Latest news with #DeanChadwick
NZ Herald
20-07-2025
- Business
- NZ Herald
AI adoption low among NZ SMEs despite positive impacts, survey reveals
MYOB chief customer officer Dean Chadwick said emerging trends in the use of AI locally focus on driving awareness and sales. 'Our insights show SMEs are primarily employing AI tools to bolster marketing efforts – helping with the copywriting of marketing materials and press releases (39%) or generating social media posts (31%),' Chadwick said. 'A consistent voice in market is key for businesses to stay top of mind for their audience, particularly in an economic environment when every dollar of revenue counts.' Chadwick explained that the use of AI aligns with the top skills SMEs identified would be the most important to their business over the next five years, namely customer service (40%) and marketing (32%). Kiwi SMEs are also proactively using AI tools for copywriting technical documents, reports and training materials (25%), customer service support including chatbots and virtual assistants (21%), and for analysing markets, trends and risks (21%). One interesting insight from the survey highlighted that younger generations of business owners are leading the way when it comes to AI adoption. Almost all of the Gen Z business operators surveyed (93%) and more than half (59%) of millennials polled had started using AI tools in their businesses. This is compared with Gen X and Baby Boomer business owners, who sit at 28% and 17% respectively. 'In taking the heavy-lifting and time investment out of some of these tasks, the efficiency gain AI provides to SMEs not only ensures business owners can focus on higher-value tasks, it also offers a reprieve on workload. 'Alongside cashflow concerns, workload is the top business-related factor that has negatively impacted the mental wellbeing of a third of local business operators in the past two years. Intelligent tools that can help ease this burden will likely improve employee engagement and well-being as a result.' As to why adoption is not as high, 39% of SMEs surveyed felt AI tools weren't needed or appropriate for their business, with 30% of this group believing they don't know enough about it. Some respondents were more specific, with 18% believing there weren't any AI tools specific to their business needs. However, almost a fifth (19%) still don't trust the new technology. 'Knowledge and confidence play a big role in the adoption of new technologies. It's understandable that a portion of SMEs are hesitant to embrace AI in their businesses.' 'However, given the integration of AI in a range of everyday systems, from autocompleting sentences in email, to reminders and forecasting in business management software, it's also possible many business owners don't realise they're already using AI.' Chadwick said SME owners who are still hesitant should discuss the topic with a business mentor or speak with other businesses to learn how they are benefiting from the technology. The MYOB Business Monitor is a national survey of more than 1000 New Zealand business owners, managers and directors, from sole traders to medium-sized companies, representing the major industry sectors. Tom Raynel is a multimedia business journalist for the Herald, covering small business, retail and tourism.
RNZ News
12-06-2025
- Business
- RNZ News
Many small businesses plan to buy new asset as result of Investment Boost
New Zealand banknotes, pen and calculator on background with rising trend green line Photo: 123RF Many small businesses plan to invest in new assets as a result of the government's Investment Boost programme . A MYOB survey of more than 500 small and medium sized businesses (SMEs) indicates nearly half (45 percent) plan to make an asset purchase over the next six months, while one-in-five were planning to invest in the next three months. Topping the list of new assets to purchase were passenger vehicles, including cars, vans, and utes (31 percent), followed by new office technology (28 percent), digital devices (22 percent), furniture (18 percent) and tools of their trade (15 percent). Just over one-in-10 planned to invest in smaller scale machinery or equipment. About a third (35 percent) of businesses estimated their investments would improve productivity. The survey found the other half of businesses considered changing their plans around investing in new assets because of the new policy, while about one-in-10 (12 percent) thought the Investment Boost had changed their plans considerably, though 7 percent were unsure. Just 28 percent said their spending plans had not changed, with 5 percent saying their planned spending was ineligible for the government's programme. MYOB chief customer officer Dean Chadwick said the survey findings demonstrated a strong appetite for government support, given the sluggish pace of economic recovery. "The Investment Boost delivers timely support to New Zealand's SMEs as they weigh up current economic challenges with the opportunity to invest in growing their business, and it will go some way to shoring up and accelerating their own performance," he said. "This latest survey also shows that spending by local businesses on eligible new assets will continue into 2026." The median planned asset spend of those surveyed was $37,700. One-in-10 businesses expected to spend between $80,000 to $100,000, while 12 percent expected to spend between $100,000 to $200,000. The agriculture sector has one of the highest median spends ($56,670), along with manufacturing ($53,300), behind the finance and insurance sector ($60,000 median).
