ANZ Organisations Outpacing Global Peers On AI-Driven Operational Resilience, PagerDuty Report Finds

Australian and New Zealand organisations are adopting AI for digital operations at a higher rate than their global counterparts and reporting stronger gains in operational resilience as a result, according to new research from PagerDuty.

The company’s 2026 State of AI-First Operations Report, which surveyed 1,000 IT decision makers, business leaders and developers across enterprise organisations worldwide, found that 80 per cent of ANZ organisations reported improved operational resilience over the past year. That figure exceeds the global average of 71 per cent.

The report also found a widening gap between high-performing companies and those with flat or declining revenue, with resilience investment emerging as a key differentiator between the two groups.

The Cost Of Downtime

The financial consequences of operational incidents continue to weigh on ANZ organisations. Around 65 per cent of companies in the region report losses of $300,000 or more per hour during major service disruptions, broadly in line with the 68 per cent reported globally.

But the nature of the impact differs in the region. ANZ companies are more likely to report a direct hit to revenue from system failures than their global peers, at 52 per cent compared with 41 per cent globally. That 11-point gap suggests operational outages carry a more immediate commercial cost in the region.

Beyond lost revenue, 56 per cent of ANZ organisations identified brand and reputation damage as the most significant consequence of service disruptions. Lost productivity was cited by 54 per cent of respondents.

A Widening Investment Gap

The report draws a sharp distinction between what it calls “Revenue Risers” – organisations that grew revenue in the past year – and “Revenue Underperformers” with flat or declining revenue.

Among ANZ Revenue Risers, 91 per cent are increasing their operational resilience budgets. Among Revenue Underperformers, that figure drops to 67 per cent. The resulting 24-point budget gap is wider than the 20-point divide observed globally.

That investment gap is translating into a performance gap. Revenue Risers are far more likely to report improved operational resilience over the past year, at 87 per cent, compared with 63 per cent of Revenue Underperformers. The 24-point difference is more than double the 10-point gap seen at the global level.

Across the region as a whole, 84 per cent of ANZ organisations are planning to increase resilience budgets over the next 12 months, above the global average of 77 per cent.

Executive Alignment On Resilience

The spending trajectory appears to be driven by near-universal executive recognition of the issue. According to the report, 98 per cent of ANZ respondents acknowledge that reducing incidents and accelerating recovery creates a competitive advantage, exceeding the global consensus of 95 per cent.

Katherine Calvert, Chief Marketing Officer at PagerDuty, framed operational resilience as a board-level concern.

“The 2026 PagerDuty State of AI-First Operations Report further demonstrates how the financial risk of major incidents makes operational resilience a board-level priority,” Calvert stated. “AI-first operations enable organisations to accelerate their incident management workflows so they can restore service more quickly during disruption.”

“With PagerDuty, organisations can not only minimise risk, but cut down on teams’ time spent firefighting so they can focus on driving innovation and revenue,” she added.

AI Adoption Running Ahead Of Global Averages

Two-thirds (66 per cent) of ANZ organisations are actively incorporating AI into digital operations, compared with 59 per cent globally. More than half (58 per cent) are already using generative or agentic AI to automate remediation and recovery workflows, against a global figure of 49 per cent.

The region’s expectations for AI’s impact are also running higher than the global average. More than half (56 per cent) of ANZ companies believe AI-assisted digital operations automation can reduce incidents by at least 20 per cent, compared with 49 per cent globally.

Where the difference is most pronounced is on customer satisfaction. Some 53 per cent of ANZ organisations expect AI-driven resilience to directly improve customer satisfaction, compared with 39 per cent globally – a 14-point gap that suggests the region views AI operations as a customer experience driver rather than a cost-reduction exercise.

The report notes that this confidence appears to be justified by actual performance outcomes. ANZ Revenue Risers are significantly more likely to report improved resilience over the past year (87 per cent) compared with those with flat or declining revenue (63 per cent).

Humans Staying In The Loop

Despite the pace of AI adoption, ANZ organisations are not pursuing full automation. Two-thirds (66 per cent) plan to maintain a hybrid model of AI agents and human workers over the next three years, exceeding the global rate of 62 per cent.

The data suggests ANZ organisations hold a distinct preference for keeping humans involved in high-stakes decisions. Compared with the global average, ANZ respondents are 9 per cent more likely to insist on human involvement for coordinating cross-functional responses during an incident. They are 6 per cent more likely to rely on humans for triage and root-cause analysis.

This preference extends to hiring strategy. ANZ leaders are 10 per cent more likely than their global peers to focus hiring and reskilling efforts on strengthening system reliability and performance over the next three years. They trail the global average by 7 per cent on prioritising hiring for building AI and automation tools.

The report characterises this as a measured approach that reflects an understanding of where AI adds value and where human judgment remains necessary.

Platform Consolidation Outpacing Incident Learning

ANZ organisations are consolidating their operational tooling at a higher rate than global peers. More than half (56 per cent) are bringing multiple tools into a single platform that manages the full incident lifecycle, compared with 51 per cent globally.

However, the region is lagging on one metric. Only 43 per cent of ANZ organisations use incidents as structured learning opportunities to strengthen future resilience, compared with 48 per cent globally.

The report flags this as a potential gap, noting that consolidation without continuous learning “leaves value on the table” and that the organisations pulling ahead are doing both.

What The ANZ Data Shows

The report was conducted across seven regions: Australia and New Zealand, France, Germany, Japan, the Nordic countries, the United Kingdom and Ireland, and the United States.

PagerDuty notes that some comparisons between Revenue Risers and Revenue Underperformers are based on a smaller subset of ANZ respondents, and that these findings are directional rather than definitive.

The company positions the ANZ results as evidence that the combination of higher investment, faster AI adoption and a hybrid human-AI operating model is producing measurable advantages in resilience and customer satisfaction.

For ANZ IT leaders, the data points to a clear trend: organisations that are investing in operational resilience and incorporating AI into their incident management workflows are reporting stronger outcomes than those that are not. The gap between the two groups appears to be widening.

Last Updated on March 31, 2026 by Nick Ross