There is no disputing the adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly accelerating across Australia. New data from an AWS study of 2,000 Australian individuals and businesses found that 81% of local startups are already leveraging AI in their business, with 42% developing new AI-driven products and services, and 53% using AI at the core of their business operations.
Startups are not just experimenting with AI, they are creating these technologies and building AI-driven businesses by deploying AI into new products and business models that would have been impossible a few years ago. A good example is Sydney-based Relevance AI, who is developing teams of AI agents to execute tasks autonomously across sales, research, marketing, operations, and customer support.
Australia’s high AI adoption among startups is remarkable compared to other countries. In Europe, average AI adoption among startups is 68%, with 37% developing new AI-driven products and services.
AWS Generative AI Accelerator opens for new startup cohort
AWS has long committed to helping the local startup community. Our AWS Activate program provides AWS credits, support, training, and networking for startups, and has provided over US$7 billion in credits globally since the start of the program over a decade ago. Two years ago, we also launched the AWS Generative AI Accelerator program to help generative AI startups turbocharge their growth with both technical and business programming, including mentorship and the opportunity to receive up to US$1 million in AWS credits. We’ve had five Australian startups go through the global program, including Leonardo AI in 2023, and Contact Harald, Marqo, Relevance AI, and Splash Music in 2024.
Today, I’m excited to announce that applications for the 2025 cohort open on 10 June.
Australian startups are on track to be global leaders in AI adoption, and our AWS Generative AI Accelerator is another way we are helping them punch above their weight globally.
Our continued support for startups is part of a bigger commitment to contribute to, and invest in, Australia’s economic future. In December 2024, the Australian Government announced its new National AI Capability Plan, which outlines its vision to grow investment in AI capabilities, help drive economic and productivity growth, and establish Australia as a global leader in AI development and adoption.
Unlocking Australia’s AI capability with new AWS AI Spring program
To help propel the nation forward and realise the full economic and productivity potential of AI, AWS is establishing a new flagship program called AI Spring Australia, offering a range of programs to help customers and partners across different sectors and industries build AI capability, and accelerate and deepen the adoption of AI and generative AI into their business.
Australian organisations need to accelerate their digital transformation and leverage AI to boost productivity, drive operational efficiencies, and unlock new product and service innovation if we want to realise the shared vision for Australia’s future. According to Goldman Sachs, organisations adopting generative AI could contribute as much as $15 billion annually to the Australian economy by 2030 – that’s 2% to 5% of the economy.
Through AI Spring Australia, AWS will leverage our world-class infrastructure, industry-leading and trusted AI tools and services, built-in security and guardrails, and deep AI expertise to help customers and partners begin and accelerate their generative AI journey. Our first AI Spring Australia programs support startup organisations (AWS Generative AI Accelerator) and enterprises (AWS AI Launchpad), with programs for other sectors coming soon. AWS AI Launchpad helps enterprises move their gen AI workloads more rapidly from concept to production, leveraging AWS expertise, partner support, and dedicated funding.
Our AI Spring initiative comes on the heels of a planned $13.2 billion investment in existing cloud infrastructure by 2027 in AWS Asia Pacific (Sydney) Region and AWS Asia Pacific (Melbourne) Region, which is estimated to contribute $35 billion to total GDP by 2027, and support an estimated average of 11,000 FTE jobs at local vendors.
AI is one of the most transformational technologies of our generation, with opportunities to tackle some of humanity’s most challenging problems. Australia already has a rich culture of ambitious thinking, experimentation, and hard work, and AWS is committed to creating opportunities for Australia to lead globally in AI innovation.
Together with private sector, industry, and government, we have an opportunity to unlock our country’s collective AI capability and nurture a generation of AI innovators in Australia – and AWS is here for it.
