Informatica (NYSE: INFA), a leader in enterprise AI-powered cloud data management, today announced findings from its global CDO Insights 2025 survey, revealing that less than half of Generative AI (GenAI) pilots have successfully transitioned to production in 70% of Australian organisations surveyed. As a result, 53% of these organisations – the highest globally – have slowed or halted their GenAI initiatives over the past 12 months. Nonetheless, with 55% of Australian organisations having already integrated GenAI into their business practices, optimism remains strong, as reflected in ongoing investments in data strategies to realise AI’s transformative potential.

This global annual study further highlights that while 92% of Australian data leaders anticipate increasing their organisation’s investments in GenAI by 2025, an overwhelming 98% admitted facing significant challenges in demonstrating the business value of their GenAI initiatives. These challenges stem from issues related to data readiness, including quality and responsible use.

“Our latest findings highlight a key challenge for Australian businesses: their enthusiasm for GenAI investments is outstripping their readiness to support these tools effectively,” said Alex Newman, Country Manager, Australia and New Zealand, Informatica. “Despite 96% of Australian data leaders facing pressure from the C-Suite to deliver quick return on investments from GenAI, many are moving forward without addressing critical issues such as data reliability, flagged by 80% organisations as a major challenge, jeopardising both immediate goals and long-term success.”

Other Australian data leader key findings from CDO Insights:

• The top three data related challenges Australian organisations face tied to adoption of GenAI are quality of data (57%), ensuring ethical us of AI (55%) and data privacy and protection (45%).
• Data leaders cite reliability of results (57%), cybersecurity and privacy compliance (49%) and responsible use of AI (47%) as difficulties to demonstrate business value of GenAI initiatives.
• The regulatory environment is holding back AI efforts for 92% of surveyed companies.
• 89% of data leaders state that moderate to significant training is needed for employees to responsibly use AI, with organisations estimating it will take over 12 months to fully prepare their workforce.

Despite near-term challenges, global data leaders are united by a shared optimism about GenAI’s ability to drive meaningful, long-term transformation across industries.

The study also highlights that operational efficiency, employee and customer experience and increased collaboration across business units, remain top priorities for GenAI rollout in Australian organisations, while data management investments in data governance, data privacy and security and meeting evolving regulatory requirements are expected to increase in tandem with GenAI investments.

Download the CDO Insights 2025 full report here.