Only 7% of Australian businesses broadly use AI, according to Assistant Minister for Competition Andrew Leigh. That number should worry anyone selling into the ANZ market.
The adoption gap is not random. Leigh's research shows AI investment is concentrated in the largest players: the big four banks, major consulting firms, and enterprise with scale. Commonwealth Bank, Macquae, NAB, Westpac, and ANZ lead AI hiring and talent acquisition. SMEs are not catching up.
For sales teams, this creates a clear picture of where the budget lives. If you are selling AI tools, workflow automation, or productivity software, your ICP is still enterprise. The SMB opportunity exists in theory, but the 93% who are not adopting yet face blockers: trust, capability, and unclear ROI.
Leigh frames this as a productivity problem. He argues AI should show up in practical outcomes: fewer errors, faster invoicing, better stock management, improved customer service. The government wants SME adoption to accelerate, which means they are looking for tools that reduce admin load and deliver measurable returns quickly.
The policy signal: expect more government focus on making AI accessible to smaller firms. That could mean subsidies, clearer use cases, or simplified implementation. For vendors, it means the path to SMB adoption will likely require lower price points, faster time to value, and less technical lift.
Worth noting: Australia's AI leaders in financial services and consulting have deeper data pools, larger sales teams, and more internal technical capability. That advantage compounds. The longer adoption stays concentrated at the top, the wider the gap gets.
Leigh compares this to zero-till farming, which took 40 years to reach 80 to 90% adoption in Australian grain regions. Farmers learned from farmers. Scientists helped. Machinery changed. The diffusion took time, but it worked because the benefits were clear and shareable.
The same logic applies to AI in sales: the tools that spread fastest will be the ones that solve real problems, work without a data science team, and show ROI in quarters, not years. If 7% adoption worries the government, it should also shape how you think about market timing and buyer readiness in ANZ.