Australian businesses are adopting AI widely, but relatively few have integrated the technology deeply enough to strengthen their competitive position, according to CPA Australia’s 2026 Business Technology Report.
The survey found that 88% of Australian businesses use AI.
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However, only 10% have embedded it extensively across their operations, giving Australia the lowest level of broad AI integration among the markets covered.
The report surveyed 1,679 accounting and finance professionals across Australia, Hong Kong, Malaysia, the Chinese Mainland and Singapore.
It found Australian businesses had the “lowest level of broad AI integration” among these markets.
CPA Australia Business and Investment lead Gavan Ord said: “Australian businesses have largely adopted AI, but many are still only scratching the surface of its potential.
“Successful businesses across the region are increasingly integrating AI into core operations, while many Australian organisations remain in the early stages of that journey.
“If Australia is serious about lifting productivity and improving economic growth, businesses must move beyond AI experimentation and focus on embedding it more deeply into their operations.”
The report added that Australia also trails its regional peers in the use of more advanced AI systems.
Only 28% of Australian businesses reported using agentic AI, which can carry out multi-step tasks with limited human prompting.
The figure rises to 47% in Singapore, 49% in Hong Kong and 58% on the Chinese Mainland.
Australian businesses are also less likely to develop AI tools tailored to their own operations.
Custom-built AI is used by 36% of Australian businesses, compared with 61% on the Chinese Mainland.
Across all surveyed markets, 63% of businesses that reported higher profitability said AI was used broadly across several functions or embedded throughout the organisation.
AI is delivering productivity and efficiency gains, but concerns about privacy, cybersecurity, excessive reliance on automated systems and weaker human oversight continue to limit wider deployment.
Governance has also not kept pace with adoption: almost three in ten organisations provide little or no guidance on how employees should use AI, the report said.
CPA Australia added that governments should expand digital support programmes and workforce capability initiatives to help businesses move “from AI adoption to AI integration”.
