Generative AI, or generative artificial intelligence, was recently reported to be embraced by the vast majority of Australian midmarket organizations in an effort to generate strategic business value. Said report shows that midsize companies which present higher growth percentages compared to the revenues achieve through a growth scale have high tendencies to adoption of Generative AI than those companies with slow growth rates.
The research surveyed 783 Australian midmarket businesses–defined as organizations with 250 to 1,500 employees–and shows that while 50% of high-growth firms said that Generative AI is an important focus area, 43% of lower-growth counterparts said the same. For example, according to the head of AI at SAP Australia & New Zealand, Dr. Kim Oosthuizen, “The benefits of Business AI are not confined to large enterprises; every organization can harness its advantages in a relevant, reliable, and responsible manner.”
The study suggests that 90% of the Australian midmarket businesses rank adopting Generative AI as a medium or high priority, while 88% rank standard AI applications in machine learning for data analysis. Other major priorities also include cybersecurity at 89%, environmental sustainability at 89%, and supply chain challenges at 89%.
The research has shown that in all business functions, AI is seen as a process transformer. According to the study, AI shows midmarket firms are paying top priority attention to the aspect of improving data security and privacy, which ranked at 50%. Other areas ranked are new business models, at 48%, and supply chain optimization, at 45%.
Apart from that, AI adoption is not just on paper; it is put into action in those organizations. An incredible 85 percent of respondents admit to using AI for market intelligence, and 84 percent use the same for the reasons of cybersecurity monitoring, fraud detection, and compliance. Most noteworthy, Australia surpasses global averages in these areas, indicating commendable levels of commitment to AI adoption.
However, challenges remain, as midmarket businesses identify supply chain disruptions (38%) and internal silos (35%) as barriers to growth. Concerns about data quality and integration also persist, as 35 percent of them highlighted risks associated with acting on incorrect information.
According to him, quality data is a very key factor in being able to achieve the best outcomes from AI. “The better quality and scale of your data, the better results of your AI, so it depends on what kind of partnership you should do with the technology providers like SAP to make such AI integration,” he said.
The financial industry applications of AI are forecasting (33%), fraud detection (28%), and 90% finance departments have reported that since the adoption of AI, growth in business has increased.
Overall, this study points to a leading indicator – technology investment is now a catalyst and an important necessity for midmarket organizations to achieve growth and efficiency, but more importantly, AI is at the forefront of this trend.
