Techjockey News

New Delhi: The small and medium-sized businesses of A/NZ (Australia and New Zealand) are quickly adopting artificial intelligence (AI) tools to improve their operations. A recent study that surveyed over 500 SMBs in that region revealed that they have a good understanding of AI and its potential benefits.

But the companies that help these businesses with AI technology, called partners, are not catching up fast enough.

The study, conducted by Tech Research Asia (TRA) for Dicker Data and Microsoft, found that SMBs are investing in AI for analytics, business intelligence, operations automation, and chatbots.

Surprisingly, a large number of SMBs, around 37% in Australia and 31% in New Zealand, are already using AI at a large scale despite facing data security challenges.

In contrast, only a small fraction of technology partners in A/NZ, about three percent, are using AI extensively. This creates an opportunity for partners to support SMBs in adopting AI technologies. To address this gap, Dicker Data and Microsoft have introduced a new tool called AI Compass, which aims to assist partners in helping SMBs become ready for and effectively use generative AI tools.

The COO of Dicker Data, Vlad Mitnovetski, said that he won’t miss the opportunity and left behind in this market.

He said, “We wanted to really understand end user customers… and channel partners and see if they are talking to the end user customer? Do they understand AI themselves? Are they implementing AI within their own organization? And we found a massive gap, which results in a huge opportunity.”

Statistics on AI Activity

• 56% of Australian SMBs and 45% of New Zealand SMBs rated their understanding of AI as 7 out of 10 or higher.
• 66% of Australian companies and 73% of New Zealand companies have engaged with third-party technology providers to help them with AI initiatives.
• 66% of Australian SMBs and 62% of New Zealand SMBs were embarking on a formal strategy for AI.
• 56% of Australian SMBs and 63% of New Zealand SMBs reported having an active AI project.
• 57% of Australian organizations and 68% of New Zealand organizations have budgets allocated for generative AI initiatives.
• 59% of Australian organizations and 63% of New Zealand organizations are expecting a return on investment within 7 – 12 months.