This article summarises insights from OpenAI’s “State of Enterprise AI 2025” report. The original report is authored and published by OpenAI and can be accessed here: https://cdn.openai.com/pdf/7ef17d82-96bf-4dd1-9df2-228f7f377a29/the-state-of-enterprise-ai_2025-report.pdf

AI is reshaping how work gets done, yet most organisations are still struggling to realise meaningful productivity gains. While investment in AI has surged, capability uplift has not kept pace, leaving many teams overwhelmed, under-prepared and unable to translate AI tools into measurable outcomes.

OpenAI’s latest State of Enterprise AI 2025 report provides one of the clearest views yet into how high-performing organisations are using AI to improve productivity, and where others are falling behind. For Australian organisations navigating rapid change, the findings offer a practical roadmap for where to focus next.

AI is delivering real productivity gains where capability exists

The report highlights that productivity uplift is not theoretical. When teams know how to use AI correctly, organisations see improvements in speed, accuracy and decision-making. High-performing teams embed AI into everyday work, not as an add-on but as part of core workflows.

However, the majority of organisations are not achieving these gains. Many have invested in AI tools without matching investments in skills, governance or structured adoption programs. This capability gap is emerging as one of the biggest barriers to productivity uplift globally.

Why so many AI projects are failing to deliver value

According to the report, more than 80 percent of AI initiatives still fail. The reasons include:

• Overreliance on tools without foundational skills
  • Lack of clarity on what “good” AI use looks like
  • Insufficient governance to manage risks such as hallucinations
  • Workflows that have not been redesigned for AI-enabled efficiency
  • Limited leadership capability to guide teams through adoption

These barriers are consistent with what PM-Partners sees across Australian organisations: strong intent, but limited confidence, structure and practical capability.

The four forces reshaping productivity in the age of AI

The report identifies four major forces transforming how work is performed. Each represents a direct opportunity for productivity uplift when teams have the right capability. These include:

• The increasing automation of routine knowledge work
•  A shift towards AI-assisted decision-making
• The need for adaptive workflows that incorporate AI tools
• New expectations for speed, accuracy and customer responsiveness

Organisations that embrace these forces through capability uplift are now widening the productivity gap between themselves and competitors.

What high-performing organisations do differently

Teams achieving genuine productivity gains share several characteristics, including:

• A clear understanding of the strengths and limits of AI
• The ability to distinguish high-quality outputs from hallucinations
• Skills to build and refine practical AI agents
• Redesigning workflows to maximise efficiency
• Structured adoption guided by governance and leadership support

These behaviours are learned, not innate, and can be taught through structured, instructor-led training.

The capability uplift required to compete in 2025

The report reinforces a simple truth: technology alone does not deliver productivity. Capability does.

Australian organisations that want to compete will need to:

• Build foundational AI-Native skills across teams
• Strengthen leadership ability to guide responsible adoption
• Develop role-specific capability for PMs, BAs, change managers and emerging professionals
• Redesign workflows to capture AI productivity benefits
• Establish governance that encourages safe, confident use

This aligns directly with PM-Partners’ AI-ready training pathways, designed to help people apply AI effectively in real work, not just understand the theory.

How PM-Partners can help your organisation realise AI productivity gains

PM-Partners offers a suite of instructor-led AI courses purpose-built to help individuals and organisations translate AI into measurable productivity uplift.

Our course pathways include:

• AI-Native Foundations – practical, job-ready capability for lifting productivity
• AI-Native Change agent – guiding teams to use AI effectively and responsibly
• Generative AI courses tailored for project managers, business analysts, change managers and those new to AI.

All courses are designed around real-world scenarios, structured learning, and immediate application in Australian workplaces.

Explore all AI courses:
https://www.pm-partners.com.au/capability/ai-courses/

Conclusion

The research is clear: productivity gains from AI are real and achievable, but only when capability becomes a strategic priority. With the right skills, teams can work faster, make better decisions and deliver higher-value outcomes across every project and department.

For organisations ready to close the capability gap, the path forward is practical, structured and well within reach.

Source attribution

Source: OpenAI (2025). The State of Enterprise AI 2025.
Original publication available at:
https://cdn.openai.com/pdf/7ef17d82-96bf-4dd1-9df2-228f7f377a29/the-state-of-enterprise-ai_2025-report.pdf
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