PwC’s AI performance study: Australian companies lead on AI security, lag on ROI
Monday, 20 April 2026
Australian companies are leading their global peers on governance of AI security, according to PwC’s AI performance study.
73% of organisations said they apply robust, up-to-date protections for data, models and underlying infrastructure, outperforming AI leaders at 69%.
PwC Australia Advisory partner, Dr Gayan Benedict, said Australian businesses should capitalise on their security advantage by scaling up from a position of trust.
“Oversight isn’t a bottleneck. Engineering trust by design into AI foundations actually accelerates adoption.”
“With rigorous checks and balances, companies can confidently fast-track the delivery of best use cases, instead of being slowed down by governance.”
Top-performing enterprises globally are 1.7 times more likely to use a documented responsible AI framework and 1.5 times more likely to run a cross-functional AI governance board.
From pilots to profits: how AI‑fit leaders are pulling ahead
The study found that 74% of real financial returns on AI investments are being captured by just 20% of companies.
Businesses with the strongest levels of ‘AI fitness’ generate revenue and efficiency gains that are 7.2 times higher.
Organisations that report outsized ROI are nearly twice as likely to be using AI in more advanced ways, such as operating autonomously or executing multiple tasks within guardrails.
Gayan Benedict said the performance gap will only widen, if companies don’t embed fit-for-purpose and trusted AI foundations into core systems.
“An investment in strong AI architecture, hardwired throughout the business, compounds over time. Each deployment gets faster, cheaper and more reliable.”
“Companies see nearly twice the improvement in AI-driven performance compared to those with weaker foundations, through improved task efficiency and output quality.”
Only 7% of Australian enterprises surveyed said they’ve redesigned workflows to incorporate AI, rather than simply adding AI tools, trailing AI leaders at 56%.
83% said they’ve participated in AI pilots within their organisation, but it took an average of 6.8 months after the pilot launch for it to begin providing value.
Workforce incentives to boost experimentation, trust, adoption
Australia falls behind on all workforce measures, receiving its lowest score on performance incentives that encourage employees to experiment with and use AI in their work (13% vs AI leaders on 59%).
Leading companies are 1.5 times as likely to provide the infrastructure required to support safe AI experimentation.
“Top performers cultivate the conditions for their teams to co-create with AI. This is a critical trust building exercise. Low trust among staff translates to low use, low impact and low value."
“AI isn’t just a technology rollout; it’s a workforce transformation challenge. Incentives motivate employees to create a pipeline of scalable solutions that align directly with the company’s priorities.”
Employees at AI-leading organisations are 2.1 times more likely to trust AI-generated insights and act on them in their day-to-day work.
AI: The Engine for Reinvention
Top-performing companies treat AI as a reinvention engine to unlock high growth opportunities, spot emerging value pools, and expand into new markets by collaborating with partners beyond their core industry.
Our analysis revealed that capturing growth opportunities from industry convergence is the single strongest factor influencing AI‑driven financial performance.
However, Australian organisations reported the largest gaps compared to AI leaders in cross-sector collaboration (10% vs 50%) and using AI to improve business model transformation efforts (3% vs 59%).
“As industries continue to converge, Australian companies that use AI to sense where value is moving, and act decisively, will be best positioned to pull ahead. The rewards for responsible reinvention increase by deliberating moving into new products, services and business models,” said Gayan Benedict.
To discover what AI leaders do differently, read the full AI performance study here.
About the research
PwC’s study is based on a survey of 1,217 senior executives (director level and above) from companies across 25 sectors and multiple regions worldwide. AI‑driven performance was measured as the revenue and efficiency gains attributable to AI, adjusted against industry medians. PwC analysed the impact of 60 AI management and investment practices, grouped into AI use and AI foundations, which together form PwC’s AI fitness index.
About PwC
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