AI automation-Australian real estate companies lag their global counterparts in adopting productivity-boosting measures such as automation, saying the hurdles are greater and expressing more doubt that they will make a difference. While an estimated 50 per cent of all job tasks will be impacted by automation by 2030, Australian respondents to a global survey conducted this week said they were hiring fewer AI experts such as data scientists and less convinced it would benefit them than respondents from Europe, the Gulf States and the US. The sample space was limited – Australians accounted for just one-quarter of the 400 global respondents to an online poll conducted by consultancy EY and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Real Estate Innovation Lab – but the problem pointed to a lack of competitiveness, said Selena Scott, EY's global real estate and construction innovation leader. "Australian real estate companies are slightly behind their global counterparts when it comes to hiring AI and automation specialists," Ms Short said. "The fact that 23 per cent of Australian companies were unsure whether automation or AI would change their businesses is a worry."

Nearly four in five (79%) Australian IT leaders believe that AI will be very or critically important to their business within two years, but only 34% have a comprehensive, company-wide AI strategy. These are among the key findings of new research by Deloitte into the state of AI in the enterprise in seven markets including Australia. According to the report, more than half (51%) of Australian respondents believe that AI will transform their business within three years. But the survey found that Australia is below the global average both in terms of the proportion of companies with a comprehensive AI strategy (35% globally) and in terms of the percentage of companies that are seasoned AI adopters (17%, compared to 21% globally). In addition, 50% of AI early adopters in Australia are still using AI to catch up or keep up with the competition rather than carve out a distinct advantage.