Australian firms slow to lead despite AI offering AUD $2 trillion

A new report indicates that artificial intelligence implementation in customer experience could deliver between AUD $1.3 trillion and AUD $2 trillion in business value annually, though only a small fraction of Australian executives are keen to lead AI adoption within their industries.

The report, published by Qualtrics, is based on research from McKinsey AI experience to value studies and a global survey of more than 1,500 executives from companies headquartered in Australia, Canada, Germany, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

According to the data, organisations that invest in customer experience and leverage AI are already achieving meaningful increases in market share. Market leaders globally are more than twice as likely as their peers to have prioritised improving customer experience over the last three years.

In Australia, 76% of surveyed executives said they had increased their focus on customer experience during the past three years. Executives pointed to increased competitive pressure, economic uncertainty, new capabilities, and shifts in company strategy (all at 38%) as the main drivers behind this change.

Despite this increased attention, only 8% of Australian executives reported that customer experience is a critical priority for their organisations, a figure that lags behind the United States (41%), the United Kingdom (32%), Germany (32%), and Canada (28%).

The report identifies a major opportunity for those willing to lead in AI adoption. While 63% of Australian executives said AI would significantly or completely transform how their businesses approach customer experience in the next three years, and 60% anticipated industry-wide changes, few are prepared to be at the forefront. Just 7% of Australian leaders aspire to be industry pacesetters in AI – less than half the global average of 15%.

Qualtrics President Brad Anderson commented on the findings, stating, "Today's market leaders make great customer experience a business priority - and they are being rewarded with loyalty and higher market share. The best organisations use AI to effortlessly understand their entire customer experience across every channel - in-store, online, and in the contact center - and to close the loop with customers to make every connection count. These omnichannel capabilities give businesses the insights they need to win today and in the era of agentic AI."

The report also shows that Australian executives are experimenting with AI in various aspects of their operations. Their top actions include employee training and enablement (38%), testing AI solutions to speed up task completion (35%), and purchasing AI tools such as Chat GPT licences (28%), reflecting an appetite to increase familiarity and comfort with these technologies.

Expectations around returns on AI investments are substantial. While 37% of Australian executives expect to see a return within one to two years, this is five percentage points lower than the global average. A significant majority (83%) believe there will be measurable returns within five years.

When asked about AI's biggest impact on customer experience, Australian executives pointed to scaling customer understanding and enabling empathy (43%), delivering more personalised experiences (42%), and providing seamless customer journeys (41%).

The study notes that as organisations look to move past small-scale pilots, clear strategies become important. Market-leading organisations are 2.3 times more likely to have a company-wide AI strategy managed through central leadership, rather than relying on fragmented initiatives. However, only 5% of Australian executives say their company has such a strategy in place and less than a third (29%) have designated a leader for AI strategy, even though 81% report at least one AI initiative underway.

The research was conducted by Qualtrics XM Institute during the last quarter of 2024, surveying 1,501 executives at vice president level and above from companies with over 1,000 employees.

The AI opportunity estimates referenced in the report are drawn from McKinsey AI experience to value research.