How many, by size

The 12 per cent hides a split. Thirty-five per cent of large businesses use AI, against 22 per cent of medium businesses and 11 per cent of small and micro businesses (ABS, 2024-25). Industry surveys that count any use at all put the number higher: MYOB's April 2026 Business Monitor found 40 per cent of small and medium businesses using it (MYOB, 2026). The gap between the two is the difference between a business that has built AI into how it works and one that has tried a chatbot once.

How fast it is moving

Medium-sized businesses went from 3 per cent using AI in 2021-22 to 22 per cent in 2024-25, close to a twenty-point jump in three years (ABS). Among small businesses that are actively innovating, adoption is 19 per cent against 4 per cent for those that are not, which tells you the businesses already trying to improve are the ones adopting fastest. This is a fast shift, not a slow drift.

What it looks like for the ones using it

MYOB found that among small and medium businesses using AI, 54 per cent report saving time and 34 per cent say it is improving their productivity (MYOB, 2026). The same survey reported that AI-using businesses are growing faster than the ones that are not, though the ones reaching for new tools tend to be the ones already growing, so the two move together rather than one causing the other. The consistent finding across sources is simpler: the businesses that adopt are, on the whole, doing better than the ones that do not.

What is holding the rest back

The honest answer is trust, not cost. The National AI Centre found the single biggest reason businesses give for not adopting AI is a distrust of it making decisions, or a strong preference to keep a human in control (National AI Centre, 2025-26). That caution is fair, and part of it is a real question about your data: handing customer records to a public AI tool is not the same as owning a system built for you, where the data stays yours. The answer is not to hand the business to a machine but to use it for the narrow, repetitive jobs where the rules are clear, with a person still signing off on anything that matters. That is the line we build to: the tool removes the manual work, not the control.

Sources

ABS, Business adoption of AI 2024-25. MYOB Business Monitor, April 2026. National AI Centre, AI adoption insights 2025-26.

Common questions

Do I need to know what I want before we talk?

No. Most people we meet know something is costing them time but not what the fix is. Bring the problem; working out the answer is our job.

What if AI isn't the answer?

Then we say so. Plenty of fixes are an app or an automation with no AI in them, and some are software you can rent. We recommend what fits, because we're the ones who have to build it.

What does Discovery cost?

It's priced up front for your process, before you commit, and we only suggest it when the process is complicated enough to need it.

Do you work outside Melbourne?

Yes. We're in Melbourne and meet in person where it helps, and we work by video with businesses anywhere in Australia.

How Australian small businesses are using AI.