Almost half of Aussie businesses said they were embracing new technologies to save money and drive efficiency.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics’ (ABS) biennial Business Characteristics Survey has revealed that local businesses are looking to technology to boost efficiency and fight cost-of-living pressures.
Forty-six per cent of Australian businesses polled for the survey said they were turning to technologies such as artificial intelligence to ease pressure on their bottom lines.
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“Adoption of AI accelerated in 2024–25 compared to the very low rates observed in 2021–22 when generative AI tools such as ChatGPT were not available,” Tom Lay, ABS head of business statistics, said in a statement last week.
“Around 12 per cent of Australian businesses reported the use of AI in their workplace in 2024–25,” Lay added, noting that the more employees a company had, the more likely it was to adopt AI.
“Around 35 per cent of large businesses reported using AI, up from 9 per cent in 2021–22, while 22 per cent of medium-sized businesses had adopted AI, compared with 3 per cent previously.
“In contrast, uptake among small and micro businesses was lower, at around 11 per cent.”
According to the results, AI adoption was also higher among businesses actively looking to innovate or improve their products or services.
“The AI adoption rate for innovation active small businesses was 19 per cent, which was almost five times greater than the rate for those that did not undertake any innovation activity in 2024–25,” Lay said.
IT firms, media outlets, and telcos were the businesses most likely to adopt AI, followed by professional, scientific and technical services.
The ABS said that, given interest in the technology, the 2026–27 Business Characteristics Survey will include more questions relating to AI and its uptake.
Almost 7,000 Australian companies took part in the 2024–25 Business Characteristics Survey.
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David Hollingworth
David Hollingworth has been writing about technology for over 20 years, and has worked for a range of print and online titles in his career. He is enjoying getting to grips with cyber security, especially when it lets him talk about Lego.