$28M Spent on AI. One Question Tells You If It's Working.

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Episode Summary:

90% of Australian companies have invested in AI. Only 40% are seeing results. The problem isn't the technology.

In Part 1, we showed you which type of AI leader you are: Believer, Driver, or Builder. In Part 2, we reveal why that's only half the picture. There are two tracks of AI maturity and most organisations only measure one. Anthony Mittelmark calls it the Two-Track Trap: your AI usage might be advancing, but if your organisation isn't built to carry it, the investment leaks value.

This episode gives you diagnostic questions most leadership teams can't answer, a real case study of how one multinational reframed AI as a valuation play, and a 48-hour action you can run this week without budget or approval.

What you will learn:

• Why treating AI projects like IT projects is the #1 reason programs stall
• The four levels of AI usage maturity (Tool User to AI-First) and where most companies are stuck
• The second maturity track nobody measures: organisational readiness
• Why tactical AI integration can make the rest of the business worse
• How a multinational used upstream data IP to change their valuation narrative
• A 48-hour brutal audit you can run with your leadership team this week

Key Frameworks:

Two-Track Trap
Track A: AI Usage Maturity (Tool User > Process Runner > Commercial Operator > AI-First)
Track B: Organisational Maturity (leadership articulation, business resistance, architecture to roadmap)
Most companies measure Track A and ignore Track B. That's where investment leaks.

Portfolio Mindset: Every AI project must deliver commercial value, build reusable capability, and advance organisational AI fluency.

Valuation Reframe: Not "what does your org look like in 2030" but "how will it be valued in 2030?"

Key Stats:

• 12% of Australian leaders say GenAI is transforming their business (vs 25% globally)
• 90% invested in AI, only 40% seeing results (Frontier, March 2026)
• Financial services moving to AI-first: cost-to-serve gap makes it impossible to compete without it

48 Hour Challenge:

Ramon: 30 mins. One page. Can leadership articulate why you're investing in AI (commercial reasons, not efficiencies)? Is the business resisting - where and who? What does next-gen CX look like? Does tech map AI architecture to a roadmap with cost-benefit? For every AI initiative, does the org support it or is tech running ahead? If you can't answer with confidence, there's a gap.

Anthony: List every AI tool, subscription, pilot, and POC. Portfolio strategy or just a collection of stuff? CEO to CFO: are we aligned on AI investment and what's the return?

"The board doesn't need another AI update. They need a name to it next quarter."

Timestamps

• 0:00 - Intro: the two-track blind spot
• 1:00 -Why AI programs stall: IT projects vs portfolio mindset
• 5:00 - The four levels of AI usage maturity
• 8:30 - The Two-Track Trap: organisational readiness
• 11:30 - What happens when leadership can't articulate why
• 14:30 - Level 3 usage, Level 1 organisation
• 17:30 - The $500M CEO building a business within her business
• 19:00 - Upstream data IP and valuation narrative
• 21:30 - Does this project advance your AI thesis?
• 23:00 - The brutal audit
• 25:30 - Close: AI maturity runs on two tracks

Part 1 (Believer, Driver, Builder): Here

Applied AI Australia:

• https://appliedaiaustralia.com.au
• https://www.linkedin.com/in/ramonrod
• Podcast + Executive Newsletter

Guest:

Anthony Mittelmark, 20+ years AI strategy across ASX 100 companies and high-growth ventures..

• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/anthonymittelmark