Age of Intelligence: Navigating the new normal

Featuring keynote speaker Ray Fleming and a panel of industry experts, the event tackled key themes around AI that are impacting the public and private sectors – and will continue to for years to come.

Founder of Stratentia, Mr Fleming is an industry expert with over 30 years of experience in AI, organisational adoption and change, living at the intersection of AI, business and technology.

Mr Fleming delivered a compelling keynote highlighting how AI has changed over the years, how it can reshape the business landscape, the importance of emotional intelligence in AI, and the significant culture and mindset shift needed to see results.

The age of Human AI

He reflected on the early days of AI as being an incredible piece of change, however noting that the real transformation only began in late 2022.

“What changed in November 2022 is that we moved from Algorithmic AI to the age of Human AI. I don’t mean human in the sense that we should think of AI as a human, but human in terms of the skills that we need to interact with it.”

He argues that we’re now in a time where emotional intelligence (EQ) is just as critical as technical know-how.

“We’ve moved from an age where IQ was one of the most important things in technology, to an age now that I think is great for us. It’s an age where a combination of IQ and EQ is important.”

On the topic of EQ, he emphasised that empathy and understanding are key to unlocking AI’s full potential.

“If you’ve got EQ, that’s how you get the most out of AI – through empathy and understanding your customers and business problems.”

Cultural transformation

Mr Fleming outlined three key areas where AI is making an impact: personal productivity, process productivity, and what he calls “paradigm productivity.”

“Paradigm productivity – that’s the Uber to the taxi industry; that’s the Netflix to the Blockbuster. It is changing the pattern of delivery of your business and finding a completely new way to do it.”

However, he acknowledged that most organisations are still in the early stages, primarily focused on personal productivity. The challenge, he said, lies in cultural transformation.

“We’re still early days, we’re still less than three years in. As organisations, we don’t know how AI is going to transform the way that our businesses operate.”

Fear of change

Mr Fleming stressed the importance of psychological safety and cultural readiness to embrace change, and is concerned that many companies aren’t experimenting enough due to fear.

“Sometimes change is hard, sometimes change is risky, sometimes it seems easier to not do something,” he said. “For us to be able to get to the later stages of AI, we’ve got to change the culture, and people have got to feel psychologically safe about the future.”

He closed with a powerful reminder of AI’s evolving capabilities.

“When you think about what AI can or can’t do, and say that AI can’t do something, don’t forget to put the word ‘yet’ at the end of the sentence.”

Panel discussion

The panel featured Future Skills Organisation CEO Patrick Kidd OBE OAM, who leads national efforts to align education and training with future workforce needs, and Microsoft General Manager of Corporate External and Legal Affairs John Galligan, bringing deep expertise in public policy and regulatory compliance across Australia and New Zealand.

Catherine Toms, Co-Founder of AI Growth Academy, a strategic consultancy helping businesses embed AI tools and habits also joined, along with Chris Smith, Head of Innovation at ReadyTech, who drives AI and tech initiatives for the ASX-listed company.

“Fundamental change”

Echoing Mr Fleming, the panel agreed that Australia is currently mostly in the “curiosity phase” of AI, a stage where organisations are eager to explore AI but remain uncertain about how to implement it meaningfully – despite it representing more than just a technological change, according to Mr Kidd.

“This isn’t about technology – it’s about a fundamental shift in how organisations operate,” he said.

“I think organisations now have to become learning organisations. We talk about lifelong learners and how common that is, but actually organisations have got to continue to adapt and learn.”

Mr Galligan echoed this sentiment, framing AI as a national-scale transformation.

“It’s going to fundamentally change everything we do and the way we do it – from the way classrooms are taught, to waiting rooms, boardrooms, and showrooms. Everything is going to change as a consequence of this.

“We can’t think about it as just something discreet. So moving from conversation to adoption is important.”

From “laggards to leaders”

Leadership – both in business and government – was identified as a critical factor in AI adoption. Mr Kidd emphasised that leaders must understand their role in shaping the future.

“AI brings changes in how leaders of organisations understand the capability and the role they need to play. As a leader, where do you spend your time in your organisation?

“You can’t do everything – so one of the fundamental responsibilities is to be clear about where you’re going to focus your energy to drive the changes you believe are necessary.

“What’s worrying is the role government plays – and where it currently stands on the AI journey. Government is responsible for so much: policy, regulation, funding. If it doesn’t understand the AI opportunity, it simply can’t drive the changes required.”

Optimistically, Mr Galligan pointed to international examples of rapid progress.

“How do we achieve adoption at scale and build capability quickly across the country? For organisations here, I think you have to do both. You need to ensure that enough people – across the organisation, the country, and the communities – have access to this. It shouldn’t be gated.”

Problem solving first

Ms Toms explained that AI should be driven by business operational needs.

“What are the problems we actually want to solve in our business? We’ve all got friction points – things that bother us day-to-day. But many of us spend a lot of time on busy work that keeps us from doing the job we came here to do. It’s a necessary part of the role, but it’s not where the real value lies.

“When we start from a problem-solving perspective – asking what the next step is and where we can add more value – we become more effective. That shift in mindset, away from starting with the technology and towards solving real problems, is enormously powerful.”

Mr Smith shared how ReadyTech has approached AI integration across both operations and product development.

“We’ve probably taken a two-track approach today. We’ve looked at our internal processes, our teams, and how we work – and then, as a technology company, we’ve also focused on how we can embed that kind of thinking and value into our products.”

Bridging an “expectation gap”

Ms Toms cautioned against assuming AI is a quick fix, highlighting the need for patience and preparation.

“You can’t walk into your organisation and expect to get everything right on day one.

“It’s not plug-and-play – it needs to be brought into your business, adapted for your purpose. Starting with a problem-solving mindset and recognising that AI must be onboarded, trained, and continuously improved – along with a bit of patience – are probably two of the biggest unlocks.”

Mr Smith extended this idea to organisational structure and workforce planning.

“I think it’s really worth considering that the organisational chart you have today might not be the one that delivers the organisational capability you’ll need tomorrow.

“It’s about how you drive that forward – how we think about skills, team composition, and the capabilities we need in our workplace and workforce. We have to plan how to take our existing staff from where they are now to where they need to be in two or three years’ time.”

Importance of skills and education

Education and workforce development emerged as a central theme. Mr Galligan stressed the urgency of preparing Australians for an AI-enabled future.

“We need to think differently about skilling – both for today’s workforce and for the future. That means a systems-level change, starting from P–12, through vocational and tertiary education, and continuing into the workplace.”

Mr Kidd reinforced the importance of embedding AI literacy across all levels of education and training.

“We’ve got to find a way to impart these skills through our education and training systems — in schools, universities, communities, and vocational education.

“All of that needs to be in place so we can clearly define what those skills are. Then we must create resources that can be easily rolled out, ensuring people have access to skilling.

“Every day we delay is another day where value is left on the table in different ways.”

Building trust

Trust in AI was a recurring concern. Ms Toms highlighted the need for user safety and clear boundaries.

“We have an obligation and a responsibility – and in many ways, an urgency – to ensure people are able to use AI appropriately and responsibly. That responsibility also lies with those creating the technology.

“Adoption really accelerates when people feel safe. It’s a bit of an Aussie analogy, but when we put the flags out on the beach, people know where to swim. They feel secure in the safe zone – they know they can play, they can experiment, and they have psychological safety. No one’s going to come back and say, ‘Why did you use AI to do this?’”

Mr Galligan pointed to Microsoft’s guiding principle on trust and the lessons learned from past technologies.

“We have a credo at Microsoft: no one is going to use technology they don’t trust.”

“This is a moment to learn from how other technologies have evolved – or in some cases, gotten away from us. We’ve often found ourselves retrofitting laws and policies around systems that became incredibly dispersed and confusing. Social media is probably the most prominent example on everyone’s mind.

“AI is going to be just as significant. Naturally, it comes with concerns – people are anxious about how it’s used and whether it will truly live up to its promise, or perhaps even exceed it.

“Of course, we need to ensure that information is protected and that strong privacy safeguards are in place. But we also need to be careful not to stifle innovation by trying to eliminate all risk. Striking the right balance is key.

“Australia has a unique advantage here – we can treat this as a dial, not a switch. Whether it’s privacy protection, consumer safety, or how we approach AI in the classroom.”