Half of Aussie businesses believe AI skills and talent are missing

For Australian tech leaders and businesses, one of the biggest barriers to mass adoption of AI is finding people with the skills to introduce it.

About half of Australian businesses and tech leaders believe access to technical talent and skills is one of the largest barriers to mass AI adoption. Picture: Getty Images

About half of Australian businesses and tech leaders say access to technical talent and skills is one of the largest barriers to mass AI adoption.

That is about 14 per cent higher than the global average, according to the findings of a Deloitte survey.

While talent may be missing, Australians are some of the most excited in the world about AI. Some 72 per cent of respondents reported that to be their top feeling towards the rapidly-developing technology, which is 11 per cent higher than their global counterparts.

That excitement is largely because 79 per cent of businesses and leaders expect the technology will transform their organisation within the next three years, with the biggest benefits coming in productivity.

Deloitte Australia chief executive Adam Powick, who trained as a systems engineer before leading the company, shared a similarly optimistic view, adding that Deloitte already saw major productivity opportunities across several industries.

“Generative AI is transformative technology and we’re already seeing significant opportunities for innovation and productivity improvement across many industry sectors,” he said.

Deloitte CEO Adam Powick.

However, striking a balance between the adoption of AI and managing risks would be no easy task.

The Australian revealed last year that several local companies had banned the use of ChatGPT in the workplace over fears staff would unintentionally leak sensitive information and that it could potentially resurface or be later shared with competitors.

“As business leaders, we need to find a balance between mitigating the risks of this technology and unlocking and empowering ideas for improving client service, quality and the way we work,” Mr Powick said.

“Driving benefits at scale requires a clear strategy and governance model, access to the latest technology and expertise, and a focus on workforce education and reskilling as organisations try to keep pace with this rapidly-evolving technology.”

The survey found that 67 per cent of businesses were looking to beef up their investment in the technology over the next 12 months, another finding that was higher than the global average of 53 per cent.

To meet talent and knowledge shortages, many companies had begun to educate staff on how to use AI with 57 per cent of those believing their teaching was sufficient, covering the capabilities, benefits and value of generative AI.

While excited and ready to invest further, many companies also took the view that the rise of AI-powered tools and applications would “erode trust in national and global institutions”.

Combating that required global regulation, a view shared by 86 per cent of Australian businesses.

As for the use of those AI-powered tools and applications, 40 per cent of Australian respondents said intellectual property issues were their biggest concern.

Deloitte’s AI Institute leader Kellie Nuttall said many businesses had been quite proactive when it came to overcoming the talent “sore spot”.

Many tech executives had sought out external education, not only for their staff but themselves, enrolling in courses including one Deloitte runs in conjunction with the University of Sydney, she said.

Deloitte Australia AI Institute leader Kellie Nuttall.

“Talent is a sore spot when it comes to Gen AI adoption in Australia with 49 per cent of Australian business and technology leaders saying a skills drought is the largest blocker to AI adoption,” she said.

“We’ve seen strong demand from businesses looking to upskill their people around Gen AI with more than 600 people already passing through our AI Fluency Sprints run in conjunction with the University of Sydney. We’ve also noticed an increasing number of executives who want to understand this new technology so they can transform their business with it.”

Stu Scotis, Deloitte’s strategy and AI lead partner, added: “Employers are also seriously thinking about workforce design as AI increases demand for some skills and makes others less relevant.”