#193 Helping businesses leverage the opportunity for AI adoption with Stela Solar

Australia’s CSIRO has always been a hotbed of innovation and technology creativity, which is why it is a special privilege to speak to Stela Solar, the Director of the CSIRO’s National Artificial Intelligence Centre on this week’s podcast.

Solar, who spent over a decade working in global roles at Microsoft in the US prior to joining CSIRO in January, said that one of her key observations on coming to Australia is that we are enthusiastic adopters of technology – we’re a leading nation on cloud adoption – we currently run a little behind on AI adoption.

There are three areas where Australia can invest to start to narrow the game and realise the opportunity of AI adoption, Solar said: Addressing the skills shortage, broadening the investment scene beyond the US, and the development of “tech cities” where the population of the area is galvanised around technology.

Another big opportunity for AI in Australia, Solar added, was for the small and medium-sized business. Just 2% of Australian businesses are currently leveraging AI solutions. This is a low base, but it also means an enormous opportunity for businesses looking forward. In the podcast, Solar shares what that might look like.

Tune in for these insights and more from one of the foremost data thought leaders working in Australia.


What we discussed:
0:00 Introduction
08:26 AI adoption- Do you have any early hypotheses on areas that we could do better in?
12:19 What are some surprises or maybe some things that you didn't expect, coming into the role that you've discovered in your time so far?
14:53 It sounds like we're doing well from a research perspective from advancing the field and creating the was those innovations, then trying to take those innovations into different applications in different industries, areas like that. What have you seen in that space so far?
22:00 Any initial thoughts on what the new world could look like if we do focus on serving a large number of small to medium businesses?
27:52 Where do you think we can we can go from here with the next big opportunity for Australia to focus on when it comes to responsible AI?

Enjoy the show!

Thanks to our sponsor, Talent Insights Group!