AI might save you a day’s work a week, but Aussies think it's ‘useless’, Atlassian survey reveals

AI has hit a crossroad in Australia, with many companies struggling to shift projects from pilot studies to production. Software giant Atlassian says it has discovered what’s holding the technology back.

Australia is “falling behind” in the artificial intelligence boom, according to tech giant Atlassian, with new research revealing that about half of the nation’s workers believe the much-hyped technology is useless or at best is an “occasional tool” in the workplace.

This is despite the same study – which involved surveying 5000 workers – that those who harness AI with a “strategic” mindset can unlock significant productivity gains, saying they can save an entire workday each week.

AI hits a crossroads in Australia with many companies struggling to shift projects from pilot studies to production and therefore realise the full potential of technology and the Albanese government’s forecast that it will inject up to $600bn a year into the national economy by the end of the decade.

Tech advisory firm ADAPT found 77 per cent of Australian companies were “ineffective” at generating value and despite the technology accounting for the “lion’s share” of innovation budgets was failing to deliver on its promises.

Jamil Valliani, Atlassian vice president and head of product for AI.

Atlassian vice president and head of product for AI, Jamil Valliani says the problem was companies were launching AI tools without considering how best to use them.

“To unlock the full potential of AI, it is not enough for companies to simply deploy AI tools. They also need to give their employees room to experiment. At Atlassian, we have provided AI tools and LLMs (large language models) in a secure environment to enable this,” he said.

Molly Sands, head of Atlassian’s Teamwork Lab, said the most effective AI users often start with a clear question and turn to AI to find answers.

“They define tasks, set goals and then work closely with the AI to develop solutions, refine ideas and improve their work. The results speak volumes: the future of work lies in collaboration between humans and AI.”

The Atlassian survey found that 66 per cent of respondents considered themselves “simple AI users” while about half said the technology could be used “on occasion for a specific task” or “that it is useless in the workplace” – 1.4x the global average.

A Deloitte study found that 70 per cent of organisations had moved 30 per cent or fewer of their generative AI experiments into production. Many companies are concerned about bugs, AI ‘hallucinations’, data leaks and other security concerns.

Microsoft has launched a new suite of products, called Azure AI Foundry, to alleviate these concerns and accelerate the development of custom AI agents and other tools at scale.

Atlassian has also released a product to allow its customers to build their own AI agents, dubbed Rovo, that is designed to work in the background and seamlessly.

“Our AI solution Rovo also enables all users to create their own AI agents as strategic partners tailored to meet their team’s needs – without programming skills in a no-code environment. All that is needed is a little time and willingness to experiment. Teams should feel encouraged and empowered to integrate AI as a strategic partner in their work,” Mr Valliani said.

SAS, a US-based developer of analytics and AI software, has partnered with TAFE NSW to offer a 10-week course to ensure Australian workers are equipped to capitalise on the AI boom.

But training is only part of the solution. Shukri Dabaghi, SAS senior vice president, said a disparity had emerged between what he called “AI leaders and AI followers”, demonstrating a “lack of clear strategy and road map” as businesses are seduced by the gold rush.

A separate SAS survey revealed that AI Leaders were focused on driving new revenue growth (32 per cent), increasing operational efficiency (31 per cent) and increasing profits (26 per cent). But this compared with AI Followers, which indicated improving customer service (27 per cent), expanding market share (25 per cent) and faster time to market (25 per cent) as their top business outcomes.

“Where AI Followers are focused on short-term, productivity-based results, AI Leaders have moved beyond these to more complex functional and industry use cases,” Mr Dabaghi said.

“As businesses look to capitalise on the transformative potential of AI, it’s important for business leaders to learn from the differences between an AI leader and an AI follower. Avoiding a ‘gold rush’ way of thinking ensures long-term transformation is built on trustworthy AI and capabilities in data, processes and skills.”