National AI plan to turbocharge Australia’s AI uptake

Technology executives at Pure Storage expect Australian organisations to accelerate adoption of artificial intelligence in 2026 as the Federal government's National AI plan takes effect and reshapes priorities around data, skills and infrastructure.

The company sees AI uptake driving continued construction of data centres, a shift towards subscription-based technology models and a sharper focus on energy use and data sovereignty across Australia and the wider Asia-Pacific and Japan (APJ) region.

"In 2026, success in Australia will belong to businesses that can move as fast as the technology they depend on. The themes of the year - AI agility, data sovereignty, subscription-first models, and energy efficiency - all point toward a single truth: adaptability is the new edge. Those who design for flexibility, think beyond compliance, and act with speed will not just weather uncertainty - they'll define the next era of growth. The announcement of the Federal government's National AI plan will accelerate this race," said Nathan Hall, General Manager and VP of Asia-Pacific and Japan, Pure Storage.

"In 2026, we will see a significant acceleration amongst thousands of Australian organisations to adopt AI models as they seek to take advantage of AI to grow productivity, reduce costs and become more competitive. The Federal government's National AI plan will spur this investment. Like many wide-ranging government initiatives, the plan isn't perfect but it would be naïve to suggest it should be. Governments play a role in supporting industry but we shouldn't expect them to be overly proscriptive," said Altay Ayyuce, ANZ Area VP, Pure Storage.

Policy impact

Ayyuce said many boards and Chief Information Officers are still working through how the National AI plan will affect their strategies, but he expects it to shape investment decisions next year.

He noted that the policy stops short of imposing a dedicated AI law or detailed operational rules for data centres, which he believes will leave room for continued spending on infrastructure.

"In fact, it may take company CIOs and their company boards some time to fully understand and react to the implications of the National AI plan. But they should recognize two things. Firstly, that the race to win in AI is now on - the government has fired the starting pistol and secondly, the National AI plan is relatively light touch from a regulatory perspective. There is no stand-alone AI Act, for example, and while the plan talks about the need to ensure data centres construction and management is sustainability aware, the plan goes no further in its specifics. So, we expect the surge in data centre construction to continue and AI adoption to accelerate," said Ayyuce.

Skills pressure

As AI projects ramp up, Ayyuce expects skills shortages to intensify around data centre operations, energy management and regulatory-aware system design.

"One of the biggest implications of this new AI playing field will be a rush by Australian companies to find the people with the skills to integrate a subscription based, data sovereignty and energy efficiency aware approach to AI. It's a good time in Australia to have skills in data centre energy management, subscription based AI modelling and data sovereignty expertise. There are few people with all these skills in Australia, as we identified a few years ago in an investigation with the University of Technology Sydney. As a consequence, we expect that companies will increasingly rely on their technology partners to provide these solutions," said Ayyuce.

AI agility

Hall said Australian organisations will be judged less on the size of their AI deployments and more on how quickly they can reconfigure systems as models and hardware change.

He expects enterprises to move towards modular architectures that avoid lock-in to any single cloud or infrastructure vendor, in response to rapid advances in foundation models and changing cost dynamics.

"By 2026, AI leadership in Australia will be defined by an organisation's ability to reconfigure its AI infrastructure models, inference engines, and deployment platforms regularly. Companies that build modular, provider agnostic AI stacks will outpace those that bet on large fixed infrastructure or single vendor architectures," said Hall.

"As foundation model capabilities leapfrog every few months and cost/performance curves shift unpredictably, enterprises will no longer gain advantage by scaling static AI systems. Instead, the winners will implement infrastructure that allows them to: ● swap models and inference providers within weeks ● orchestrate workloads across cloud, on-prem, and edge based on cost and capability ● absorb rapid changes in GPU hardware, quantization formats, and model architectures ● redeploy AI copilots or agents to production multiple times per quarter In 2026, competitive advantage won't come from how large your AI infrastructure is, but how quickly you can adapt it," said Hall.

Data sovereignty

Hall expects Australian boards to give more attention to how and where data is stored and processed as governments revise privacy and localisation rules.

He said companies will seek the ability to move workloads between clouds and jurisdictions to respond to regulatory shifts and geopolitical risk.

"In 2026, data sovereignty will evolve from a compliance checkbox into a boardroom priority. Spurred in part by the government's relatively light regulatory approach to AI, Australian companies will win by gaining clear visibility into where their data resides, who controls it, and how easily it can move when markets shift," said Hall.

"The reality is that governments, including in Australia, will continue to tighten data localisation laws and trade relationships reshape digital borders. The Australian government's AI plan will incorporate this approach. Companies need to start preparing for its implications," said Hall.

"Forward-looking businesses will map their digital supply chains, ensuring applications and assets can move across jurisdictions with minimal friction. With rising geopolitical volatility, 2026 is expected to bring tighter and more fragmented supply chains, making such agility even more essential. Organisations that can pivot between sovereign, hybrid, and multi-cloud environments will be best equipped to navigate geopolitical uncertainty and supply chain constraints while maintaining business continuity. Treating data sovereignty as strategy, not policy, will define resilience," said Hall.

Subscription shift

Hall forecasts a further tilt towards subscription-based technology procurement, as organisations seek to match spending to volatile AI workloads.

He said enterprises will prefer arrangements that allow capacity to be adjusted quickly, instead of long-term, capital-intensive commitments.

"In 2026, subscription overtakes ownership as the dominant model for how organisations fund and deploy AI and digital infrastructure. Faced with economic uncertainty, rapid AI capability changes, and unpredictable compute demand, enterprises will no longer commit to large capex-based or multi-year infrastructure bets," said Hall.

"Instead, they will construct modular, subscription-driven stacks where compute, AI models, storage, cybersecurity, and even industry-specific capabilities can be scaled up or down monthly. This shift allows organisations to redirect workloads, budgets, and markets at the pace of change, making subscription-based architecture a core enabler of resilience and growth," said Hall.

Diversification focus

Across APJ, Hall expects senior executives to push harder on diversification in suppliers, markets and go-to-market models, in response to geopolitical uncertainty and concentrated infrastructure risk.

He said this will apply across cloud providers, AI services and physical supply chains.

"In 2026, the C-suite will make diversification mandatory across supply chains, cloud, and GTM. In 2026, diversification becomes a non-negotiable priority for APJ leadership. Escalating geopolitical tension, concentrated digital infrastructure risk, and rising regulatory fragmentation push enterprises to abandon single-market and single-provider dependencies," said Hall.

"C-suites will actively redesign their operating models around multi-market supply chains, multi-cloud and multi-AI-provider architectures, and multi-channel GTM strategies. The goal is explicit: reduce vulnerability to regional shocks while positioning the business to capture growth across both emerging and mature APJ economies. By broadening their operational, digital, and commercial footprints, APJ enterprises will replace the old "optimise for efficiency" playbook with a new one built on structural resilience," said Hall.

Energy constraints

Hall also expects energy availability and efficiency to become a critical factor in AI project planning as demand for power grows.

He said data centres will need to apply closer scrutiny to how storage and compute are deployed, with more attention on electricity use and cooling systems.

"2026 will be the year the region's AI ambitions collide with its energy realities. As GenAI workloads surge and national grids strain under unprecedented demand, power, not performance, will become the ultimate constraint on innovation," said Hall.

"Across APJ, organizations will be forced to re-engineer their infrastructure around energy efficiency. The shift from spinning disk to flash will accelerate, driven not just by performance gains but by necessity. Data centers will evolve into energy-aware ecosystems, where every watt counts, and technologies like modular design, advanced cooling, and intelligent workload placement will define competitiveness," said Hall.

"In 2026, the winners won't just be those who scale AI, but those who can sustain it. Energy will emerge as the new currency of digital progress, reshaping how businesses design, deploy, and differentiate their technology strategies," said Hall.