FEAR & GREED | Business News Q+A: How AI can really solve our productivity dilemma
Feb 24, 2026
Frank Fillmann, EVP and GM of Salesforce ANZ, drives AI adoption across Australia and New Zealand. He discusses why AI matters for national productivity. He outlines where AI boosts both growth and efficiency. He explains why 95% of pilots fail and the pitfalls of slick prototypes. He offers practical steps to embed AI into enterprise systems and highlights real ANZ success stories.
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AI Is Now A People And Competition Problem
- Australia faces rising global and local competition while employees expect modern AI tools, making productivity gains essential for competitiveness.
- Frank Fillmann highlights that CEOs now demand speed to transformation and that workers need training to adopt AI effectively.
Balance Efficiency With Customer Growth
- AI must balance productivity (bottom line) and customer growth (top line) rather than sequencing one after the other.
- Fillmann argues use cases that drive both efficiency and customer intimacy deliver the largest P&L impact.
95% Of AI Pilots Fail Because They Stay Disconnected
- Most pilots fail because they are disconnected from enterprise systems, data and workflows, leaving outputs inaccurate and risky.
- Fillmann calls this the iceberg problem: slick UIs hide missing data connectors, metadata and process logic under the waterline.