The AI Forum of New Zealand presents the second edition of our biannual AI in Action report, revealing significant acceleration in artificial intelligence adoption across Aotearoa since September 2024.
Key Growth Indicators
- Adoption up 15%: 82% of respondents now use AI in their organisations
- Productivity gains: 93% report AI has made workers more efficient
- Financial benefits: 56% report positive financial impact (up from 50%), with 71% acknowledging operational cost savings
- Minimal job displacement: Just 7% report AI replacing workers, though 40% need fewer new hires
- Training investment: 81% of businesses support AI training for staff
How Businesses Are Benefiting
The top five AI applications are Administration, Marketing, Software Development, Project Management, and Design, with generative AI tools like Claude, ChatGPT, and Microsoft CoPilot leading adoption.
Real-world impacts include:
- Momentum Consulting freed up part of an FTE in finance and reduced management time spent answering questions by 15%
- McLeod Cranes significantly reduced the time spent searching for critical information and improved safety response: “AI can talk to field workers within seconds of an event and provide robust actions immediately”
Strategic Implementation
Most businesses (72%) prefer off-the-shelf AI solutions over custom-built systems (13%), benefiting from cost advantages and rapid deployment.
“Harnessing AI effectively remains crucial to addressing New Zealand’s productivity challenges and ensuring global competitiveness,” says Madeline Newman, Executive Director. “Through collaboration with industry, academia, and government, we will continue to drive informed AI adoption across Aotearoa.”