Australian executives show global lead in AI trust & adoption

Australian executives are displaying some of the highest levels of confidence globally in deploying artificial intelligence (AI) agents within their organisations, according to new findings from PagerDuty's AI Resilience Survey.

The survey, conducted across 1,500 IT and business executives from Australia, France, Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States, examined how businesses are leveraging AI-powered agents, the degree of executive trust in such systems, and emerging challenges related to operational complexity and resilience.

High trust in AI agents

According to the survey, 88% of Australian business and IT leaders trust agentic AI to act autonomously on their behalf during crises, such as service outages or security events. This level of confidence is the highest globally, alongside the United Kingdom. The research highlights a notable shift in management attitudes, with AI no longer viewed as experimental technology but instead considered essential infrastructure.

This trend is reflected in broader executive sentiment, with 81% of executives surveyed stating they trust AI agents to take action on their company's behalf in crisis situations. Across all regions, 74% of executives say their organisations would struggle to function without AI.

"AI is central to business operations today, and forward-looking leaders are implementing the key use cases that can bring real business impact to their organizations," said David Williams, Senior Vice President of Product at PagerDuty. "Companies that embed automation and agents into their operations will see AI drive efficiency, reduce costs, and strengthen customer trust. PagerDuty's latest survey further illustrates how organizations are becoming increasingly reliant on AI as adoption and trust continue to gain momentum and drive business results."

Adoption and integration in Australia

Australian companies are shown to be pursuing agentic AI deployment at a rapid pace. The data indicates that 88% of Australian organisations have implemented more than one AI agent, while 22% report launching five or more such agents into their business processes. Furthermore, 83% of Australian executives indicate that their company would find it challenging to operate without AI.

Software development emerged as a key area for AI application, with 88% of Australian business leaders using AI to write, review, or suggest code. A further 83% are actively testing AI-generated code for accuracy, which aligns with the international trend where more than four out of five companies surveyed report similar usage in coding practices.

Operational complexity and resilience

While adoption is high, the research reveals concern over rising complexity. Among companies with at least one AI agent, 84% of Australian respondents believe that the complexity introduced by AI will soon outpace their ability to manage it effectively. This concern is also reflected internationally, with 79% of organisations deploying multiple agents anticipating that AI-driven complexity could soon exceed the number of people available to oversee and manage these systems.

Guardrails and risk management practices have not kept pace with adoption. The report indicates that 85% of executives globally see a need for improved procedures to detect errors or failures in AI tools. French executives showed particular concern, with 90% acknowledging the need for better safeguards.

AI outages and mitigation

Building resilience is a priority: 85% of Australian companies have reported experiencing at least one AI-related outage. Despite this, confidence in their ability to detect and mitigate such failures is high, with 96% of Australian respondents expressing assurance in their preparedness. Globally, organisations are also preparing for potential problems, as over half of those yet to experience an outage have protocol in place to address such an event.

Management perspectives and future challenges

Executives attribute their growing trust in AI agents to improved output quality (49%), increased use resulting in positive results (48%), a better understanding of how AI operates (47%), and the implementation of stronger oversight measures (45%). Despite this, hands-on experience with deploying AI agents has made Australian companies more aware of their own limitations in navigating the complexity that comes with AI integration.

The survey notes a disparity in the consistency of testing AI-generated code. While 85% of respondents report conducting tests on code generated by AI, only 39% do so consistently through formal processes. Regional differences were observed, with the United States leading in formal testing at 59%, whereas Japan trailed at 19%.

The findings suggest that as organisations advance in their adoption of agentic AI, attention is shifting towards establishing better checks, procedures, and resilience plans to ensure operational continuity and robust oversight of AI-driven processes.