AI or die
Some of Australia's most successful startups, known for disrupting traditional industries, are now facing disruption themselves from more efficient AI-native outfits.
All of a sudden, Australia’s software unicorns are finding themselves in an unfamiliar and uncomfortable position: defending their turf against more efficient, ‘AI-native’ disruptors. This week, we uncovered how at least one of them is responding to this threat.
Internal documents viewed by Capital Brief show Employment Hero is mandating its entire 1,500-person workforce use AI for all problem-solving efforts. "If we don't adopt AI, we'll get steamrolled by AI-powered competitors who are more effective and efficient than us," the payroll and HR software startup’s founder and CEO Ben Thompson said, according to the documents.
Others are taking a more traditional approach. Australian tech darling Canva bought Leonardo.Ai — a company that was often dubbed “the next Canva” — to further integrate AI into its products.
Meanwhile, Culture Amp, an Australian HR tech unicorn valued at over $2 billion, is seeking vendors to provide structured AI training programs for its people experience team, with a clear focus on responsible use and ethics.
