As AI reshapes the global economy, Australia faces a choice: lead or follow. Here are the four pillars we must focus on to secure our nation’s AI future.
Jo-Anne Ruhl
Vice President and Managing Director
Workday ANZ
There is a particular kind of Australian confidence that has served us remarkably well over the decades. We have weathered economic shocks and technological disruptions with a steadiness that many nations envy. But in the race to lead the AI era, steadiness is not a strategy.
We are, as Elizabeth Whitelock of the AIIA put it at the recent Deloitte CONNECT 2026 conference, in danger of being the country that has missed the train and "is still standing at the station wondering when the next one will come along."
According to Professor Julia Horne, her father Donald Horne originally coined the term 'the lucky country' as irony, describing a nation that succeeded by fluke while its leaders lacked the boldness to innovate.
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But we are now at a tipping point, which The Hon. Jihad Dib, NSW Minister for Customer Service and Digital Government, noted in his remarks at the event: "How do we go from being lucky, to taking advantage of this and creating our luck and better luck?"
After all, we have stable institutions, a predictable regulatory environment, and six of the world's top twenty scientists in ethical AI. These are foundations that have the potential to make Australia a genuine contender in the global AI economy.
The economic stakes are equally clear. Australia's AI Opportunities Report estimates that AI could add up to $142 billion annually to Australia's GDP by 2030, with AI already contributing an estimated $21 billion per year today.
But that trajectory is almost entirely dependent on the decisions that organisations are making in boardrooms across Australia, right now. Here are some of the insights from Deloitte CONNECT 2026 that I believe will help us navigate this next chapter.
1. Energy: Powering a Digital EconomyTo be an AI-powered nation, we must first be a powered one. The scale of compute required for the next decade is staggering; the sector is expected to attract between $85 billion to $135 billion in investment and grow capacity fourfold within a decade.
For Australia, the energy challenge is the ultimate gatekeeper. As Belinda Dennett, CEO of Data Centres Australia, rightly noted: "Until we solve the policy and energy challenge together, nothing else really matters".
We have a unique advantage: vast land and immense renewable energy potential. However, we must shift the narrative regarding data centers. Rather than viewing them as a drain on the grid, we should see them as a catalyser.
While Australia has hosted trusted data centres for over 20 years, the current global infrastructure race means we must continue to invest in this area.
Dennett explained that in an energy system increasingly flooded by rooftop solar, data centres can play a vital role in stabilising the grid by offtaking surges of energy.
The transition to an AI-powered economy must be an energy transition as well, underpinned by stable regulations that provide international investors with the certainty they need to deploy capital here rather than elsewhere.
Digital infrastructure is as essential to Australia as our water systems, telecommunications and motorways.
And while Australia has hosted trusted data centres for over 20 years, the current global infrastructure race means we must continue to invest in this area.
Of course, to have infrastructure that allows AI to be deeply integrated into Australian life, the public must trust it. This requires:
We must also improve our regulatory speed. While some processes are seen as too slow, states like Victoria have shown it is possible to deliver on four-month timelines. As Dennett observed, "The system's not broken, it can be improved".
By exporting trusted intelligence – including our world-class research in ethical AI – we can create a new export industry.
One of the discussions at Deloitte CONNECT 2026 highlighted the fact that Australia's R&D investment is significantly below the OECD average. If we are to create our own luck, this must change.
We need a team sport approach, where all levels of government and private industry work in a genuine partnership to attract both domestic and foreign capital.
The opportunity is immense. Australia is an attractive destination for investment, but capital will only flow where there are investible deals ready for approval.
We must move past the binary choice of being a 'builder' or an 'adopter'.
By exporting trusted intelligence – including our world-class research in ethical AI – we can create a new export industry.
Dr. Liming Zhu of CSIRO Data61 emphasised this shift: "Stop asking the question about whether we're a builder or adoption. We are a builder…we are exporting trust and intelligence".
This is the most human element of Australia's transformation and at Workday, we are seeing the skills revolution playing out in real time.
The traditional path of obtaining a degree and working for 40 years is no longer viable. We must transition to a skills-based hiring model.
At the conference, Adam Jacobs of Hatch shared a powerful example: a customer-facing employee who wasn't a fit for their original role but was observed to have a high aptitude for analytics.
By shifting them into an analytics role, they performed "like lightning" and eventually became a critical head of strategy.
There is no doubt that we need to reimagine how we develop skills in Australia.
Micro-credentials and lifelong learning pathways are critical for everyone in the workforce to continuously upskill over time.
As Katrina Troughton of Adobe noted, "The half life of a skill is now two years".
The window for establishing Australia's position in the global AI economy is real, and it is finite.
She went on to explain that if students can cheat on an exam with AI, "it's the wrong exam". We need work-integrated learning that emphasises practical, hands-on experience.
It's why I'm so pleased to see the announcement of new tertiary pathways between TAFE and University being supported by the Australian Government.
The rise of AI makes the humanities and social sciences more important than ever.
We need cognitive skills, groupwork, and people skills. While AI can provide consistent, patient advice, the human needs to be making the decision, not just ticking the box.
As leaders, our role is to:
The window for establishing Australia's position in the global AI economy is real, and it is finite.
The question is whether we create the conditions to capture more of it, or watch it flow to markets that moved with greater urgency.
By aligning our energy, infrastructure, capital, and talent, we can stop being merely a lucky country, and start being a nation that creates its own luck.
Australia's AI moment will not wait for us to be ready. The good news is that we already have what it takes. We just need to decide to use it.
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