Infor says Australian firms lead Asia-Pacific AI adoption
Wed, 7th Oct 2026 (Today)
Infor has launched a new artificial intelligence architecture and updated its Velocity Suite. New company research also found that Australian businesses are among the most advanced AI adopters in the Asia-Pacific region.
A survey of 2,111 business decision-makers across seven markets found that 42% of Australian enterprises have reached full-scale AI deployment. In Australia, 85% said they were confident they could implement AI without disrupting daily operations, while 91% said they understood the true cost of adoption.
The findings suggest a more mature picture of the Australian market than is often reflected in public debate around AI uptake and regulation. According to the research, only 44% of AI output in Australian businesses requires manual expert review, the lowest level among the Asia-Pacific markets surveyed and 16 percentage points below Singapore.
Australian enterprises reported average AI efficiency gains of 34%, slightly ahead of the 33% global average. At the same time, 68% said they planned to increase AI investment over the next 12 months.
Industry fit
The research also pointed to limits in the use of generic AI tools. Seven in 10 Australian enterprises said off-the-shelf AI did not adequately address the specific needs of their industry.
That pattern was strongest in sectors with more specialised workflows. Across all surveyed markets, 73% of manufacturing respondents said generic AI did not meet their needs, rising to 76% in distribution and standing at 67% in retail.
Infor's new architecture is built around what it describes as industry-specific AI, with governance and audit features integrated into the system. The updated Velocity Suite includes more AI agents, a personalised user experience and broader governance models across customer operations.
The architecture is designed to work across both Infor and non-Infor systems, rather than requiring customers to adopt a single software stack. Customers can use the tools through Infor's own assistant or through AI assistants they have already adopted.
Governance focus
Infor's research found Australia also performed relatively strongly on governance measures. Only 6% of Australian businesses reported having no owner for AI governance, risk or compliance, compared with 10% globally and 21% in Japan.
Even so, the survey suggested formal executive accountability for AI remains limited. Globally, only 10% of enterprises said they had appointed a Chief AI Officer.
Infor linked the governance issue to the growing use of autonomous systems in business processes. More than half of leaders globally said they were comfortable with autonomous agents fully executing critical business processes without human input at every step, while just 11% preferred humans to make high-stakes decisions without any AI input.
Kevin Samuelson, Chief Executive Officer, Infor, said the company saw a gap between access to AI models and the delivery of useful outcomes in specific industries.
"At Infor, we don't think our job ends when we hand a customer an AI tool, it starts there. Our research shows what customers have been telling us directly: generic AI doesn't understand what a factory floor, distributor or food and beverage manufacturer needs. When every company has access to the same powerful AI models, what sets leaders apart is what those models know about the business. Decades of knowledge is built into every layer of Infor's architecture, which is why our agents deliver precise, trusted results from day one. We meet people in the AI tools they already use and bring the industry context those tools are missing," Samuelson said.
Aidan Brecknell, Vice President and Managing Director, Pacific Region, Infor, said the issue for Australian businesses had shifted from adoption to application.
"Australia has reached the point where simply deploying more AI is no longer enough. The competitive advantage will come from applying AI to the processes that matter most, with the industry context to make the right decisions and the governance to give agents greater responsibility with confidence. Australia already has strong foundations; the priority now is to protect that advantage by turning AI investment into faster, more precise and accountable outcomes," Brecknell said.
Infor counts Coles, Lovisa, Sealord, Riverina Water, Sutton Tools, Bright Foods and My Food Bag among its customers in Australia and New Zealand. The latest iteration of its AI offering is aimed at businesses that want to connect automation, generative AI and process management within existing operational systems.
Alicia Thompson, Chief Technology Officer, Team Air Distributing, said: "AI only matters when it creates real value. Infor has kept pace with our ambitions, pairing Infor Industry AI Agents with Forward Deployed Engineers who understand our industry and work as an extension of our team. Together, we're reducing manual work and turning operational challenges into practical improvements, building trust one process at a time."