New research commissioned by Konica Minolta Australia suggests most Australian organisations are using artificial intelligence, but few have put formal governance or training in place to support it.
The survey of 305 IT and business decision-makers, conducted as part of a three-part digital workplace research series with analyst firm Omdia, found 83 per cent of organisations have adopted AI in at least one area. However, only 21 per cent reported having a formal AI governance or policy framework, and 17 per cent said they provide structured AI training or data literacy programs.
The findings point to a widening gap between AI deployment and the information management practices required to reduce risk and improve outcomes. The report says organisations are already applying AI across analytics and reporting, search and knowledge management, workflow automation, customer engagement and document processing, but continue to face fragmented information, system integration challenges, and limited governance and training.
Dr Giovanni Forero, Intelligent Information Management Team Lead at Konica Minolta Australia, said organisations are moving quickly on adoption while “the information governance foundations needed to support it have not always developed at the same pace”. He warned that AI depends on information that is “accurate, accessible, appropriately governed, and used by people who understand how to work with it safely and effectively.”
Information fragmentation remains a key barrier, with 40 per cent of organisations identifying information spread across platforms and departments as their biggest information management challenge, according to the research.
Omdia estimates employees spend between one and five hours each week searching for information, which it says equates to roughly two to four working weeks per employee over a year—an issue that can affect productivity and the reliability of data feeding AI systems.
Despite the issues, organisations surveyed reported expectations of business benefits from improved information management, data governance and AI capabilities. The report found 57 per cent expect such improvements to reduce operating costs, while 51 per cent expect productivity gains.
Privacy and security concerns were cited as the most common barriers to AI adoption in Australia, selected by 49 per cent of respondents. Integration with existing systems was also highlighted as a prominent challenge, reflecting the difficulty of connecting information across multiple platforms and environments.
Trevor Clarke, Chief Analyst at Omdia, said the research shows that “every AI project is also a data project,” and argued organisations need to be able to find, integrate, govern and securely access the information underpinning AI tools. Clarke also pointed to a gap in AI and data literacy training, saying organisations need change management and training to achieve expected outcomes as tools change the way people work.
Konica Minolta Australia Product Marketing Manager Brittany Miller said the report highlights a “contrast between organisational confidence and formal readiness,” noting that many organisations consider their governance and data management practices sufficient despite ongoing challenges tied to fragmented information, integration, privacy, security and workforce impacts.
The report, titled The Information Readiness Gap: Data governance, digital transformation, and AI readiness, is the second instalment in the research series.
