Ahead of Microsoft’s Global AI Tour stop in Sydney on 23 April, the following blog post was published by Jane Livesey, President, Microsoft Australia & New Zealand
Since taking on the role of President of Microsoft Australia and New Zealand, I have spent my first months listening, learning, and acting with urgency. I’ve visited customers across every major sector, spoken with policymakers and met with our own teams to understand what Australia needs from a technology partner at this consequential moment. What I’ve found has reinforced my conviction: AI is no longer a future promise. It is reshaping how Australians work, learn, and do business right now, and the organisations that move decisively and responsibly will define the next phase of our economy’s growth.
The evidence: the impact of Microsoft’s ecosystem on Australia’s economy
Today, I’m proud to share the findings of a new Economic and Social Impact Report that Microsoft commissioned from EY-Parthenon, examining our contribution to Australia in financial year 2025. The headline numbers tell a powerful story. Over the course of the 2024-25 financial year, Microsoft’s presence in Australia generated a combined direct and indirect economic impact of A$36 billion. Microsoft’s own operations, investments, datacentres, and supply chains account for A$11 billion of direct impact, which in turn supports 33,000 full-time equivalent jobs.
But Microsoft’s contribution to Australia extends well beyond our own operations. Microsoft’s network of more than 10,000 local partner companies and 3.6 million customers across Australia and New Zealand accounts for A$25 billion of local economic contribution – and a total 153,000 jobs sustained through our broader partner and customer ecosystem.
And with workforce productivity atop the national agenda, EY projects a $22 billion upside in productivity gains were enabled by tools that millions of Australians use every day, including Azure AI, Microsoft 365 Copilot, and Teams. Copilot saves users an estimated nine hours per month on routine tasks such as drafting emails, summarising meetings, and generating reports. Microsoft Teams is delivering time savings of up to eight hours per week depending on role, including around two hours per week from reduced conferencing time.
Australian businesses are leading the way on AI adoption
This momentum is remarkable. It reflects a willingness across Australian organisations to move quickly and responsibly.
Across my conversations with Australian business and government leaders, I’ve been struck by the pace at which AI adoption is accelerating. Australia is among our leading markets globally for Microsoft 365 Copilot adoption. Today, 17 of the ASX Top 20 companies are using it, including all four of Australia’s major banks. Fifty-seven government agencies have also deployed Copilot. Among customers who purchased Copilot in its first quarter of availability in Australia, seat counts have expanded by more than 560 percent.
But as Australian businesses race to harness the enormous potential of AI, to me the story isn’t about showing what AI can do; it’s about showing how organisations are fundamentally changing because of it. We’ve moved beyond the first wave of AI for productivity into a second wave focused on reinvention, new business models, new ways of working, and agentic AI operating alongside humans.
Two of Australia’s most iconic organisations offer a glimpse of what’s possible when ambition meets the right technology partnership and execution. Westpac has rolled out Microsoft 365 Copilot to 35,000 employees with governance that links each initiative to clear business outcomes, while Telstra has expanded a successful 300-person pilot to a 21,000-employee deployment, already delivering one to two hours saved per week and a 15 percent lift in task completion. Both will share their transformation journeys at the upcoming Microsoft AI Tour in Sydney, where our CEO Satya Nadella will showcase the latest in AI innovation.
Microsoft is also helping small and medium-sized enterprises adopt cloud and AI tools that enable them to compete and grow. When these partners succeed, they create jobs and drive innovation in every state and territory. For example, Arinco is a Microsoft‑only partner operating across ANZ that has increased its headcount by more than 50 per cent in the last three years while revenues have climbed from $46 million to $60 million between 2024 and 2026. Microsoft’s end‑to‑end AI platform has also been a catalyst of growth for Blue Zebra Insurance. Headquartered in Sydney, the SME embedded AI across its business, scaling from zero to over 300,000 customers across Australia in eight years. With only 160 employees, Blue Zebra Insurance did this all with a quarter of the headcount of a traditional business of similar scale.
Building locally: our ANZ engineering hub
One thing that sets Microsoft apart in Australia is the depth of our local commitment. We don’t simply sell technology into this market; we build it here. Microsoft’s Australia and New Zealand region is home to a nearly 1,000-strong engineering hub, making it one of our largest engineering and development centres anywhere in the world. What’s more is we currently have dozens of open engineering roles across the region, testament to Microsoft’s commitment to building high quality tech careers down under.
This team works on cutting-edge cloud, AI, and security solutions tailored to the needs of Australian organisations, like MYOB who we’re helping co-design and build new AI-powered solutions on Microsoft’s AI, data, and cloud technologies. Having engineers of this calibre on the ground means we can respond faster to local requirements, co-create solutions with customers, and contribute meaningfully to Australia’s growing technology talent pool. In 2024, we also opened an Innovation Hub at our North Sydney headquarters, a collaborative space designed for our teams and customers to experiment with new technology solutions together. These investments in people and infrastructure signal our long-term confidence in Australia as a centre for innovation.
Resilience as a national priority
As we look to the future, resilience must be seen not just as a safeguard, but as a growth strategy. Australia’s ability to lead in the AI era will depend on the strength of its digital foundations: secure, scalable, and sovereign. In 2023, Microsoft committed A$5 billion to expand Australia’s cloud infrastructure, which saw our datacentre footprint grow from 20 to 29 sites across Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra. These facilities are designed to meet the highest standards of performance, security and compliance, ensuring that Australian organisations, across both public and private sectors, can access world-class AI and cloud capabilities on home soil. This infrastructure is more than a technical asset; it’s a national enabler of innovation, productivity and economic resilience.
At the same time, we believe that local control and global innovation are not mutually exclusive. True digital sovereignty is about capability, not isolation. With Microsoft’s approach, Australian organisations can meet stringent data residency and security requirements while still benefiting from the scale, speed and continuous innovation of the global cloud. Our in-country cloud regions, combined with granular policy controls and global threat intelligence, give customers the assurance they need to innovate with confidence. In a world where trust is the currency that fuels growth, we are committed to helping Australia build a secure, inclusive and forward-looking digital economy – one that is resilient by design and ready to lead on the global stage.
Ensuring the benefits are shared
For all the economic promise of AI, I believe it’s true measure will be how broadly its benefits reach. Inclusive growth must be both a business and social imperative – if digital progress does not lift every segment of Australian society, we have missed a significant opportunity.
I believe trust is the currency that underpins innovation and long‑term growth in the AI era. Responsible AI needs to be embedded into day‑to‑day decision‑making and leadership behaviour, rather than treated as a compliance exercise added later. The Federal Government’s National AI Plan is a strong example of this, which outlines three main goals: capturing the opportunity, spreading the benefits, and keeping Australians safe.
That’s why we’re proud to have recently agreed a new five-year agreement with the Federal Government, which has named Microsoft a trusted partner in nation-building. The agreement accelerates secure and safe AI access, including Copilot, across all federal agencies, while locking in stable pricing and enhanced protections. Working together, our technology in the hands of the public service will have a transformative impact on addressing some of the biggest social challenges like improving healthcare outcomes.
Microsoft has helped train more than one million Australians in digital skills through initiatives including the AI Academy, which is delivered by Microsoft in partnership with Akkodis, and our Datacentre Academies. And earlier this year, Microsoft signed a landmark agreement with the Australian Council of Trade Unions so that employees have a genuine voice in how AI is adopted in their workplaces.
Leading the way, together
Australia stands at an inflection point. The technology is here, and the early evidence is compelling. The organisations that embrace this moment will shape the next chapter of our economy, but it won’t happen by default. It takes leadership: leadership that is courageous, curious, customer‑centred, and ready to rethink long‑held assumptions. My message is straightforward: lean in. Whether you lead a bank, a government department, a hospital, a startup or a family business, now is the time to develop your AI blueprint, invest in your people’s skills and pursue outcomes that matter.
It will take deep partnership – across industry, technology, and government – to ensure that AI is safe, inclusive, and delivers benefits for all Australians. Together, we can ensure Australia does not just adapt to the AI era but leads it, driving prosperity, resilience and opportunity for all.