The AI Blueprint: Lessons from ANZ business Trailblazers

This digital report explores how ANZ business leaders are deploying agentic and generative AI to reshape operations, improve ROI and better connect with customers.

Hear from AI Business Trailblazers tackling AI barriers

AI’s relentless march across every facet of business – from product development to customer care to people management – continues apace. This is a technology that took just two months to acquire 100 million users - compared with mobile which took 16 years to reach the same milestone.

AI is growing in capability - from generating content from simple prompts, through to autonomously carrying out tasks. While innovation is rapid, so too is acceptance. In a survey of 288 C-Suite executives throughout Australia and New Zealand (ANZ)1 99% say generative AI integration is important to their business, while 81% say it’s critical.

The race is on to embrace generative AI and do it well, and that is nowhere more clearly felt than among business leaders."

Frank Fillmann
EVP & General Manager, Salesforce ANZ
Agent Einstein highlights an overwhelming 97% of C-Suite leaders say the accuracy of that data is important in building confidence and trust in AI tools.

Key takeaways from this section:

  • Generative AI is here – 81% of ANZ C-Suite leaders believe it is critical to business success.
  • The C-Suite are under pressure to increase AI use in the business – 40% of CEOs consider they are responsible for adoption.
  • Agentic AI is an evolving technology that is akin to a digital team member - it frees people up to work on higher value tasks.
  • Top challenges to overcome on the AI journey include risk & compliance, data maturity and employee readiness.

Hear from AI Business Trailblazers improving business efficiency with AI

The number one driver for ANZ C-Suite leaders1 looking to integrate generative AI into their business in the next three years is ‘boosting productivity and efficiency’. This is often the place where businesses look to achieve ‘quick wins’ with AI tools, before discovering what is good for the back office is even better for the frontline.

Manufacturer Fisher & Paykel Appliances recognises this, and uses Agentforce to resolve customer queries. For example when a customer reaches out to enquire about changing a water filter, Agentforce quickly walks them through the steps, even offering a subscription to the part so they are never without filtered water. With this autonomous support day and night, Fisher & Paykel expects self service rates to reach over 65%.

Agent Einstein & Frank Fillmann text quote from Frank Fillmann, EVP & GM Salesforce, ANZ, about AI impact, mentioning McKinsey & Company.

Key takeaways from this section:

  • ANZ C-Suite leaders say boosting productivity and efficiency is the number one driver for deploying generative AI in the next three years.
  • Global research firm McKinsey says 75% of the impact of AI will happen on the frontline.
  • ANZ C-Suite leaders say the two functions that generative AI will have the most impact on are IT and operations.
  • AI tools can extend workforce capacity, enabling businesses to scale faster.

Hear from AI Business Trailblazers personalising customer engagement with AI

In today’s crowded and competitive marketplace, where product categories are crammed with similar offerings, it is customer service that can be the key differentiator. Traditionally one of the most expensive areas of operation, smart tech leaders are looking to agentic and generative AI tools to boost customer service, while at the same time driving down the cost of providing it.

You can’t beat the fact that you can give better service to your customers every single day, 24/7, in a way they’re comfortable with, and hopefully they don’t even need to talk to a human half the time because they can get the information when they’re ready to get it.”

Melissa Irwin
Chief Data, People and Sustainability Officer, Endeavour Energy
Agent Einstein presents ANZ C-Suite leaders say generative AI will have the biggest frontline impact in their business today.

Key takeaways from this section:

  • Pioneering innovative customer and employee experiences, and remaining competitive are among the top factors driving generative AI deployments in ANZ.
  • AI tools enable fast, effective and personalised customer service, 24/7.
  • AI can free people to deal more quickly with complex enquiries.
  • Technology such as Agentforce leverages multiple data points to provide customers with targeted and timely ecommerce experiences, at scale.
  • Targeted customer experiences result in more engagement and product use.

Hear from AI Business Trailblazers supporting employees with AI

Given its speed of adoption, generative AI has brought home to many employers the need to ensure their workforce is continually open to change. And for them to understand that AI isn’t about making people redundant. It’s about using technology to do repetitive or manual tasks, either as an assistant in the work flow, or autonomously across any workflow, so they can be freed to focus on more interesting ​work.

Graphic explaining Agentic AI with text and Agent Einstein.

Key takeaways from this section:

  • Employees need to be continually open to new technology, as it will change the kind of tasks they are expected to perform.
  • ANZ C-Suite leaders are confident they have communicated their generative AI ambitions with their workforce.
  • Agentic AI can boost job satisfaction by eliminating mundane work.
  • Begin with small AI projects, get some runs on the board, and share the wins with the organisation to boost acceptance of the technology.
  • Start experimenting with agentic AI and find out how to build and scale a more efficient and effective customer experience with this technology.

Hear from AI Business Trailblazers on why trust is key

What’s hard to gain and easy to lose? The answer is of course Trust. As fast as technology leaders might want – or need – to be deploying agentic and generative AI in their business, they also recognise that risk, security and compliance issues must be sorted ​upfront. Accuracy is also critically important – customers, partners, employees and the Board need to be able to trust the validity of what the AI tool delivers, particularly as use cases expand.

98% of ANZ C-suite leaders confident in delegating tasks to AI.

My biggest piece of advice to anyone thinking about implementing AI? “Control your data”’. Ensure that people have visibility in a way that’s relevant to their role and it’s controlled in the sense that you are only exposing what’s useful and meaningful. Data with purpose, not data for the sake of data."

James Rail
Program Director, Queensland University of Technology

Key takeaways from this section:

  • Most ANZ C-Suite leaders have confidence in delegating to AI alone to carry out at least one common task, with the top three tasks being around content, solving IT issues and internal communications.
  • Create thoughtful policy, or ground rules, for the use of AI that everyone in the business agrees to.
  • Partnering well, and early, contributes to building generative AI tools that are secure and trustworthy.
  • Ensure you have control of your data at all times, so you know who has accessed it and for what purpose.
  • AI tools are only as good as the data that’s being fed to them.