What Happened
CPA Australia published its 2026 Business Technology Report on 9 October 2026, drawing on a survey of 1,679 accounting and finance professionals across Australia, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Chinese Mainland and Singapore.
The report found 88 per cent of Australian businesses now use AI in some form. Only 10 per cent, however, have deeply embedded it throughout their operations. Australia recorded the lowest level of broad AI integration of any market in the survey.
On the same day the report was released, CPA Australia Business and Investment Lead Gavan Ord took the findings to the Parliamentary Joint Committee on AI adoption in Australia.
"Australian businesses have largely adopted AI, but many are still only scratching the surface of its potential," Ord said.
"The message from the data is clear: AI adoption alone isn't enough. The real benefits come when AI becomes embedded in day-to-day operations, helping businesses improve productivity, efficiency and decision-making," he said.
Why It Matters
The profitability data in the report points to a concrete gap between surface-level use and deeper integration. Across all markets surveyed, 63 per cent of businesses reporting increased profitability said AI was widely used across several business functions or deeply embedded throughout the organisation, compared with 50 per cent of businesses whose profitability remained unchanged or declined.
"Technology should be helping to lift productivity, but many Australian businesses are still struggling to realise its full benefits," Ord said.
The governance dimension also features in the report's findings. "Many organisations have adopted AI faster than they have developed the governance frameworks needed to manage it effectively. Strong governance is essential to managing risk, building trust and ensuring businesses realise the long-term value of their AI investments," Ord said.
Key Details
Australia's position relative to regional peers is most pronounced in two areas. Just 28 per cent of Australian businesses reported using agentic AI systems capable of completing multi-step tasks with minimal human prompting, compared with 58 per cent in the Chinese Mainland, 49 per cent in Hong Kong and 47 per cent in Singapore.
On custom-built AI tools, only 36 per cent of Australian businesses use them, compared with 61 per cent in the Chinese Mainland.
Background and Context
CPA Australia is a professional accounting body representing members across Australia and internationally. Its annual Business Technology Report tracks how accounting and finance professionals report on technology use within their organisations. The 2026 edition surveyed 1,679 respondents across five Asia-Pacific markets.
"AI has the potential to make a meaningful contribution to Australia's productivity challenge, but only if businesses invest in the capability, governance and processes needed to use it effectively," Ord said.
The finding is not an outlier. Treasury reached the same conclusion in August 2026, reporting that around two thirds of Australian businesses report some AI adoption while fewer than 10 per cent report significant adoption, and warning that access alone would not deliver economic gains. Realising productivity gains, Treasury said, requires investment in organisational capital: changes to processes, business models, management practices and workforce skills.
What Comes Next
Ord's appearance before the Parliamentary Joint Committee on AI adoption in Australia signals that the report's findings are now part of the formal policy conversation in Canberra. CPA Australia has framed the next phase of AI in terms of integration depth rather than adoption breadth.
"The next phase of AI will not be defined by how many businesses use it. It will be defined by how effectively and deeply businesses integrate it into the way they operate, make decisions and create value," Ord said.
"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," he said.