change the world. Along with geopolitical shifts, the new technology race is driving a new world order where Australian organisations can either thrive – or experience a gradual decline in relevance. A recent global McKinsey study predicts up to 30 percent of hours worked could be automated by 2030, boosted by Gen AI and requiring millions of occupational transitions ⁶. The development of an efficient and cost-effective GenAI model by DeepSeek (announced to the world in January 2025) and then subsequent China based Generative AI technology developments such as Owen and GenSpark have shown that it is not only the Americans who will embrace and dominate in this space. The innovation will continue and those who understand, invest and deploy both at a corporate and nation state level, will thrive.

Executives need to be focused not only on how technology can improve efficiencies and productivity but how disruptive revenue opportunities and business model changes will emerge.

KSIB's guidance on how to take the first leap

KSIB’s team has worked with Australian corporations on hundreds of transformational projects, including significant technology implementations. Understanding how to safely apply new AI technologies, including where to prioritise and invest, is key to navigating this new world. This requires a different, more innovative way of working that goes beyond a project or program, but it also involves sticking to first principles:

• What are the new revenue opportunities that might emerge?

• What are the most important business problems you are seeking to solve?

It also requires a recognition that embracing new technologies will come in a variety of different ways including:

• Existing tools that are AI enhanced

• New off the shelf products

• A number of different large language models using Generative AI

• In house developed solutions

KSIB has developed a methodology for taking the first leap and we will be publishing more on this in our “Safely navigating AI series”. The key elements of this methodology include:

1. Understand the strategic business problems you are trying to solve or opportunities you are targeting

2. Consider the art of the possible that is enabled by technology solutions (including but not limited to AI) and understand the performance of current solutions

3. Evaluate and improve cyber security and access controls

4. Assess current data, clean it, revise processes to ensure that data integrity is front of mind

5. Implement a holistic system of innovation as part of the broader strategic agenda. The innovation system should incorporate a strong governance and ethical framework.

6. Learn the lessons from previous transformations and technology implementations – project and change management remain critical focus areas

7. Make sure you have appropriate checks and balances in the innovation process in all 3 lines of defence. Controls are critical, and will be different to what you are used to

There is an opportunity for Australian businesses to embrace technological change and to consider how new technologies can not only enhance their business and drive productivity improvements but also create new disruptive opportunities. The window for this opportunity is now. Success will only come to those who navigate the risks of implementation and inherent in the technology itself, safely. A bigger risk would be not to take the leap at all.