Australian brands lag in AI, data & privacy readiness: report

A new report has identified significant gaps in technology adoption, artificial intelligence integration, and privacy compliance among Australian brands, raising concerns about the sector's preparedness for ongoing digital disruption.

The Digital, Marketing & eComm in Focus 2025 report provides insight into the strategic and technological maturity of businesses across Australia's digital, marketing, and eCommerce landscape. The study was conducted by Melbourne-based consultancy Arktic Fox in partnership with recruitment firm Six Degrees Executive, surveying over 200 senior marketing and business leaders.

Key findings indicate that almost three-quarters of Australian brands are currently resizing their operations or plan to do so. In addition, 73% of leaders report that their marketing budgets have either remained unchanged or been reduced in recent periods.

The report notes that although 59% of brands are experimenting with or scaling up their use of generative AI and artificial intelligence to enhance personalisation, only 19% believe they are making strong or even moderate use of marketing technology tools (marTech).

The adoption of customer and first-party data capabilities is also falling behind industry expectations. Over half of respondents (53%) self-report lagging in these areas, and only 14% believe they are making significant progress toward achieving a unified view of the customer.

According to the research, just 40% of leaders agree that their organisations have clear plans to evolve in response to proposed changes to privacy laws. Skill gaps remain pronounced, with emerging technologies now cited as the top deficiency among marketing teams in Australia.

When asked to compare with international leaders, 75% of Australian brands consider their eCommerce maturity to be behind the curve. Additionally, 54% of participants expressed low levels of trust in retail media networks.

The report highlights a gap between the recognition of trends such as generative AI acceleration, increased importance of first-party data, upcoming privacy law changes, and the corresponding investment or capabilities to address these trends.

Teresa Sperti, Founder & Director of Arktic Fox and the report's author, described a challenging environment for marketers. She said, "Grappling with emerging tech, limited budgets and pressure to drive value, brands are being asked to do more with fewer resources than before. We see a host of maturity gaps and lag across marTech, data and analytics, customer experience and more."

Sperti added that AI adoption is showing signs of advancement in some areas.

"We are also seeing a clear shift in mindset from brands this year around generative AI. Some are moving beyond experimentation: re-skilling teams, embedding AI in workflows, and building governance to support scale."

On data strategy and privacy, the report identifies a growing divide between organisations leading in data and analytics and those remaining behind. While 83% of brands consider first-party and customer data strategies important to their future direction, 53% anticipate lagging in this area, and only a minority actively invest in identity resolution—a critical step towards achieving a unified view of their customers.

Billy Loizou, Area Vice President for Australia at Amperity, underlined the significance of closing the gap between data unification and identity resolution. "For companies with over a billion dollars in revenue, unifying customer data was the number one priority. However identity resolution was a much lower priority," he said.

Loizou continued, "This is really eye opening because you need identity resolution in order to get to a unified view of the customer. Without robust identity resolution, personalisation fails and growth stalls. Closing this gap isn't optional; it's a strategic imperative for any business serious about success."

Jaye Vernon, Area Vice President at Braze, emphasised the need for cross-functional alignment and building trust through customer engagement. Vernon stated, "The brands that lead are those that align cross-functionally, engage customers in the moments that matter, and treat every interaction as an opportunity to build trust."

Vernon further explained, "Taking it a step further, those that are focusing on making human, responsive engagement not just possible but practical at scale is what sets successful CX strategies apart."

The findings suggest that while there is widespread awareness of the trends shaping the digital, marketing and eCommerce environment in Australia, actual investment and capability building are not yet keeping pace with ambition. The report points to a need for organisations to address these gaps in order to remain competitive amid economic pressure, evolving customer expectations and regulatory change.