AI ambition outpaces infrastructure

Businesses here in New Zealand and globally are racing to adopt artificial intelligence (AI) technologies such as generative AI (genAI), agentic AI, and even quantum computing, but most lack the infrastructure and capability to fully support them.

New research, From Complexity to Clarity: Modernising Cloud and IT for What Comes Next, published by tech solutions company Unisys has found that while 78 percent of organisations plan to increase investment in genAI, only 36% say they are ready to support large-scale AI workloads.

“The next wave of technological disruption is already underway, yet many organisations are still operating on outdated foundations and processes,” says Manju Naglapur, Senior Vice president and General Manager of Cloud, Applications & Infrastructure solutions at Unisys.

“To fully realise the potential of technologies like generative and agentic AI, organisations need to modernise their infrastructure, align IT and business priorities, and adopt a more proactive approach to cybersecurity.”

The global study highlights mounting risks including 85 percent of organisations describing their cybersecurity posture as “reactive,” despite downtime now costing tens of thousands of dollars. The research finds that only 14 percent of executives say they are prepared for post-quantum cryptography, a key defence against emerging cyber threats.

Yet, despite these gaps, business leaders increasingly see emerging tech as critical to competitiveness, with 73 percent warning that failing to adopt agentic AI could put them at a disadvantage.

Closer to home, new research from Datacom speaks to this warning, showing that New Zealand organisations are not just investing in AI, but reporting tangible benefits.

Datacom’s 2025 State of AI Index, based on a survey of 200 senior leaders, found that 88 percent of organisations using AI say it has had a positive impact, with 20 percent reporting significant gains including time saved on tasks and output increased.

“Productivity improvements are the most widely reported return on investment from AI, with 89 percent of AI users reporting gains,” says Datacom New Zealand MD Justin Gray.

“The business case for AI is increasingly clear and it is encouraging to see New Zealand organisations capitalising on the benefits AI offers.”

The report also shows that 87 percent of New Zealand organisations are now using some form of AI, up from 66 percent in 2024 and 48 percent in 2023. Among large businesses with more than 200 employees, usage climbs to 92 percent.

But scaling remains a challenge: just 12 percent of New Zealand organisations have scaled AI across their entire enterprise, while 46 percent are still in pilot phases.

Datacom Director of AI Lou Compagnone says that AI is moving fast so organisations need to set themselves up to be responsive. “You can’t have a static AI strategy. What we would like to see is more organisations having the ability to scale AI and being able to operationalise it in their organisation.”

Both the Unisys and Datacom studies highlight similar obstacles: Outdated infrastructure, skills shortages, and lack of governance frameworks. In New Zealand, 32 percent of organisations cite a lack of internal capability, while more than half admit they need external training or best-practice frameworks.

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Concerns about “shadow AI” are also rising according to the Datacom report, with 52 percent of New Zealand leaders reporting unapproved AI tools being used in their organisations.

Despite these hurdles, momentum is strong. As Gray notes, many New Zealand firms are now thinking long-term.

“We’re seeing organisations starting to think about data readiness, whether they have the right cloud environment, and about the interfaces between their existing applications and AI.”