US corporate titan Michael Dell says the era of excessive business travel, parsimonious corporate tech spending and mandatory office attendance is at an end, but warns worrying shortages in the global supply of semiconductors will hamper tech-led recovery across all sectors of the economy for years.

Speaking to The Australian Financial Review while on a virtual tour of the country last week, in which he held meetings with local staff and a number of key clients, Mr Dell said virtual meetings would continue to replace jet-setting after international borders had reopened, and that boards would greenlight tech transformation spending with much greater urgency.