From Pilots to Payoff: Bridging Australia’s AI Gap

In this interview, Richard Fleming, Head of AI Insights and Solutions Practice at Bain & Company, highlights the relatively slow progress of AI adoption in Australia compared to other global regions like the US and parts of Asia. While many Australian organisations remain stuck in pilot phases, unsure of AI’s ROI, US data shows that the majority of companies there are meeting or exceeding their expectations. Richard notes that widespread, uncoordinated AI usage, what he terms “shadow AI” is common. The challenge is scaling beyond experiments to deliver tangible business value. This requires a more structured approach to AI governance and capability-building.

Richard stresses the importance of integrating AI efforts with existing business and technology functions. Rather than waiting for perfect data sets, he encourages organisations to start developing real AI applications using the data they already have, in parallel with improving their data foundations. He also underscores the need…