New report reveals AI adoption gap: only 8% of businesses fully implement it

With the eruption of Deepseek in the last fortnight, the pace at which companies are moving to advance artificial intelligence is only continuing to increase. However, a key question remains - how are consumer businesses actually embracing the technology? A recent report from CPA Australia appears to shed some light.

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The CPA Australia Business Technology Report 2024 examines technology adoption in businesses across the Asia-Pacific region. Conducted mid-last year, the survey was conducted with a few key questions on their mind: how is tech impacting business, what are the challenges businesses face with tech adoption, and what are the trends being observed with AI?

The results were interesting. As you'd expect, AI adoption surged from 55% in 2023 to 69% in 2024 - a significant jump. Half of all businesses also planned to increase their AI usage over the following year, citing the benefits of efficiency, productivity, and decision-making improvements. However, one of the glaring figures was that only 8% of businesses have fully integrated AI into their operations. In other words, while many are experimenting with AI tools, only a small fraction have made them a core part of their workflows.

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The implications of this figure are surprising. After all, the bustling, fast-moving nature of the AI tech sector would give the impression that adopting AI is the chief priority for all businesses. However, the data appears to suggest otherwise. Cybersecurity was cited as the most important business initiative for businesses within the report, with almost half of respondents reporting this as a major challenge and nearly a quarter having lost time or money as a result of a cyber incident.

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If AI is considered the carrot, then cybercrime appears to be the stick. Although AI adoption is still developing, cyber threats remain an immediate, constant risk. This reinforces the understanding that although these tools provide tremendous upside, security and safety remain non-negotiable.