Australia in intermediate phase of agentic AI adoption
Fri, 10th Apr 2026
New research from OutSystems shows Australian organisations are at an intermediate stage of maturity in agentic AI adoption, placing the country among markets moving from pilot projects to production use.
The report, based on a survey of nearly 1,900 IT leaders worldwide, found that 96% of organisations already use AI agents in some form and 97% are exploring broader agentic AI strategies. In Asia-Pacific, Australia was grouped with Japan as a market steadily scaling deployment, while India was identified as more advanced.
The findings point to a broader shift in enterprise technology spending and development priorities as companies move from testing AI tools to embedding them in operational systems. Financial services and technology were identified as the sectors with the highest levels of production deployment.
Australia was also singled out as one of the markets where generative AI-assisted development has become a leading method for building software and AI systems. This was most visible in IT and software development teams, where returns can be measured more directly.
Across the global sample, 31% of respondents said AI is already integral to their development practices, while another 42% said it has been embedded into specific phases of the software development lifecycle.
The data suggests Australian businesses have moved beyond the earliest stage of AI experimentation but remain some distance from the most mature adopters. The country was characterised as a scaling market focused on putting AI systems into operational use rather than simply testing concepts.
Governance Gap
The report also highlighted a sharp rise in concern over how enterprises are managing AI tools and agents. It found that 94% of organisations are worried AI sprawl is increasing complexity, technical debt and security risk.
That concern comes as many companies build AI estates across a mix of tools, environments and teams. Only 12% have implemented a centralised platform to manage that sprawl, while most still use governance models that vary by business unit or region.
Architectural fragmentation is another issue. Thirty-eight percent of organisations said they are combining custom-built and pre-built agents, creating AI stacks that are harder to standardise and secure.
The survey also found that 52% of organisations now rely on a human-on-the-loop model, under which systems operate with less direct oversight while remaining under supervisory control.
Together, these patterns highlight a growing tension. Companies want to move quickly to embed AI in business processes, but governance structures and technical standards are developing more slowly.
Software Shift
Agentic AI differs from earlier AI applications because it is designed to carry out workflows, make decisions and adapt in real time. That distinction is changing how software is designed and deployed, particularly in large organisations.
Research firm Gartner has predicted that 40% of enterprise applications will include task-specific AI agents by the end of 2026. In the OutSystems survey, 49% of respondents described their organisation's agentic AI capability as advanced or expert, although that level varied significantly by region.
India stood out in Asia-Pacific for having some of the highest levels of advanced and expert capability. Australia, by contrast, was grouped with Japan, the UK and the US in an intermediate tier that is further along than early adopters but not yet at the leading edge.
That ranking suggests Australia is entering a more practical phase of adoption, with organisations moving beyond proofs of concept and focusing on how AI systems fit into existing technology estates. It also points to likely growth in demand for internal controls, integration work and software development methods that can support a larger number of AI-driven processes.
OutSystems argued that software development and AI system development are becoming more closely linked. “The transition from AI experimentation to measurable business outcomes is no longer a future state-it is our current reality. The findings in the State of AI Development Report reveal a fundamental shift where building software and building AI systems have become one and the same,” said Woodson Martin, Chief Executive Officer of OutSystems. “As organizations move toward a 'system of agents' model, the challenge is no longer just about adoption, but about creating a stable architectural foundation that can coordinate these complex intelligent systems to drive real-world productivity.”
The report also included an example from McConkey Auction Group, which described taking a limited, production-focused approach to an agentic AI project. “Our approach to working with OutSystems for an agentic solution was to start with a small, well-defined project that we felt like we could get into production, and that would actually have an impact on the business,” said Scott Finkle, Vice President of Technology at McConkey Auction Group. “Our main goal of the project was to build some muscle for building AI projects moving forward. OutSystems and Agent Workbench will pay great dividends to us as we iterate on our AI implementation.”