Brands in Australia and New Zealand accelerate AI but face data challenges

SYDNEY, Australia — May 22, 2025 — Adobe today released its 2025 AI and Digital Trends Australia and New Zealand (ANZ) snapshot, revealing ANZ brands have accelerated AI adoption at the fastest rate in Asia Pacific (APAC) this year.

The study, based on a survey of 262 executives and 945 consumers across Australia and New Zealand, found the number of brands formally deploying and evaluating generative AI solutions increased from 14% in 2024 – less than half the APAC average – to 29% in 2025.

It also found a further 12% of executives have working generative AI solutions that are already delivering consistent, measurable return on investment (ROI) – in line with the global average. Others are earlier on their AI journey, with pilot projects in motion (24%).

Senior leaders reported significant improvements from AI-driven personalisation, including improved customer engagement (45%).

“Local brands have significantly advanced their AI initiatives in the past year, building on a responsible foundation of AI guardrails and data governance essential for scaling,” said Duncan Egan, Vice President of Enterprise Marketing, Adobe APAC and Japan. “With two in three brands planning to invest in data integration and real-time insights over the next couple of years, it’s clear the focus is shifting towards connecting data to help deliver timely, consistent, and relevant customer experiences.”

Brands also recognise the potential for personalisation to drive broader business growth, nominating it is the top priority for 2025. That’s followed by unifying data, and leveraging AI.

Still, there is a significant gap to close when it comes to meeting customer demands. Currently, only 35% of consumers say they receive personalised recommendations and offers, while 62% want to receive them.

Data imperatives to clear the way for the next wave of AI innovation

With customers expecting more from personalisation, executives are feeling the strain with half (53%) experiencing greater pressure to increase customer engagement and conversion.

However, the data foundations required to achieve this remain an obstacle for practitioners. Four in five (82%) say siloed data across online and offline sources is hindering real-time personalisation, which is why customer data management is a top technology investment in the next 12-24 months. Such investments will be judged by the strength of their data protection and privacy controls, with 59% of brands rating governance, compliance, and data privacy as their top barriers to scaling AI; even higher for those in the earlier stages of AI maturity.

“As AI is rapidly adopted and marketing teams are expected to acquire new skills and supervise higher volumes of content, it can feel overwhelming. This makes agentic AI appealing, given its potential to automate customer engagement and lighten internal workloads. However, new agentic AI applications won’t be effective unless they’re built on connected data,” Egan said.

“These tools, coupled with cross-team collaboration, will ensure businesses can overcome their most significant challenges and continue to unlock AI’s full power to achieve personalisation at scale and more importantly, business growth.”

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