Partners key to Australia’s readiness to realise benefits, manage risks of new technology

Organisations face a readiness paradox as many are willing but not yet prepared for disruption.

Australian organisations are optimistic about modernising and innovating with technology, but hold concerns about security, sovereignty and resilience, according to Kyndryl’s new Readiness Report.

The report draws on responses from 3,700 senior leaders across 21 countries including Australia, to examine how organisations are preparing for future technology challenges.

Only about a third of organisations report feeling “ready” — demonstrating a gap between confidence and capability to modernise infrastructure, reskill workforces, manage risk and scale innovation efforts.

“That gap is where a trusted partner can make the biggest impact,” said Kimberley Marlay, head of strategic partnerships and alliances, Kyndryl A/NZ.

Organisations are keen to realise the benefits of technologies, including AI, but are held back by legacy systems and the pressure to prove quick results from AI.

“A successful partnership is about bringing the expertise that can simplify complex estates and supporting customers to build the resilience and agility needed to innovate safely at scale,” Marlay told CRN.

AI spending jumped 32 percent on average since last year, yet 62 percent still haven’t advanced their AI projects beyond the pilot stage, the survey found.

AI initiatives are hindered by integration complexity, regulatory and compliance concerns and business-tech alignment on how to deliver projects. But this presents opportunities for partners to step in.

“They can anchor customer transformation roadmaps to measurable business outcomes and establish strong governance frameworks for scaling AI,” said Marlay.

Uncertainty about return on investment and shortage of skills creates a clear opening for the technology ecosystem to lead as educators, not merely implementers.

“The best partners will co-create with vendors to break free from limited proof-of-concept AI projects to scale real-world AI-native solutions,” she said.

In Kyndryl’s case, its partners are helping co-develop solutions to support customers to adopt its agentic AI framework and blend AI into core processes and platforms, with security and governance embedded.

Organisations gain clarity on where AI makes sense, and partners can offer complementary services.

“From readiness assessments and value modelling to managed platforms and continuous optimisation, organisations can scale with confidence and control,” she said.

Furthermore, while AI is driving workforce transformation, skills gaps remain. Some 92 percent say AI will “completely” transform jobs within 12 months, yet many report employees are not using AI frequently and few have appropriate technical skills.

“The role of partners here is not to dictate a workforce strategy, but to work closely with organisations to first understand their objectives around AI adoption and outline a roadmap to get there,” said Marlay.

This includes helping set clear goals for adoption and implementation, undertaking data and AI readiness assessments, and creating ethical guidelines and governance for AI use.

“In this way, partners can help organisations and their workforces feel empowered rather than threatened by new technology – and that’s how to turn skills shortages into capability growth,” she added.