Australia’s mid-sized businesses are making strong progress in adopting AI and modernising their operations, with many already seeing productivity and commercial benefits. However, new research reveals that gaps in skills, governance and system integration are preventing many from fully realising the potential.
Commissioned by MYOB, a survey of more than 500 Australian leaders and decision-makers in mid-sized businesses* examined their progress toward greater business autonomy - the ability to manage routine administration with minimal effort, freeing people to focus on higher-value work.
Eight in 10 (81%) mid-market business leaders in Australia said AI has had a positive impact on productivity, with this rising to 93% amongst the most advanced businesses. What’s more, those that have embedded AI into core processes (77%) are not just saving time - they are reporting improvements in output quality, revenue and profitability.
Mapped against MYOB’s Business Autonomy Maturity Model (BAMM), the research assesses business ambition and readiness across five key foundational pillars: core processes, data landscape, AI strategy, AI governance and workforce capability. The findings highlight where Australian businesses are advancing and where key constraints remain.
While many Australian mid-sized businesses demonstrate strong foundations and momentum, the data shows that progress is uneven across the pillars required to scale AI-enabled automation effectively. Businesses have invested in strengthening their data landscape and have made strong inroads in digitising their core processes, but are slightly further behind on building workforce capability, developing a full AI strategy and establishing strong AI governance.
MYOB Executive General Manager of Mid-Market, Paul Voges, says the results highlight both strong progress and a clear opportunity.
“Australian mid-sized businesses are moving quickly when it comes to adopting AI and investing in modern systems and, importantly, they’re already seeing the benefits flow through to productivity, revenue and profitability,” Paul said.
“What the data suggests is that the biggest gains from AI are being realised by those businesses that have invested across all the foundational pillars. Where there are gaps, whether in workforce capability, governance or strategy, the returns from AI are more limited.
“A business with strong systems but low workforce readiness, or AI embedded without clear governance, may not be operating at full potential. The opportunity now is to strengthen those foundations to unlock more scalable outcomes."
Alex Hooper, Associate Director at Oxford Economics Australia, added that in a period where productivity is a central focus for Australian businesses, it is encouraging to see that 77% of mid-sized businesses are reporting productivity benefits from AI.
“Workforce capacity and skills are among the most commonly cited constraints to further progress,” Alex said.
“Businesses that reported strong training programs also reported stronger gains in productivity, revenue and profitability.
“Data quality and integration remain consistent barriers across businesses and are also among the most common areas of planned investment. Strengthening these foundations will be critical to unlocking more reliable, scalable and trusted AI-enabled automation.”
Barriers and challenges shaping progress
Despite strong momentum, Australian businesses face a range of barriers that align closely with gaps across the key readiness pillars.
Cybersecurity and data privacy concerns (45%) remain one of the most commonly cited barriers to scaling AI adoption, alongside workforce skills and change capacity (37%) and governance requirements (36%). While 77% of businesses report AI is embedded in core processes, only 66% have structured training in place, highlighting a clear capability gap.
Over 80% of Australian businesses are planning ERP upgrades over the next two years, suggesting a recognition that legacy systems are limiting progress. Businesses with modern, cloud-based ERP systems and integrated data environments are more likely to report stronger outcomes from AI, including improvements in revenue and profit margins, not just time savings.
“Businesses that have safely embedded AI into their core systems are seeing more significant commercial impacts, while those relying on legacy systems tend to see more limited, efficiency-based gains,” Paul said.
The size of the prize
For Australian mid-sized businesses that have invested across the board in business autonomy, the commercial benefits are already evident.
The research also highlights an implementation gap within the mid-sized segment. Larger businesses, particularly those with over 100 employees, are more likely to invest in structured training, integrated systems and governance frameworks. This is reflected in outcomes, with these more AI-advanced businesses significantly more likely to report positive productivity impacts and commercial gains from AI than those earlier in their journey.
“This points to an AI implementation divide within the mid-sized business segment,” Paul says.
“Businesses that have built a strong base across data, systems, workforce capability and governance are pulling ahead, because they are able to move beyond experimentation and embed AI into the way their business operates.
“The opportunity now is to help more Australian mid-sized businesses strengthen those foundations so they can scale AI effectively and unlock the full productivity potential and commercial benefits available.”
About MYOB Enterprise
Scalable to meet the needs of growing businesses (from 20-1,000+ FTEs), MYOB Enterprise offers an integrated, all-in-one business management platform that helps mid-market businesses achieve their ambitions by connecting critical workflows through Enterprise Resource Planning and Customer Relationship Management, Payroll, and Workforce Management solutions – all backed by world-class software tailored specifically for the Australian and New Zealand markets. MYOB Enterprise also offers leading practice management solutions for Professional Services businesses. MYOB’s award-winning Advanced Business platform (powered by Acumatica) has been rated 4.5/5 stars by mid-market customers across Gartner’s Digital Market brands (Capterra, GetApp and Software Advice), and is named as a shortlist recommendation and 2021 category leader across the sites. MYOB Advanced has also been independently recognised as a leader in innovation through the global SaaS Awards and name an ABA100 Winner in The Australian Business Awards 2022 for ERP Innovation and Cloud Innovation.