Published on the 01/05/2026 | Written by Heather Wright

Adoption discipline decides who gets ROI…

New Zealand SMEs using AI earned about $400,000 more in FY25 than ‘comparable non-adopters’ according to a Deloitte Access Economics report. But an MYOB survey suggests a large chunk of Kiwi mid-sized firms are still not seeing meaningful ROI from AI, lagging their Australian counterparts. And the news is mixed for Australia too, with MYOB saying while strong progress has been made in adopting AI and modernising operations, gaps in skills, governance and system integration are preventing many from fully realising AI’s potential.

The gap isn’t ‘AI vs no AI’. Instead, it’s how AI is adopted and integrated, with 2degrees, which commissioned the Deloitte Access Economics report, warning that AI alone won’t lift productivity. Instead, the benefits depend on how effectively organisations adopt it, integrate it, and build the capability to use it well.

“AI itself will not lift productivity.”

OECD, NZ Productivity Commission and Stats NZ numbers consistently show New Zealand produces less output per hour worked than Australia and many comparable OECD economies, with recent growth driven more by people working longer hours than by efficiency gains. Things aren’t so hot for Australia, either. While it sits closer to the OECD middle on labour productivity, the golden era of labour productivity in the 1960s and 1970s are far from today’s reality.

A $400,000 signal, with conditions attached

The Deloitte Access Economics’ report, Productivity Propelled: The Impact of AI on Business Performance, claims to be the first New Zealand-specific attempt to quantify the link between AI adoption and firm-level productivity. Drawing on survey data collected in early 2026, it estimates the average SME using AI earned around $400,000 more in FY25 than similar companies that had not adopted the technology, with larger businesses seeing even greater uplifts.

However, the report is explicit that outcomes are neither automatic, nor evenly distributed. While 82 percent of organisations report using AI in some form, many remain early in their AI journey, relying on AI features embedded in existing software rather than standalone or deeply integrated systems.

Liza van der Merwe, Deloitte Access Economics lead partner at Deloitte New Zealand, says AI presents a significant opportunity, but only if businesses have the right foundations in place.

“Progress depends on building mindset, systems and skills in tandem,” van der Merwe says. “When these come together, businesses are far better placed to turn AI into real productivity gains.”

She says for many organisations the biggest gains are not from inventing new technologies, but from using what exists more effectively. “That means integrating AI into day-to-day operations, supported by the right infrastructure, processes and ways of working. Ambition alone isn’t enough – without the right systems and capability, businesses risk getting stuck in experimentation rather than delivering meaningful results.”

That risk is evident in New Zealand. MYOB’s survey of 500+ leaders and decision-makers at mid-sized businesses shows that while AI usage is increasing, a significant share are still not seeing commercial returns, critical gaps in operational readiness meaning most are leaving significant productivity and commercial gains uncaptured.

Two-thirds of the Kiwi mid-market companies said they have strong digital processes (66 percent) and good data foundations (68 percent), but workforce readiness (56 percent) and having proper governance in place (61 percent) and meaningful process autonomy (55 percent) were tracking behind.

Where AI is layered onto fragmented systems or manual processes, the gains tend to be incremental, with businesses tending to report time savings as the primary benefit.

In contrast, MYOB’s data shows that businesses embedding AI into core systems and processes, supported by stronger data, governance and workforce capability, are more likely to report impacts that move beyond time savings, including revenue growth, margin improvement and better decision-making at scale.

Australia shows what changes at scale

In Australia 81 percent of the more than 500 mid-market business leaders surveyed said AI has had a positive impact on productivity. That number rises to 93 percent among the most advanced organisations.

The strongest results were reported by businesses that had embedded AI into their core processes, rather than treating it as a bolt-on tool. Those organisations were also more likely to report improvements in output quality, revenue and profitability, not just efficiency.

MYOB frames this through five foundational pillars it sees as critical to unlocking AI’s value:

• Core processes – standardised and digitised workflows
• Data – quality and integration
• AI strategy – clear prioritisation and use cases
• AI governance – risk compliance and guardrails
• Workforce capability – skills and change capacity

Australian companies scoring well across these pillars are more likely to see compounding benefits from AI. Where pillars are weak or missing, returns are more limited, regardless of how much is spent on AI tools.

Alex Hooper, Oxford Economics Australia associate director, says with productivity such a central focus on both sides of the Tasman, the MYOB results showing 75 percent of Kiwi and 77 percent of Australian mid-sized businesses are reporting productivity benefits from AI is encouraging.

“However, the results also show a divergence in maturity across the two markets,” she says. “While New Zealand businesses show strong ambition, Australian firms are more likely to have translated that into deeper operational integration, suggesting a faster pathway to realising productivity and commercial benefits.

“Across both markets, businesses appear to be converging on a similar set of priorities for scaling AI and automation. Workforce skills, core system upgrades and data quality are coming through strongly, although New Zealand businesses are more likely to report a need for greater to improve workforce skills and training,” she explains.

The size of the prize

For Kiwi mid-sized businesses that have invested across more of the key pillars, MYOB says the commercial returns are already showing up in the numbers.

In addition to time saved (46 percent), almost a third (30 percent) of decision-makers polled believe AI has contributed to increased revenue or sales growth and 27 percent report improved profit margins, however the proportion enjoying such financial benefits grows with business size.

More than one-in-three (37 percent) of businesses with 100+ employees report improved profit margins, compared with just 11 percent among firms with 20-49 employees. The revenue gap is similarly sharp, with 36 percent of the largest mid-sized firms reporting revenue uplift versus just 16 percent of the smallest.

From experimentation to earnings

Taken together, the Deloitte Access Economics and MYOB findings point to the same conclusion from different angles. AI can deliver firm‑wide productivity and financial benefits, and Deloitte’s $400,000 figure underlines the scale of the opportunity.

But the returns come where it is tied to systems, processes and skills that scale. Without that groundwork, AI risks becoming another well‑intentioned investment delivering marginal gains, not the step‑change both economies are looking for.