Not too long ago, the idea of Artificial Intelligence (AI) existed only in the realms of science fiction, capturing our imaginations with fantastical visions of a distant future.
Yet, today, that once far-off dream has become a tangible reality, as AI has broken free from the confines of fiction to revolutionize industries on a global scale. Fueled by a relentless pursuit of innovation, this modern technological marvel has initiated a transformative wave across various sectors, fundamentally reshaping how businesses operate.
In today’s edition of Let’s Talk, our experts take a more profound dive into the captivating realm of AI and explore the industry impact of AI and the limitless possibilities it holds for the future of our ever-evolving world.
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Donna McGeorge, Productivity Specialist, Author of The ChatGPT Revolution
Donna McGeorge, Productivity Specialist, Author of The ChatGPT Revolution
“The landscape of AI is changing daily, and in some cases hourly. Industries most likely to thrive:
Healthcare – AI is already providing diagnosis that are swift, treatments are tailored and disease outcomes are predicted with unprecedented accuracy.
Financial Sector – From trading to fraud detection, AI is taking the industry to new heights and able to do the investigations at a level of speed and accuracy well beyond human capability.
Manufacturing – Robotic production lines are nothing new, and now have the potential to create a seismic shift with zero human intervention required.
Transportation – self driving vehicles will completely change the landscape.
“There is turbulence ahead where automation has the ability to take over repetitive tasks. Industries likely to suffer:
Hospitality – iPad menus and self-ordering along with QR codes in restaurants have been putting wait staff at risk for a while, and robot servers whilst being a novelty (Din Tai Fung in Melbourne), could easily now replace people in these roles.
Creative Agencies – whilst it’s a bit clunky for now, but disruption is well on the way for copywriting, video production and advertising with anyone able to train AI apps to produce agency level creative.
Hollywood – why hire an actor when you can use their likeness? The writers and actors strikes are a case in point where the law is struggling to keep pace with the technological changes and again.”
Dr. Michael Kollo, Key speaker at CapTech2023, CEO at Evolved Reasoning
Dr. Michael Kollo, Key speaker at CapTech2023, CEO at Evolved Reasoning
“Industries at the vanguard of general artificial intelligence (Gen AI) transformation are those where language, both computer and human, plays a pivotal role as large language models (LLMs) start to challenge conventional solutions and mundane reporting methods.
“In the legal sector, LLMs will redefine case research, contract review, and legal writing. By automating these labour-intensive tasks, LLMs will help legal practitioners focus more on higher-order cognitive tasks, like forming strategies and arguments. These AI models can scan through volumes of legal data within seconds, identifying and extracting relevant case information with a precision that often exceeds human capabilities. The result? Accelerated legal processes, reduced costs, and improved access to justice.
“In education, personalised learning could soon be a widespread reality as AI tutors, powered by LLMs, can adapt to each learner’s pace and style. These AI models can provide real-time feedback, creating an immersive, engaging, and effective learning experience. The potential for scalable, inclusive, and quality education using LLMs is immense.
“The world of digital marketing stands to gain significantly from LLMs. AI can generate tailored content, segment audiences with precision, and optimise ad copy or social media posts in real time, leading to higher engagement and conversions. LLMs can also analyse consumer sentiment and trends, enabling businesses to be proactive in their marketing strategies. Delivering improved return on marketing investment, enhanced customer engagement, and a competitive edge in the crowded digital marketplace.”
Kat Warboys, APAC Marketing Director, HubSpot
Kat Warboys, APAC Marketing Director, HubSpot
“The benefits associated with AI are incredibly pervasive for the marketing and sales industry. However, where it gets most exciting is for industries that are particularly customer-centric. AI is giving these industries renewed productivity, assessing efficiencies and driving more effective results. With manual tasks now automated, busy teams have more time to focus on the bigger picture — elevating the customer experience.
“In Australia, our research reveals that 80% of marketers say generative AI tools are a game-changer when it comes to creating personalised content — every marketer’s dream! Marketers are using AI to conduct market research, produce-data driven insights, learn how to do new tasks and create content, including via HubSpot’s Content Assistant.
“And it’s not just proving a game changer for marketers. Sales professionals are saving time and increasing their effectiveness by leveraging AI. For example, Chatspot.ai provides seamless natural language chat-based user experiences to help sales teams level up prospective outreach and response rate.
“AI plays an important role in collecting and analysing information, industry data and predicting consumer behaviour. There’s no denying the effectiveness, as 70% of sales representatives in Australia using AI in their prospecting report a higher engagement rate. How’s that for effectiveness?! By handing off those repeatable tasks, marketing and sales teams can be hyper-personalised in their engagement and focus on the art of human-centric relationship building.
“From boosting creativity and kicking writer’s block to the curb, to empowering 1:1 customer research and more effective prospecting, AI is redefining productivity and helping teams win back time in their day.”
Darren Reid, Senior Director, Security Unit, APJ, VMware
Darren Reid, Senior Director, Security Unit, APJ, VMware
“AI can provide valuable support to Security Operations Centre (SOC) teams and the cyber security industry, especially when combined with human insight and expertise.
“AI everywhere will not single-handedly deliver the necessary nuanced responses and understanding that cyber security requires. But it can certainly support defenders. It cannot understand at a granular level your environment, which are your most important applications nor who are your most “at risk” users. What it can do, however, is build large-scale models, seek out patterns in data and find links to things that a human may not. Generative AI models are often expensive to build and manage, and can also lead to unanswered questions for businesses in areas like privacy, intellectual property, legal, and regulatory issues.
“As cyber threats increase in volume and sophistication, AI and ML can help alleviate pressure on SOC teams by automating some tasks and augmenting threat detection and response. This is extremely helpful when analysing large volumes of telemetry to detect anomalies. When used in conjunction with an extended threat detection approach and added human context, AI can help drive significant productivity gains for SOC teams and other defenders, it can also alleviate the stress and improve the mental health of security professionals as they manage the overwhelming alerts and data thrown their way.”
Rohini Sharma, Industry Lead at monday.com
Rohini Sharma, Industry Lead at monday.com
“Artificial intelligence is evolving in an unparalleled way, enhancing how we operate both at work and in everyday life. From smart assistants to maps and content generation, AI is everywhere and we can expect this technology to become a powerful tool across industries for the foreseeable future.
“The adoption of AI has been remarkable, particularly around Generative AI, with different industries and companies embracing this innovation and advancing at their own pace. Digital solutions like monday.com’s Work OS platform are embedding AI capabilities to revolutionise how organisations operate. Now, off the back of these developments, we’re seeing a streamlining of processes, productivity gains, and time savings for organisations.
“AI presents an industry-agnostic opportunity, where many industries are implementing the technology in different ways. For some organisations, it’s a new layer that will boost their products and services and for others it’s at the core of their business. Take customer support for example, AI can answer frequently asked questions quickly and accurately, significantly enhancing the customer experience and improving internal efficiencies. It can also help with knowledge management, ensuring information is organised and directed to the right people. Overall, AI is not a case of specific industries and its successful adoption can be found across various industries, anywhere from marketing to HR or health.”
Merlin Luck, Regional Vice President, Salesforce
Merlin Luck, Regional Vice President, Salesforce
“AI is revolutionising business processes across all industries. For small to mid-sized businesses, the benefits of implementing AI range from automating internal and external processes for optimal efficiency to enhancing customer relationships. For example, in financial services, insurance provider BizCover is using AI-driven solutions to support automated analysis of customer support data to improve the content and timing of communications. As a result, the business has already reported increased open rates averaging 50% against the 24% industry average.
“Importantly, SMBs must ensure they are safely prepared to take advantage of the opportunities AI brings. When looking at AI technology, business owners must consider whether they are safe, secure, and have the skills required within the business to implement these tools effectively.”
Melissa Voderberg, Associate Director, Customer Experience and Innovation Consulting, Publicis Sapient
Melissa Voderberg, Associate Director, Customer Experience and Innovation Consulting, Publicis Sapient
“There are many areas where generative AI (GenAI) can play a role in “change for good”: one of these is the food industry. The dual challenge of food wastage vs food needs is an enduring issue for the sector. By analysing data on consumer demand, inventory levels and other variables, GenAI algorithms can generate optimised stocking and ordering schedules for grocery stores and other food retailers to minimise spoilage and wastage.
“GenAI also has a key role in shipping and distribution, optimising routes and speeding up the supply chain to avoid delays and spoilage. This also means fresh food with a shorter shelf life can rapidly be redistributed to food banks and homeless shelters. This redistribution not only reduces waste but ensures that surplus food is distributed to those who need it most.
“In this way, GenAI has huge potential to revolutionise food production, distribution and retail operations to significantly improve sustainability.”
Enzo Compagnoni, Regional Vice President and General Manager ANZ, Red Hat
Enzo Compagnoni, Regional Vice President and General Manager ANZ, Red Hat
“In the next five years, most industries will reap the benefits of AI through increased productivity. But it’s not going to replace humans in any meaningful way any time soon and there will be a “shift” or “adjustment”. Large-language models and chatbots are notable examples because they can provide scale to assisted channels. But when it comes to “high-brain” work, you still need people.
“AI will take over different classes of repetitive tasks and decision making. Industries that will thrive are those with repeatable processes and understand how they can leverage data to build rich and powerful models. Examples include healthcare for better diagnosis, agriculture through robotics for harvesting produce, manufacturing for predictive and prescriptive maintenance, and cyber security for threat intelligence.
“AI does not need to be one thing for everyone. It’s time for every industry to take stock and thoughtfully consider how and, more importantly why, AI can be used to drive progress.”
Tim Dasey, Ph.D. AI Author and Consultant, Dasey Consulting
Tim Dasey, Ph.D. AI Author and Consultant, Dasey Consulting
“Anything related to AI’s development will be hot for the foreseeable future, including the technologies it relies upon (e.g., Internet, communication, compute). New industries will emerge or greatly expand, like the AI consulting world that will increasingly be about customizing the selection and use of AI for particular companies, jobs, and even individuals. The post-graduate educational sector will see increasing demand from workers who need to adapt quickly.
“Outside of AI and tech, the key question is whether increased productivity will expand markets significantly. Some, like marketing, could get so human-scarce that it just becomes a branch of AI and is so cheap the industry can’t thrive. Human-care industries will remain so, but they might expand because AI decreases costs or increases availability which allows reaching a hidden market. For example, psychotherapy could be done by avatars. That may not appeal to the existing market, but the number who need help is probably much larger than human therapists can serve. AI can fill in the holes of human unavailability and scarcity.”
Sumir Bhatia, President Asia Pacific, ISG at Lenovo
Sumir Bhatia, President Asia Pacific, ISG at Lenovo
“The impact of AI on industries is complex and dynamic. It depends on an organization’s ability to leverage its potential to improve operational efficiency. There are numerous industries that will thrive – let’s see understand a few below:
Healthcare – benefits from AI’s ability to augment human capabilities, remove bias and analyse data to aid diagnoses.
Mining – a major contributor to Australia’s economy will thrive thanks to AI’s ability to increase accuracy when drilling areas, reduce human manpower in mines and minimise workplace accidents.
Finance –can enhance risk assessment, fraud detection, and automate customer service, improving overall financial operations.
Retail – AI-powered recommendations, supply chain optimization, and personalized shopping experiences can boost customer engagement and sales.
“While there are numerous opportunities, common challenges that sectors like traditional retail, customer service, or legal may face are the disruption of traditional models and reduced demand for research, analysis, and data computing roles. Routine tasks become automated as data gets analysed at faster speeds. However, the human aspect cannot be ruled out. AI’s dynamic advancements will drive an 80% increase in tech talent by 2025. As this progresses, Leaders will face the challenge of evolving roles, upskilling employees, and hiring those with relevant skill sets.”
Ruth-Anne Marchant, Senior Team Lead Australia at Mathworks
Ruth-Anne Marchant, Senior Team Lead Australia at Mathworks
“AI offers unmatched potential for businesses across almost every industry. A report by Accenture showed corporate profits are set to increase by an average of 38% by 2035 thanks to the advanced deployment of AI into financial, IT, and manufacturing applications. Efficiency and productivity gains are two of the most commonly cited benefits of using AI and industries with large volume of processes which can be automated are reaping the benefits. Automation with AI means technology can handle and process tasks at a much faster rate than humans could and at the same time, removing that task from an employee’s workload frees them up to focus on higher-value tasks. AI technology also enables organisations to learn and predict tendencies to solve complex problems that have too many variables for the human brain to analyse successfully. By implementing AI, crucial operational decisions can be supported in real-time to greatly improve safety, security, efficiency, and productivity. We’re already seeing our customers making great gains using AI in industries such as energy, mining, automotive, manufacturing and aerospace.”
David Peterson, Principal Solutions Engineer, APAC at Confluent
David Peterson, Principal Solutions Engineer, APAC at Confluent
“Artificial intelligence (AI) is already being used in many industries, but advanced real-world applications are only just coming to fruition. AI innovation takes on a whole new dimension when combined with the power of data streaming, which describes the continuous flow of data as it’s generated, enabling real-time processing and analysis for immediate insights.
“For example, many businesses are looking at combining GPT-4 with streaming data to achieve real-time generative AI. In a real-world scenario, an airline could use a large language model (LLM) like this to help a customer answer a query like, “Can I upgrade to first class?” with pinpoint accuracy. This is no small feat, as it requires the LLM and the business’s data sources to work harmoniously together, analysing things like the customer’s identity, seat layout of the plane assigned to the flight, current capacity for the flight, rewards points available for free upgrades and potentially more. This is a level of personalisation that cannot be achieved with a simple Google search or even an AI model alone – every industry has the opportunity to transform experiences similarly by leveraging AI with the data it already owns.”
Scott Wiltshire, Vice President and GM ANZ at Oracle NetSuite
Scott Wiltshire, Vice President and GM ANZ at Oracle NetSuite
“AI will help many industries thrive as it can reduce time-consuming manual processes and enable people to focus on more valuable work.
“For example, businesses can automate invoice matching so the finance team only needs to manage exceptions, freeing them up to focus on more strategic tasks. This one example will have a huge impact on industries that have high volumes of transactions such as retail, food and beverage, and consumer packaged goods and enable finance teams in these industries to spend more time helping guide their companies and less time on tasks like closing the books.
“AI will also help industries like manufacturing to be more agile by identifying patterns in a company’s data to get ahead of changes in supply and demand. For example, manufacturers can use AI-enabled forecasting to better plan production, take stock of inventory and materials, reorder supplies, and ensure cost efficiencies.
“Retail, food and beverage, consumer packaged goods, and manufacturing are just a few examples of industries that can significantly benefit from AI. Ultimately, AI embedded in Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems will enable businesses across industries to increase the speed and accuracy of business processes, improve productivity, and reduce costs.”
Lee Hawksley, President APJ, UiPath
Lee Hawksley, President APJ, UiPath
“Advances in AI will enable more advanced automations capable of handling even the most complex processes. Particularly, industries in Australia that currently depend on manual processes and multiple disparate systems will thrive through AI-powered automation. These industries include the finance, retail, health, and manufacturing industries, as well as the public sector.
“Simultaneously, AI-powered automation can be the foundation to drive innovation across organisations, which will allow these industries to boost productivity and enhance efficiencies on a massive scale. As a result, this will have a flow on effect to helping solve the current national productivity challenge. At the same time, AI can enable the finance, retail, and public sectors to make significant improvements in customer experience by speeding up administrative processes, reducing the risk of errors, streamlining customer responsiveness, and freeing up humans to engage more directly with customers.
“Ultimately, Australian organisations must assess how disruptive AI technologies can help them renew and reinvent processes to leapfrog the status quo. This will be key to building a more productive and resilient nation.”
Fergus Dunn, Regional Executive at Bentley Systems
Fergus Dunn, Regional Executive at Bentley Systems
“AI technological advancements are reshaping industries worldwide and the architectural engineering and construction (AEC) industry is no exception. As urbanisation drives demand for infrastructure, AI offers valuable insights into large-scale design and planning projects, through integrated simulation technology increasing efficiencies, preventing errors, and boosting productivity.
“Digital twins, which harnesses data-driven insights and AI capabilities, is a particularly impactful technology in the industry. This AI technology is enabling real-time monitoring and predictive maintenance, such as detecting cracks within roads. This advanced detection will be critical to ensure the safety of our cities, particularly as we must place greater focus on climate change resilience in the coming years.
“However, AI innovations raise concerns about potential job displacement across various industries with jobs involving repetitive tasks, data analysis, customer service, transportation, and manufacturing may be impacted. To thrive, industries must embrace AI responsibly and provide support to affected workers through providing upskilling and training initiatives. By doing so, Australia can lead the way as an innovator, harnessing AI’s transformative potential while ensuring a smooth transition for its workforce into new roles within the evolving technological landscape.”
Daniel Park, Sales Engineering Manager ANZ, Zebra Technologies
Daniel Park, Sales Engineering Manager ANZ, Zebra Technologies
“As businesses across industries rush to utilise AI to enhance operations, many are fearing that labour-intensive sectors, such as retail and manufacturing, will face serious job cuts. However, AI-based technology such as automated tills, warehouse robotics and planning tools are best utilised in conjunction with human insights, allowing retail and manufacturing staff to focus on higher value tasks.
“For the retail industry, AI powered solutions can consolidate and analyse customer data, market trends, and historical patterns. Retailers can gain timely insights throughout the supply chain that help them identify bottlenecks and delays in real time, ultimately adding value to their decision making. By combining human insights with the power of AI, retailers have the potential to improve coordination between suppliers, manufacturers, and distributors, facilitating smoother operations. This enables quicker response times in the event of disruption and enhances the experience for employees, helping organisations retain talent.
“Manufacturers are also using AI to relieve teams from mundane tasks, so they can focus on higher value tasks that require creativity, problem-solving, and human decision-making skills. Tools such as AI-powered machine vision solutions assist with detailed quality inspections for items such as medications, automotive and electronic parts and other goods coming off the manufacturing line. Autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) equipped with machine learning and computer vision work in support of people in factories, warehouses and distribution centres, helping ensure they have the raw materials, products and packages they need to get products made, packaged and loaded onto trailers on schedule.”
Anthony Spiteri, Regional CTO APJ, Veeam
Anthony Spiteri, Regional CTO APJ, Veeam
“Artificial intelligence (AI) is poised to have a positive impact on data-focused industries the most. This includes sectors such as finance, where AI-powered algorithms can enhance fraud detection, credit risk assessment through analysing datasets in real-time. Additionally, manufacturing and logistics will experience enhanced efficiency and cost savings through AI-driven automation and predictive maintenance.
“However, AI’s rise may also create difficulties for certain industries to keep existing processes. For instance, routine and repetitive tasks in administrative roles may become automated, potentially leading to job displacement. Retail may undergo a transformation as AI-powered chatbots and personalised recommendations redefine customer interactions.
“Amidst this AI revolution, data backup becomes paramount. More than ever, safeguarding critical data becomes a top priority. In an AI-driven world, data serves as the lifeblood of insights and decision-making. Businesses must adopt robust data backup solutions to prevent data loss, ensure business continuity, and safeguard against cyber threats. Veeam’s expertise in data backup and recovery will play a vital role in helping industries navigate the AI landscape securely, ensuring they can capitalise on AI’s opportunities while mitigating potential risks.”
Jamie Hoey, Country Manager AU, Wunderkind
Jamie Hoey, Country Manager AU, Wunderkind
“The increasing prevalence of AI presents both opportunities and risks for industries across the board. For organisations and teams with a significant amount of first-party customer data, there are immediate and quantifiable benefits.
“Marketers, for example, are sitting on massive amounts of data, from user behaviour analytics to campaign performance. In this, there is huge potential for AI in learning models to unlock the type of performance optimisation we haven’t seen to date.
“AI optimisation through machine learning can help automate manual processes to save time and drive efficiencies. A marketer’s time in collating, sorting and categorising data is freed up to better understand and utilise the insights at their disposal and focus more on strategy, rather than nuts and bolts execution.
“But AI is just a tool to support, not replace, marketing roles. It must be overlaid with ‘human in the loop’ intelligence. Once marketers have better control and understanding of the data – or, for example, the ability to automate asset creation and campaign setup – it brings the reality of true 1:1 marketing personalisation, at scale, much closer.
“After all, marketers are the guardians of the brand. Human creativity and judgement remains irreplaceable to determine what will connect with customers in a relevant and authentic way – and how to hit the customer with the right message, in the right place, at the right time.”
Pete Murray, Managing Director, ANZ at Veritas Technologies
Pete Murray, Managing Director, ANZ at Veritas Technologies
“Artificial intelligence (AI) is continuing to take the world by storm. The eye of the storm marks a revolution in how we now construct, produce and ultimately create ideas. However, in parallel with so many creative and innovative developments comes a dark cloud, raining down malicious individuals who seek to take advantage of AI in its fresh form.
“Without a doubt, AI will affect every single industry, including those in the Australian technology system. The important thing is to ensure that your company is ready.
“Cyber sharks can deploy AI solutions to execute attacks, quickly identifying credentials and pulling data across the internet. But the issue behind the door remains the same as it did before AI: businesses must know what and where their data is, if it’s encrypted, if it includes Personal Identifiable Information and who has access to it.
“On the flip side, organisations across all industries can leverage AI solutions to process greater amounts of information at speed, ultimately protecting increasing amounts of data. This is called Autonomous Data Management (ADM), which sees cloud technology platforms learn data management practices and automatically apply them to new data sets to identify threats, breaches, and other security issues.
“AI has been shown to improve IT through process automation, quality assurance, providing additional layers of effectiveness, competitiveness, and accuracy. With new applications and possibilities discovered all the time, AI’s impact on the business world promises to be nothing short of transformative.”
Christian Lucarelli, Vice President Asia Pacific, Nintex
Christian Lucarelli, Vice President Asia Pacific, Nintex
“At this point, the vast majority of industries have an opportunity to thrive through the use of AI which is evolving very rapidly.
“Topping the list is the technology sector where firms continue to build AI capabilities into their products and services. This, in turn, will significantly increase the value they can deliver to clients.
“More broadly, you can look at any industry that makes use of large volumes of data. For example, legal firms will be able to use AI tools to quickly check databases and analyse previous decisions. They will then be able to identify precedents that can be used when arguing new cases in court.
“Another example is the medical sector. AI tools are already being used to analyse scans of suspected cancers. The tools can rapidly compare an image with a vast database of known cancers and tell the doctor the likelihood that the new image is actually a cancer.
“When it comes to the second group, the industries that will suffer from AI will actually be those that are slow to embrace the technology. They will risk losing out to more nimble competitors that do.”
Emma Bromet, CEO at Eliiza, a Mantel Group Company
Emma Bromet, CEO at Eliiza, a Mantel Group Company
“There is no doubt that AI and machine learning (ML) can have a significant tangible impact on the success of a business. AI can be used to solve business challenges, identify new opportunities and improve customer experience across every industry. The 2020 Global AI Survey from McKinsey & Co. reported that 22 per cent of companies using AI said the technology accounted for over 5 per cent of their 2019 earnings before interest and taxes. Additionally, revenue generated by AI increased year over year in the majority of the business functions using AI technologies.
“I expect to see less of a trend in specific industries thriving or suffering, but more those companies within an industry that embrace innovation & AI solutions will be able to get ahead of their competitors. On the flip side, organisations who leverage AI without the considerations around data security and the responsible use of AI, risk reputation risk if things go wrong. Our advice would be to move quickly, but responsibly into the new AI frontier.”
Peter Philipp, General Manager ANZ, Neo4j
Peter Philipp, General Manager ANZ, Neo4j
“With its ability to improve the quality and speed of operations, artificial intelligence (AI) has been widely adopted by many enterprises across numerous industries.
“Sectors that stand to benefit from using AI include healthcare, banking and financial services, manufacturing, logistics, cybersecurity, transportation, retail and e-commerce and defence.
“AI has been a game changer. In healthcare, the use of AI enables medical professionals to develop more personalised treatments for patients and can provide faster and more accurate diagnoses. And in the financial industry, AI is being used to improve fraud detection and risk assessment, enabling more secure financial operations.
“While there are many advantages to having AI, we expect job functions that are repetitive in nature, such as roles in assembly lines, data entry and customer service, to be severely impacted. Certain jobs in the professional services sectors, such as accounting and tax preparation, could also be affected.
“Despite this, AI is a tool that can enhance capabilities and create new opportunities and potentially new job functions.
“Combined with technologies like knowledge graphs, AI has the potential to deliver a powerful solution to many industries as it enables more insightful analysis of data and provides better context and more accurate, transparent, and explainable predictions.”
Ed Lenta, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Asia Pacific and Japan, Databricks
Ed Lenta, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Asia Pacific and Japan, Databricks
“The AI awareness revolution set off by ChatGPT back in November continues to gain momentum as companies all over the world, including in Australia, are awakening to what AI can do for their businesses.
“AI isn’t just for tech companies. It is able to help businesses in every industry – from healthcare, retail, financial services, energy and utility – all across industries solve business challenges and improve their bottom line.
“That is why it is imperative for AI to be democratised so that every organisation – large or small, profit or non-profit – can benefit from the AI revolution while controlling how their data is used and keeping ownership of the value created.
“As we speak to businesses across all industries, their top concerns are data privacy and the ethical use of AI. Each organisation sits on a treasure trove – their data. This data only really has value when its business context is understood. This is why many organisations are training LLM models in-house rather than handing their data over to third parties. With open-sourced LLM models that are now able to be used commercially, companies can leverage these tools to build their own LLMs on top of their data.
“To do this companies must have all their data in a unified platform like the lakehouse. It enables businesses to carefully control their company-wide data and AI development, allowing them to better manage risks on one unified platform.”
Mohammad Choucair, CEO of Archer Materials
Mohammad Choucair, CEO of Archer Materials
“Medtech companies are improving all the time when it comes to analysing data for diagnostics. Yet, there are still gaps in how medical data is modelled not just for diagnostics or disease detection, but for predicting disease. And there is a heightened focus on the detection and spread of disease, particularly in the wake of the pandemic.
“AI provides an opportunity to transform the medical diagnostics industry by using data gathered from Medtech companies to model even better real world solutions, but this will require extra powerful computing power.
“Archer Materials (ASX: AXE) is developing a biochip that will be able to take sample and detect and analyse disease, essentially making it a Lab-on-a-chip. The biochip seeks to use AI and algorithms to analyse data that will predict the spread of disease, and it will have the computing power to do so. Alongside this, Archer is also developing a quantum computing chip to use in electronic devices that also provides the processing power for AI applications on everyday devices, unlocking the next-generation of AI in the palm of your hand.”
Billy Loizou, APAC Area VP, Amperity
Billy Loizou, APAC Area VP, Amperity
“In today’s dynamic landscape, traditional digital marketing is poised to face significant challenges due to the phasing out of third-party cookies and the ever-evolving data privacy regulations. It has historically revolved around brands ‘renting’ customer data from third-party data sources and then relying on external digital identity graphs to match their data with ad platforms.
“Now, marketers can no longer rely on these traditional methods of identifying, retaining and acquiring customers. To ensure they are delivering ROI on every paid campaign, brands must tap into their own first-party customer data. Concerningly, however, only 11% of businesses have a ‘clear plan and path’ they are implementing when it comes to evolving and adapting to changes in privacy and consent. That means roughly 90% don’t.
“That’s where AI comes in to help the marketing and ad industries thrive. With Amperity, brands can take advantage of patented AI and machine learning to ingest and stitch together online and offline customer data to build comprehensive, live unified profiles. This foundation allows digital teams to quickly build targeted segments, directly activate with leading ad platforms and effectively measure the impact of digital ads across online and in-store purchases. The result is match rates as high as 85% on key channels, improved return on ad spend (ROAS) by up to 5X and upwards of 90% faster activation time for new campaigns.”
Brad Drysdale, Field CTO, SnapLogic
Brad Drysdale, Field CTO, SnapLogic
“AI can bring significant advancements and benefits to various industries, spanning from AI assistance with manual, repetitive tasks to acting as an “intelligent co-pilot” for many business tasks and eventually, leading to autonomous, self-driving business operations.
“However, before any industry can even begin to thrive with AI, businesses must break down the silos of where data and applications operate to ensure a seamless flow of data between multiple applications and systems. This is key as AI will only be as smart and useful as the data it is trained upon and the actions it has observed. And the benefit of AI will only be tangible when the insights, predictions and actions it generates fuel the right business activity or outcome. All of this relies heavily upon data – getting the right data to the right place at the right time.
“This level of enterprise-wide automation, supported by solutions like SnapGPT, helps quell these concerns by simplifying complex business processes through the seamless flow of data between multiple applications and systems. When everyone in the business is empowered to move faster and has access to quality data, the benefits are profound. Bottlenecks become a thing of the past, and everyone can make more informed decisions based on the data presented to them.”
Andrew Rossington, Chief Product Officer, Teletrac Navman
Andrew Rossington, Chief Product Officer, Teletrac Navman
“Australia has 91,000 registered prime movers and over 800,000 registered heavy vehicles, and managing those fleets, such as scheduling, getting them to the right place at the right time, and ensuring drivers comply with the law and have their required breaks, is a herculean task. AI-enabled smart dashcams and telematics software can help ensure a driver is driving within the law and managing fatigue, but at Teletrac Navman, we also believe fleet managers are going to thrive in the age of AI. This is because artificial intelligence and machine learning will eliminate the menial, repetitive tasks fleet managers must perform, instead allowing them to focus on more strategic initiatives – building the business, improving margins, winning new contracts, and finding new ways to streamline operations. For both drivers and fleet managers, AI is a boon, not something to fear.”
Mehdi Fassaie, Chief Product Officer at tutch
Mehdi Fassaie, Chief Product Officer at tutch
“The impact of AI on our lives is set to be profound, much like the internet and mobile technology. This influence will be felt across all industries and professions.
“While all industries will benefit from AI over time, the most significant changes will occur in jobs that can be automated by AI-driven technology or made more productive with AI assistants.
“Industries such as Consulting, Finance, Insurance, Communication, Health, and Transport, which have many administrative, data entry, and customer service tasks will experience the most immediate impact with AI-driven automation taking away many positions.
“In contrast, industries such as Advertising, Communications, Retail, Healthcare and Software Development, which can benefit from data insights to enhance creative and strategic decision-making or improve services, will see immediate increases in productivity and job opportunities.
“According to the World Economic Forum, by 2025, AI is expected to eliminate 85 million jobs while creating 97 million new jobs. The key takeaway is that while significant shifts and transformations will occur across all industries, AI will ultimately have a net-positive impact.”
Jonathan Reeve, Vice President APAC, Eagle Eye
Jonathan Reeve, Vice President APAC, Eagle Eye
“AI is and will continue to be a catalyst for growth in the retail sector. It’s generating a number of exciting opportunities across the industry.
“We have nearly two decades of experience, working with leading retailers to enable them to execute personalised marketing strategies. As their data analytics AI capabilities have improved, we have ensured that our personalisation platform Eagle Eye AIR is able to scale to deliver against their ever-advancing needs. Currently, the platform is executing more than 750 million personalised promotions to customers all over the world every single week.
“We are optimistic about the impact of AI on our market and our ability to adapt and thrive in this evolving landscape. The increasing demand for personalised experiences coupled with cutting- edge technology and more customer data than ever before creates a fertile ground for businesses to thrive in this evolving landscape.”
Marcus Paterson, Sales Director APAC, Storyblok
Marcus Paterson, Sales Director APAC, Storyblok
“Despite some pitfalls that this technology might have, the value it can bring to all businesses across industries is huge. In addition to increasing the speed of content creation, artificial intelligence (AI) can transform the way that companies distribute their content, allowing them to gain deeper insights into their audience by analysing user preferences, behaviour and demographic data. This information can then be used to create more personalised content and improve user engagement.
“Since the technology is meant to give us some predictions and train on data again and again, it can spot opportunities faster than people. Hence, AI-powered content distribution tools can target the right audience with the right content at the right time, maximising their reach and impact.
“Finally, AI-powered content consumption tools, like voice assistants and chatbots, are transforming the way users interact with content, making it more accessible and convenient than ever before. Customers can engage with the brand anytime whilst lounging on the couch and surfing the web. Unless the issue is particularly complex and calls for the manager’s attention, you won’t have to wait until the next business day to hear back from customer service. At the end of the day, all companies strive to speed up checkout, and these tools can help.”
John Yang, Vice President, APJ, Progress
John Yang, Vice President, APJ, Progress
“AI is set to – and has already – impacted most industries. It’s now up to the different companies to plan how to best leverage AI technologies to their benefit and take their business applications to the next level, while paying attention to potential AI-driven risks.
“Organisations, which rely heavily on data to make decisions as well as drive customer experience and personalisation, are the ones that have the most to gain from AI. Financial services, banking, insurance, healthcare and government are amongst the top sectors that will likely invest in AI to make sense of the exponential number of datasets they create every day, extract even deeper insights from them as well as innovate, and respond to quickly changing customer needs.
“On the flip side, this extra reliance on AI means they need to pay close attention to how sophisticated AI’s machine learning algorithms (for example tools like ChatGPT operate at an accuracy level of 80%) can impact the end user journey, jeopardise data privacy, as well as inflate data bias issues.”
Jon Beros, Founder and CEO of Little Birdie
Jon Beros, Founder and CEO of Little Birdie
“With the launch of AI-powered tools like Little Birdie into the retail industry, shoppers can expect a transformative future.
“Our disruptive new tech compares millions of product prices from thousands of Australia’s favourite online retailers to show consumers which one is the cheapest available. At a time when the prices are rising across all sectors, Little Birdie can save the average household many hundreds, possibly thousands of dollars every year.
“We’re harnessing the power of AI to innovate one of the last corners of the internet that is in desperate need of an aggregator that is on the side of the shopper — unlike Google, which prioritises advertising. We’re putting powerful AI search tools at their fingertips and it’s an exciting step forward for e-commerce.
“By revolutionising the way people shop, we envision a future where retail thrives, powered by advanced technology, consumer empowerment, and a dynamic ecosystem that benefits all stakeholders. Together, we are shaping a retail landscape that leaves no room for inefficiency or uninformed decisions, propelling the industry towards a future where AI empowers both retailers and consumers alike.”
Dominic Procter, Founder, Outsourced Staff
Dominic Procter, Founder, Outsourced Staff
“AI is set to disrupt many industries, from banking to transportation to healthcare, some with thrive and some will suffer. AI has the potential to revolutionize these industries by analyzing and processing large amounts of data quickly, bringing new levels of efficiency to many business systems, from improved customer service to automated processes.
“Thriving industries:
Healthcare: AI can improve disease diagnosis, patient care, and drug discovery.
IT: AI aids in data analysis, cybersecurity, and automating tasks.
Automotive: Self-driving technology could transform the industry.
Retail and E-commerce: AI enhances customer experience and inventory management.
“Facing challenges:
Transportation: Autonomous vehicles could disrupt jobs.
Manufacturing: While AI boosts efficiency, it may lead to job losses.
Retail: Automated systems might threaten physical retail jobs.
Call Centers: AI chatbots could reduce the need for human staff.
“Despite displacing some roles, AI is expected to create new ones, emphasizing the need for education and reskilling.”
Dhanush Ganglani, Managing Director, Eden Exchange
Dhanush Ganglani, Managing Director, Eden Exchange
“It’s undeniable that AI has the potential to revolutionise various sectors, but the degree of its effects depends on a range of industry-specific factors and the openness of businesses to embrace technological advancements.
“Within the AU$172 billion franchising industry, for example, recent research highlights the pivotal role of technology in driving growth. Franchise owners are actively embracing innovation, integrating advanced systems and seeking out solutions that simplify operations and boost profitability.
“This progressive mindset positions the franchising industry to thrive by harnessing the power of AI-driven technologies. What’s exciting is that this push to adopt AI in the franchising industry opens up a world of possibilities from streamlining processes to gaining a deeper understanding of customers and making smarter decisions based on data. It’s all about creating opportunities for sustained growth and success in an increasingly competitive marketplace.
“So, whilst some industries grapple with the potential of AI, the franchising industry’s embrace of these technologies puts it in a prime position to thrive. By leveraging AI’s capabilities, franchisors can drive efficiency gains, deliver outstanding customer experiences and make informed decisions that keep them ahead of the curve in today’s fast-paced business landscape.”
Brodie Haupt, CEO and Co-founder of WLTH
Brodie Haupt, CEO and Co-founder of WLTH
“AI’s influence will undeniably be far-reaching, with both winners and losers. Industries focusing on data analysis and decision-making – Financial Services, for instance, are likely to flourish, as AI can provide valuable insights, automate complex tasks and help with financial decisioning processes.
“If financial service providers can adapt their strategies to leverage AI capabilities, they’ll be able to better provide efficient and customer-centric solutions, such as implementing AI-powered chatbots and virtual assistants. AI can also assist by detecting fraudulent activities in real-time by analysing transaction patterns and flagging suspicious behaviour, among a plethora of other uses.
“Conversely, finance companies unwilling or unable to adapt to AI advancements might struggle to keep up with their competitors who utilise the technology to improve efficiency, security and customer satisfaction. Although AI’s impact will vary across industries, success will not be dictated by the industry a company operates in but by its ability to adapt, innovate and leverage the advantages of AI.”
Con Kittos, Executive Chairman at Asuria
Con Kittos, Executive Chairman at Asuria
“The fact that AI is already transforming the traditional hiring process means that no industry will be immune from its impact.
“The rise of ChatGPT, and other freely available AI tools, has already rendered traditional resumes unreliable, allowing candidates to misrepresent themselves.
“AI assistance can also lead to employers being misled about a candidate’s actual suitability for a role and introducing hard-to-detect algorithmic biases related to gender, race, age, and socio-economic status.
“Asuria has long emphasised that resumes and cover letters can no longer accurately represent a candidate’s potential. In order to succeed, employers must rethink their reliance on these outdated methods and accept that the AI era is already here in order to account for it.
“Identifying and preventing AI-assisted manipulation in resumes is already a significant challenge for businesses. To address this, Asuria advocates refining hiring practices by focusing on core competencies or transferrable skills, such as teamwork, problem-solving, customer understanding, and time management.
“In embracing core competencies, we can shape a future where AI enhances the hiring process, promoting fairness and unlocking the full potential of individuals in the dynamic job market.”
Mark Ferris, Head of Product, ipSCAPE
Mark Ferris, Head of Product, ipSCAPE
“The rapid development of AI-based technologies by leading companies such as OpenAI have created significant opportunities, particularly for the Contact Centre industry to create efficiencies and improve operations.
“Organisations are looking for ways to connect with customers to build loyalty, trust and engagement and AI will dramatically change this landscape through developments in contact centre technology.
“Some ways AI is, and will further impact the contact centre industry include:
Post-contact process automation – AI will automate many of the tasks agents complete after an interaction with a customer i.e. summarising interaction details.
Copiloting – As an agent interacts with a customer, relevant information can be served to the agent to help reduce handle time and improve the customer experience.
AI Insights – Customer conversations, together with indications such as intent and emotion, can be mapped into patterns. AI can then pinpoint opportunities for improvement.
Synthetic Neural Voices – AI generated voices are now able to be built easily from sample voice prints to create flexible self-service customer experiences.
“The Contact Centre industry is well-positioned to leverage AI to improve customer communications. At ipSCAPE, our Australian Cloud Contact Centre solution is a preferred solution on the Azure Marketplace, and we’re working with clients to explore how these AI use-cases and more, can be used to enhance operations.”
Rob Graham, Managing Director of Schrole Group
Rob Graham, Managing Director of Schrole Group
“The HR recruitment sector is set to benefit from AI as it will help employers and employees find the right candidates and careers, ultimately improving the employment landscape. Recruitment has become more digitised, but candidate data is still largely disjointed. AI presents an opportunity to help better amalgamate this candidate data across the full range of HR solutions.
“HR SaaS provider for the international schools’ sector, Schrole Group (ASX: SCL), is using AI to harness its database of educators, improving schools’ HR processes. Schrole has implemented AI into its recruitment platform, Schrole Connect, so educators can auto populate targeted job ads, helping them save time and find more appropriate candidates.
“Schrole is set to roll out more AI features across the rest of its HR SaaS platform, including recruitment, staff cover, background checks, onboarding, contract management, and training, for international schools to enhance customer experience and further streamline back-office operations.”
Andrew Hynd, Partner, Holding Redlich
Andrew Hynd, Partner, Holding Redlich
“With AI technologies creating new opportunities and innovations, the integration of AI has caused disruption amongst all Australian industries.
“In the legal sector, AI has been able to improve contract review processes and has assisted lawyers in analysing vast amounts of legal data, making informed decisions and providing more accurate legal advice to clients. Equally, use of AI without due care can cause major issues, as seen recently where lawyers using AI tools discovered that it invented court cases in support of their argument.
“For the creative industries, there may be concerns especially in trying to apply copyright and patent law to this new paradigm. For example, there are concerns about AI companies infringing copyright as they scrape the internet for data to feed their models.
“The government and public sector will see both benefits and challenges with AI implementation. While there are many legal issues pertaining to privacy and data protection, the integration of AI in government processes will be able to improve efficiency and data-driven decision making.
“In short, all industries are likely to be changed by AI – it can’t be avoided, but it does need to be used with care.”
Amos Simantov, Founder and CEO, Way2Vat
Amos Simantov, Founder and CEO, Way2Vat
“AI is revolutionizing the accounts payable and VAT claim & return industry. These sectors have long been ready for a paradigm shift – in the EU alone, it’s estimated that around €20 billion is left unclaimed annually.
“AI offers significant advantages over traditional automation in the accounts payable and VAT claim & return industry. Traditional automation requires pre-set rules and is great at performing repetitive tasks. However, it struggles when it encounters exceptions, anomalies, or new scenarios.
“AI not only handles routine tasks but also learns and improves over time. AI can adapt to new situations, manage exceptions, and even predict future patterns based on historical data. In VAT claims, AI can flag potential compliance issues, reduce errors and fraud, and optimize VAT recovery based on changing regulations and business operations. It provides actionable insights, enabling businesses to make more informed strategic decisions.
“Thus, AI is not just about doing things faster or cheaper; it’s about doing things better and smarter, transforming the industry from a reactive to a proactive stance, and unlocking significant value that could otherwise be lost.”
Greg Macpherson, Founder, the Wellness Access Institute
Greg Macpherson, Founder, the Wellness Access Institute
“It’s obvious that AI is going to revolutionise the healthcare industry and accelerate innovation onto a new trajectory. My specialist area is cellular health and rejuvenation, and this area is already witnessing significant AI driven progression. Areas within health and wellness that will particularly benefit and thrive include:
Diagnostics – using AI to reviews scans (MRIs, x-rays, ultrasounds) for health issues is already resulting in the successful identification and diagnosis of more issues than human radiologists. Early detection rates, in many cases, result in better outcomes for patients.
Genetics – AI will be used as standard to rapidly screen for health conditions at birth, or even pre-birth, for early treatment and improved outcomes.
Pharmacy – AI is being used to compare drugs against genetic sets and identify which are best in terms of response, while minimising side effects.
Medicine – robots will work alongside surgeons in many procedures and at times may replace surgeons completely to execute intricate surgeries.
Drug discovery – using AI to rapidly screen small compounds and the receptors that are being targeted (receptors are large protein molecules embedded in the cell wall, their job is to receive information outside the cell).
Aging – using AI to identify compounds that can help modulate the aging process, helping us to remain healthier for longer.
Predictive Analytics – Due to the vast amounts of data that AI can process, as we embrace the ethos of a digitally based system for health and share more data globally, AI algorithms can identify risk factors and help to develop highly personalised treatment plans.
“The Wellness Access Institute (WAI) is a non-commercial entity that aims to help solve some of the pressing problems facing human health on an international level. Our scientists, Doctors and researchers work together to share findings in a collaborative environment, driving innovation in health, beauty and wellness and helping bring science to society.”
Jarrod Partridge, Content Manager, Chillybin
Jarrod Partridge, Content Manager, Chillybin
“In the era of AI, industries will dance to the tune of automation, and not all will be graceful partners. While some sectors are poised to thrive, one industry likely to suffer is article writing, particularly for offshore scribes delivering lackluster content at a mere 1-2 cents per word.
“AI’s prowess in natural language processing and generation is revolutionising content creation, spelling trouble for those unable to deliver exceptional quality and creativity. The days of mediocre prose will crumble under the weight of AI-generated brilliance.
“As a Content Manager at Chillybin, we believe that the key lies in embracing AI as a powerful ally, leveraging its capabilities to enhance our craft and amplify our human touch. In this AI-powered age, let us raise the bar, leaving uninspired content in the dust and allowing our creativity to soar to new heights.”
Tim West, Co-founder and Managing Director of UBX
Tim West, Co-founder and Managing Director of UBX
“In the era of digital transformation, the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on all industries is undeniable. Success or failure will depend on how well businesses recognise and seize AI opportunities. Embracing AI enables optimising processes, increasing efficiency, and maximising human potential without replacing talent.
“Consider the fitness industry, where AI can automate administrative tasks, manage schedules, and personalise member experiences. This frees up time for staff to connect with members, fostering valuable relationships that drive the industry. Similar benefits apply to relationship-based sectors.
“However, some industries face risks. High-fee, formulaic services like finance and law may be threatened by AI. Inefficient labour usage and resistance to upskilling also pose challenges, such as in manufacturing. Retailers relying on outdated inventory systems rather than AI’s predictive analysis may suffer. Resisting AI means disregarding a fundamental shift in modern business, not just a passing trend.
“Businesses should embrace AI as a tool for enhancing operations, improving customer experiences, and driving growth. It’s not a matter of if AI will revolutionise industries, but when and how effectively it will be leveraged.”
Darren Venter, Co-Director at DIYBA and The Investors Agency
Darren Venter, Co-Director at DIYBA and The Investors Agency
“Like any industry, AI has the power to create incredible impacts on the real estate industry if used correctly. At DIYBA, we’re already utilising AI, along with expert industry knowledge, the latest property data, and our proprietary machine learning technologies, to help property investors make smarter investment decisions at a fraction of the cost of working with a buyer’s agency. We believe there will always be a place for people in real estate and the property investment industry, but particular parts of the industry will thrive with the added power and speed of AI helping to streamline processes and sift through large amounts of data.”
Simon Donovan, Executive General Manager at Fuse
Simon Donovan, Executive General Manager at Fuse
“AI is set to profoundly impact business, leading some industries to thrive and others to face challenges. Sectors relying on data analysis and pattern recognition, like healthcare, financial services, and marketing, are likely to experience significant growth.
“For insurance underwriters, like Fuse Fleet, AI offers growth opportunities and enhanced customer experiences. AI and telematics allow insurers to assess client behaviour, leading to customised policies and fairer premium calculations, promoting safer driving practices.
“Traditionally, fleet insurance premiums were based on factors like parking location and claims history. However, Fuse utilises AI and a behaviour-based formula, linking clients’ crash probability to driving behaviour.
“AI streamlines claims processing, underwriting, and risk assessment, improving operational efficiency and providing personalised coverage. Leveraging vast data, insurers make informed decisions and identify market opportunities, driving industry innovation.
“Industries embracing AI’s potential while adapting their strategies are likely to thrive. Failing to harness AI’s power may challenge a businesses’ competitiveness in an ever-evolving digital landscape. Successful integration depends on leveraging technology to drive innovation and deliver customer value.”
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