National Australia Bank’s research found property services are leading ahead of finance and insurance (64%) and business services (61%) in rolling out artificial intelligence (AI). At the other end of the scale, just 21% of transport businesses have adopted AI, with 58% saying they have no plans to do so.
Separate research conducted by MYOB unveils a performance gap with businesses using AI, growing 2.8 times quicker than those that haven’t adopted it.
Andrew Auerbach, NAB’s Group Executive for Business and Private Banking mentions data-heavy sectors were early adopters.
“I’ve got no doubt that we’re going to see a meaningful uptick in how SMEs invest and use AI.”
Andrew Auerbach, Group Executive for Business and Private Banking, NAB
The hospitality sector showed the strongest intention to adopt, with almost two in five businesses planning to introduce AI – marking the largest share of any sector looking ahead.
Across all SMEs, 42% are currently using AI, 44% are not, and 14% have plans to start. MYOB’s research found 54% of businesses using AI mention time savings, while 34% said it had higher productivity. By contrast 46% of SMEs still have no plans to adopt the technology in the upcoming year.
Elite Agent Managing Editor, Samantha McLean mentions it’s good to see the use of AI becoming more widespread in the property industry, but most businesses are not making the most of the technology.
“The high adoption rates in property services are encouraging, but from my experience with real estate agents, they likely mask a wide spectrum of usage. We need to be careful not to mistake the read on this.
“Just because an agent is using AI to polish a listing doesn’t mean they’ve actually integrated it into their operations. For AI to really impact the 53% of the economy that SMEs power, we have to move past basic content creation and start looking at reimagining how work gets done with the available technology.”
Samantha McLean, Managing Editor, Elite Agent
The employer side indicates a shift too. Data from Indeed shows 8.5% of Australian employers mention AI in job postings, increased from 5.8% in early 2025. Sales roles are among those increasingly seeking AI skills, with 13.2% of ads in that category now referring to technology.
