Business AI adoption surges as NAB urges Australia to ‘get on the bus’
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The news: The AI chief of National Australia Bank has urged Australia to “get on the bus” and adopt the technology or risk being left behind, as new research shows about half of the country’s small businesses are using the technology to accelerate growth.
The numbers: The new research, viewed by Capital Brief, found 42% of small and medium businesses are already using AI, with admin, marketing and decision-making being most automated.
A pronounced divide in AI adoption exists across industries with property (69%), finance and insurance (65%), and business services (61%) leading the economy, while manufacturing (31%), retail (22%), and transport and storage (21%) were at the bottom of the list.
Across the board 14% of businesses are planning on embracing AI while 16% believe AI won’t assist them, leaving the country split between early adopters and sceptics.
What they said: NAB digital, data & AI executive Pete Steel said the research reflected the country was at a tipping point with AI set to become embedded in a majority of businesses and the benefits moving from productivity gains to a growth driver.
“It’s gone past experimentation, just like it has for us as an enterprise, and it’s starting to turn up in growth,” Steel told Capital Brief.
“We’re starting to see adopters acquire clients, grow revenue, and achieve really positive commercial outcomes.”
The split between the early adopters and the resistors indicated an opportunity for NAB as the largest business bank in the country to encourage its customers to “get on the bus”.
“We don’t want our customers to be left behind,” Steel said, estimating two in three businesses would embrace the technology over the next year.
With NAB becoming more outspoken on the economic challenges facing Australia and the need to increase productivity under chief executive Andrew Irvine, Steel said the window was open to drive productivity.
“The responsible adoption of AI is probably the single best opportunity we’ve got,” he said.
He suggested the federal government could introduce tax incentives or write-offs for AI training to help drive future adoption.
“A national approach with budget support for increased training we think would be really helpful,” he said, adding there was room for better coordination across industry to drive the economy forward.
“Especially in these tough times like the last couple of months, we’re going to need something like this, I think, to really help pull us through.”
The source: NAB Research
