Australian organisations are increasingly reporting revenue gains from artificial intelligence, alongside productivity improvements, as AI systems begin moving from supporting decisions to executing actions in business workflows, according to Deloitte research.
Deloitte’s 2026 State of AI in the Enterprise: Built Differently report is based on a survey of 3,500 leaders across 25 countries. It examines how organisations are creating value from AI and the factors shaping returns, including work redesign, AI economics, governance and emerging capabilities such as agentic and physical AI.
In Australia, 27% of organisations surveyed reported revenue gains from AI, up from 20% in January. Efficiency or productivity benefits were reported by 75% of respondents, up from 66%. Revenue growth was also cited as the most anticipated future benefit, selected by 66% of Australian respondents.
The report also points to a shift in how AI is used. Deloitte found 38% of Australian organisations allow AI to execute decisions or actions without human approval to a moderate degree, though none reported doing so to a significant degree. At the same time, 18% of respondents said accountability is unclear when an AI system produces a negative outcome, highlighting governance and risk management challenges as autonomy increases.
Work redesign is accompanying AI adoption. Deloitte reported 39% of Australian respondents are redesigning several key processes around AI, while around half reported only minor change in decision-making authority. Looking ahead, 73% expect AI to handle the majority of tasks in routine knowledge work within three years, while 62% expect the same across customer-facing service, support and sales roles.
Adoption levels vary by function. IT and cybersecurity was reported as the most advanced area in Australia, with 62% running AI at scale compared with 54% globally. Other functions were more likely to remain in pilot or experimentation, including strategy and operations, where 69% were piloting or experimenting and 23% were at scale, compared with 38% at scale globally.
Physical AI was flagged as an area where expectations are rising. Deloitte reported 20% of Australian organisations have at least moderate use of physical AI today, and within two years, 24% expect extensive use across most operational areas, compared with 18% globally.
The survey also found organisations are paying closer attention to AI costs and returns. Deloitte said 75% of Australian organisations track total AI inference and API spending, while 38% track token volumes and 25% track cost per token or API call. While capability is expected to rise—86% anticipate their organisation’s overall AI capability will increase moderately or significantly over the next 12 months—returns remain mixed, with 35% reporting less measurable ROI than expected, compared with 19% globally.
Governance and data practices are also shifting as AI expands. Deloitte reported 75% of Australian organisations provide employees with AI training and guidelines, while 59% have updated data governance frameworks or introduced new data policies. Data privacy and security was identified as a high or very high issue by 62% of Australian respondents, and 64% rated sovereign AI and in-region compute requirements as moderately or very important to their AI strategy.
You can read the full report here.
