Executives at some of Australia’s biggest companies say the rapid advances in artificial intelligence capabilities across software applications are beginning to bring tangible changes in how their operations run, as an era of pilot programs and low-stakes experimentation gives way to serious business applications.

Attendees at a roundtable focused on the challenges and opportunities of generative AI and related capabilities, hosted by The Australian Financial Review, found most beneficial deployments are focused on internal, non-customer facing tasks, with companies weighing up negative customer reactions if they are seen to be “cheating” by using AI.