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More than four in five Australian organisations have adopted artificial intelligence in at least one area of their operations, but governance frameworks and workforce training have failed to keep pace, according to new research from Konica Minolta Australia.
The findings, drawn from a survey of 305 IT and business decision-makers across Australia, reveal that while 83 per cent of organisations have deployed AI in some capacity, only 21 per cent have a formal AI governance or policy framework in place. Just 17 per cent provide structured AI training or data literacy programs to their workforce.
The research is the second instalment in a three-part digital workplace research series developed in partnership with global analyst firm, Omdia. The broader study surveyed 408 decision-makers across Australia and New Zealand, spanning industries including professional services, financial services, government, healthcare, education, manufacturing and retail.
AI adoption outpacing organisational oversight
The gap between the rate of AI adoption and the maturity of the governance practices underpinning it is one of the central findings of the research.
Organisations are deploying AI across analytics and reporting, search and knowledge management, workflow automation, customer engagement and document processing. In Australia, 40 per cent of organisations are using AI for analytics and reporting, 38 per cent for customer engagement, 37 per cent for workflow automation and 36 per cent for search and knowledge management.
New Zealand shows a similar pattern, with 39 per cent using AI for analytics and reporting, 35 per cent for workflow automation and 32 per cent for customer engagement.
Yet governance and capability building remain at an early stage. Only around one in five organisations across both markets have established formal AI governance frameworks, and fewer than one in five have structured training and data literacy programs in place. Many organisations also express only moderate confidence in their existing governance practices.
Konica Minolta Australia’s Intelligent Information Management Team Lead, Dr Giovanni Forero, highlighted the risks created by this disparity.
“Many organisations have moved quickly to adopt AI; however, the information governance foundations needed to support it have not always developed at the same pace,” Dr Forero observed.
“That gap creates risk because 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 draining productivity
The research identifies information fragmentation as one of the most persistent operational challenges facing Australian and New Zealand organisations.
Forty per cent of Australian organisations point to information spread across platforms and departments as their biggest information management challenge. In New Zealand, 38 per cent identify a lack of system integration as their primary concern.
Cloud platforms, collaboration tools and digital workflows have fundamentally changed how organisations create, store and share information. Rather than relying on a small number of core business systems, information is now distributed across cloud services, line-of-business applications, collaboration platforms and legacy environments.
The productivity implications are substantial. The research found that most employees spend between one and five hours each week searching for information they need to perform their roles. Across a full year, Omdia estimates this equates to approximately two to four working weeks per employee in lost productivity.
The challenge for many organisations is no longer simply collecting information, the report states, but rather finding trusted information quickly and using it consistently across the business.
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The business case for better information management
Despite the challenges, organisations recognise the operational value of improving their information management, data governance and AI capabilities.
Fifty-seven per cent of respondents expect improvements in these areas to reduce operating costs, while 51 per cent expect productivity gains. Respondents also associate stronger information management with better decision-making and more effective business operations.
These expectations sit alongside evidence that many organisations continue to experience practical difficulties managing their information environments. Fragmented systems remain common, and employees continue to spend considerable time locating information required to complete routine tasks.
The report describes this as an interesting contrast: organisations recognise the value of information as a business asset, yet many continue to experience operational inefficiencies associated with finding, accessing and managing it.
Privacy and security top the barriers list
Privacy and security concerns remain the most frequently cited barriers to AI adoption across both markets. In Australia, 49 per cent of organisations identify privacy and information security concerns as their primary obstacle. In New Zealand, the figure is 46 per cent.
Integration with existing systems is another prominent challenge, reflecting the complexity of connecting information across multiple platforms and environments.
The findings indicate that governance is evolving alongside technology rather than ahead of it, the report notes. As information environments become more distributed, governance, accountability and information quality are becoming increasingly important organisational considerations.
AI readiness starts with information readiness
Dr Forero argued that organisations need to address foundational information management practices before they can derive full value from AI investments.
“AI readiness starts with information readiness. Organisations need to understand what information they hold, where it sits, who owns it, and how it should be governed,” he remarked.
“Getting those foundations right can help organisations use AI with greater confidence while also improving how information is accessed and used across the business.”
Omdia’s Chief Analyst, Trevor Clarke, reinforced this point, noting that every AI project is fundamentally also a data project.
“AI is already being used across a wide range of business functions; however, every AI project is also a data project. Organisations need to be able to find, integrate, govern, and securely access the information that sits underneath these tools,” Clarke explained.
“The research also shows a gap around AI and data literacy training. Organisations need to support technology adoption with change management and training, particularly when new tools change the way people work, to get the outcomes they expect.”
A gap between confidence and formal readiness
Konica Minolta Australia’s Product Marketing Manager for Services and Solutions, Brittany Miller, pointed to a disconnect between how organisations perceive their readiness and the reality of their governance posture.
“The research highlights a contrast between organisational confidence and formal readiness,” Miller noted. “Many organisations believe their information governance and data management practices are sufficient, despite continuing to report challenges around fragmented information, system integration, privacy, security, and workforce impacts.”
This pattern of confidence running ahead of capability is a recurring theme across the research series. The first report in the series, titled “The Security Mandate,” examined print security practices across the same respondent base and found a similar dynamic at play.
Print security findings echo the governance gap
The companion security report, also based on research with 408 IT and business decision-makers across Australia and New Zealand, found that more than half of organisations in both countries had experienced a print-related security incident in the preceding 12 months – 56 per cent in Australia and 52 per cent in New Zealand.
Despite this, print rarely receives the same cybersecurity attention as networks, applications and endpoints, the report found, even though printers and multifunction devices process, store and transmit sensitive data across networks, cloud platforms and business systems.
Work-from-home and remote printing was identified as the number one print-related vulnerability in both markets, cited by 34 per cent of Australian and 33 per cent of New Zealand organisations. Unsecured print jobs left on shared devices was the second most frequently cited challenge.
One-third of organisations reported a major print security control gap, with the nature of the gap differing between markets. Australian organisations were more likely to report inconsistent authentication across sites, at 34 per cent, while New Zealand organisations more commonly identified the absence of secure release printing, at 36 per cent.
Compliance alignment emerged as one of the least adopted controls, with only 10 per cent of Australian organisations and 9 per cent of New Zealand organisations reporting that compliance alignment for print was already in place. This is notable given that frameworks including ISO 27001, the Essential Eight and CPS 234 require a whole-of-environment approach that should encompass print infrastructure.
Investment rising but implementation inconsistent
The security research found that most organisations plan to increase their print security spending. Seventy-two per cent of Australian organisations and 61 per cent of New Zealand organisations expect their print security investment to rise over the next 12 months.
Security certifications and controls have become the top buying criterion when selecting print solutions, at 34 per cent in Australia and 32 per cent in New Zealand, ahead of ease of deployment, user experience for hybrid work and total cost of ownership.
Multifunction printer hardening and firmware updates are the areas attracting the most planned investment in both markets, at 50 per cent in Australia and 41 per cent in New Zealand. Secure release printing follows closely behind, at 49 per cent in Australia and 40 per cent in New Zealand.
However, the report concludes that while awareness and investment are increasing, implementation remains inconsistent. Many organisations have not yet aligned controls, policies and capabilities across their print environments.
Five themes from the research
The information readiness report identifies five themes emerging from the data. Information environments are becoming more fragmented, with information spread across systems and departments remaining one of the most common operational challenges. AI adoption is becoming embedded in everyday operations rather than being confined to isolated innovation projects.
Organisations are adopting AI despite recognising governance challenges, with formal governance lagging well behind deployment. Information access continues to affect productivity, with employees spending significant time searching for information across fragmented environments. And information management is increasingly recognised as a business capability, with respondents consistently associating stronger information management with productivity gains, operational efficiency and cost reduction.
The report concludes that information management, governance and AI adoption are becoming increasingly interconnected, making information readiness an important consideration for organisations navigating the next phase of digital transformation.
Last Updated on September 1, 2026 by Nick Ross
