Only 17% of Australian firms have integrated AI tools

A recent HubSpot study reveals that only 17% of Australian businesses have officially integrated artificial intelligence (AI) or AI-enhanced tools within their operations.

The report highlights a disparity between personal and official use of AI within workplaces, with 51% of business leaders admitting to using AI personally despite the lack of its formal company-wide implementation. This suggests a keen interest but apprehensions over adopting AI on an organisational level.

Dan Bognar, Vice President and Managing Director of Japan and Asia Pacific at HubSpot, emphasized the transformative potential of AI, stating: "Generative AI is a disruptive shift that has the potential to transform how businesses market, sell to and service their customers. However, in Australia, adoption is falling short of expectations. To bridge the gap between personal and business usage, organisations must connect AI to the data and tools that workers actually use, while setting clear policies for responsible usage. Beyond that, investing in training and implementing proper measurement frameworks will be crucial for organisations to accurately track AI's business impact."

Barriers to AI implementation include the absence of proper guidelines for safe use, data privacy and compliance concerns, each cited by 36% of businesses, and issues around data quality. Consequently, 59% of companies struggle to track the extent of AI versus human-generated output in their work processes.

Despite the challenges, the research shows a positive correlation between formal AI tracking and increased business performance, with reported benefits such as increased productivity (77%), efficiency (74%), and revenue (62%) among leaders who track AI impact.

Organisations without formal tracking mechanisms realise these benefits to a lesser degree, reflecting a critical gap in realising AI's potential. While 61% of such leaders notice productivity improvements, only 33% report significant revenue growth.

AI adoption is also influencing hiring trends in Australia. Around 69% of business leaders plan to onboard a Head of AI within the coming year, with NSW businesses intending to spend approximately AUD $48,000 to facilitate AI integration, the highest investment compared to other states.

The need for workforce upskilling is noted as well, with businesses recognising the importance of adjusting current employee roles to accommodate AI's growing presence. This shift is seen as a means to foster strategic task engagement, likely enhancing job satisfaction and employee well-being.

Bognar commented on the workforce implications: "In Australia, we are seeing increased demand for AI-skilled workers as businesses look to better incorporate this technology into their everyday processes. This is particularly prevalent in the financial services, professional services and IT sectors. Furthermore, PwC research suggests that as AI adoption in these industries grows, job growth is expected to slow. This indicates a need for workers to develop new skills to adapt to the changing job landscape."

The evolution of search behavior, driven by AI technologies, is another notable trend. Of those using AI for search, 51% have reduced reliance on traditional search engines, with 74% shifting to AI chat models as their primary search tool. This trend is expected to increase as business leaders anticipate greater reliance on AI chatbots over the next year.

Bognar added on search dynamics: "Search is evolving to where the user is – on the go and on the device they're using. Voice is becoming the dominant form of interaction and it will be important for businesses to support all of these modes. As AI becomes more integrated in the day-to-day running of businesses, the next big shift will be agentic AI. That is, AI agents that can take action on our behalf, freeing people up to focus on the more strategic work they need to do."

Future AI integration is expected to become seamlessly woven into technology use, without requiring specific AI-focused labels. Bognar concluded, "HubSpot is focused on the practical applications of AI – making it fast to set up, easy to use, and powered by data that businesses have. We are creating custom AI agents that every business can use, regardless of the size of company or industry segment."