By EMA Head of Marketing and Transformation Lisa Dean
Across New Zealand, generative artificial intelligence (AI) is already part of how work gets done.
New research from the EMA, presented in our white paper, People-first workforce transformation and leadership imperatives for New Zealand businesses in the AI era, shows that 83 percent of Kiwi businesses are already using AI in some form and a further 10 percent are planning to adopt it.
At first glance, that looks like strong progress. But a closer look tells a different story.
The gap between adoption and readiness
While AI adoption is accelerating, readiness is not keeping pace. Two-thirds of businesses using AI remain in the experimentation or pilot stage, with only one-third embedding it into regular business processes. Governance is uneven, workforce capability is still developing, and leadership ownership is often unclear.
In our survey of more than 200 Kiwi businesses, one in five reported having no clear owner of AI within their organisation.
That gap is where value is lost. Businesses invest in tools and expect productivity gains, but employees are often left to figure them out alone. The result is uneven uptake, unmanaged risk, missed opportunities and weaker returns on AI investment.
Our research, backed up by international studies, shows that successful AI adoption is determined by how well businesses enable, support and empower their people to use it effectively.
Why this matters now
We believe businesses are entering a period where multiple pressures are converging at once. AI is accelerating the pace of work, skills requirements are shifting, workforce expectations are changing and productivity demands are increasing.
The businesses that will succeed by 2030 will not be those that adopt AI the fastest, but those that prepare their people the best.
One of the most significant findings from our research is that many small and medium-sized businesses are not yet prepared for the workplace changes AI is bringing.
This is a major competitiveness issue because AI is no longer a future technology.
For New Zealand, SMEs risk being caught in a two-speed AI economy, where access to tools is widespread but the capability to use them well varies significantly.
Our findings also indicate that many SMEs are focused mostly on short-term productivity gains without fully considering the workforce implications, allowing change to happen to them rather than leading it.
A people-powered opportunity for New Zealand
Yet this challenge also presents a major opportunity for New Zealand. We are unlikely to win a global race based on the scale of our technology sector alone, but we can become a leader in how humans and AI work together.
Deloitte’s Global Human Capital Trends 2026 research found that organisations focused solely on technology investment are significantly less likely to realise the full value of AI than those that redesign work around human-machine collaboration.
This is an area where New Zealand has natural advantages. Many Kiwi businesses operate with flatter structures, shorter lines between frontline employees and senior leaders, and a culture of practical problem-solving. Decisions can often be made faster than in larger organisations overseas.
That creates the conditions for faster experimentation, stronger workforce engagement and more effective collaboration between people and technology.
Rather than viewing AI primarily as a tool for automation, we have an opportunity to become a global example of how human capability and artificial intelligence can work together to create more productive, innovative and resilient workplaces.
Introducing Workforce 2030
This is the focus of the EMA’s Workforce 2030 programme, launching on 28 July.
Workforce 2030 is designed to help organisations bridge the gap between AI investment and workforce readiness, supporting leaders to build the capability, confidence and clarity needed to navigate this transition.
Our year-long programme of workshops, webinars, peer stories and business case studies is built around a simple idea: if AI is changing work, leaders need a deliberate strategy to change with it.
For many businesses, the starting point is asking fundamental questions. Where does AI actually add value? What work should change? What skills matter now? Where does human judgement need to remain central?
We’ll help businesses work through these questions with practical guidance, peer learning and expert input. We’ll also focus on the leadership capability and human skills needed in an AI-enabled world, including critical thinking, decision-making, adaptability and judgement.
Read the full white paper: NZ businesses can be world leaders in human-AI collaboration. What are we going to do about it? –