Datacom posts $37m profit amid tough year - bets big on AI
RNZ / Calvin Samuel
One of the country's biggest local IT companies, Datacom, has posted an improved full-year result in what it calls a challenging market.
Its net profit for the year ended March was $37 million compared to $34m the year before, as it increased revenue marginally to $1.48 billion with new business won in the Australian government sector.
"A notable reduction in customer spend in the New Zealand market, continued momentum in the Australian market helped offset this, resulting in an overall positive result for the group," chief executive Greg Davidson said.
He said many organisations had pushed "pause" on key technology projects, and small New Zealand businesses had had a difficult year.
Datacom managed operations to match variable demand, such as call centres, and its overall staff numbers had been reduced by about 12 percent to 5,375, while it also moved to significantly reduce debt.
Davidson said Datacom was moving to embed artificial intelligence in its operations and use it to help customers, especially those still using old "legacy systems", which he said was the Achilles' Heel of many organisations.
"AI is the single biggest and most significant technology shift that we've seen in decades. The opportunities around AI are almost endless."
As an example, he said Datacom was using AI to write new code at a cheaper price and in a quicker time, but greater use and industry commitment to high standards for adoption and ethical use were needed.
"Ensuring we embrace AI at pace is critical to achieving economic growth."
"However, it's important that we don't lose sight of the people and communities this technology is meant to serve, or the impact that lack of planning and thought around future demand will place in terms of energy supply and in-country processing capability."
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