Generative AI Statistics New Zealand 2026: Usage, Skills, Jobs & Productivity

Generative AI is no longer a fringe experiment in New Zealand. It is already normal office behaviour.

Kiwi workers are using tools like ChatGPT and Gemini every day. Employers expect that usage to spread to nearly the whole workforce. The problem is not whether generative AI has arrived. It has. The problem is whether training, governance, and workflow design are keeping pace.

The numbers below tell a very NZ-specific story: fast adoption, real productivity upside, stubborn skills bottlenecks, and a trust gap that still needs closing.

Generative AI statistics in New Zealand: the headline numbers

• 91% of Kiwi workers are using generative AI to some degree in their role. (Robert Half NZ, 2025)
• 56% use it regularly or almost every day. (Robert Half NZ, 2025)
• 26% use it every workday. (Robert Half NZ, 2025)
• 93% say they are transparent with their employer about using it. (Robert Half NZ, 2025)
• 87% believe developing AI skills is necessary for career success. (Robert Half NZ, 2025)
• 90% of businesses and staff expect to be using generative AI tools within five years. (RNZ / Access Partnership / AWS, 2024)
• 92% of the workforce is expected to be using AI. (RNZ / Access Partnership / AWS, 2024)
• 63% of businesses want to hire people with AI skills. (RNZ / Access Partnership / AWS, 2024)
• 70% are struggling to find the right talent. (RNZ / Access Partnership / AWS, 2024)
• 79% are unsure how to train workers to use AI productively. (RNZ / Access Partnership / AWS, 2024)
• Generative AI could add $76 billion per year to New Zealand’s economy by 2038, with an upside case of $102 billion. (Microsoft NZ, 2024)
• 24% of tasks could be augmented and 14% automated. (Microsoft NZ, 2024)
• Workers could save 275 hours per year on average. (Microsoft NZ, 2024)
• 97% of workers have heard of AI, but only 34% can clearly explain what it is. (MBIE citing Verian, 2024)
• 43% of non-users cite lack of expertise as their main adoption blocker. (MBIE citing Datacom, 2024)
• Only 44% of New Zealanders believe the benefits of AI outweigh the risks. (KPMG NZ, 2025)
• 91% of AI-using businesses report efficiency improvements and 77% report reduced operating costs. (AI Forum NZ, 2025)

1. Generative AI is already mainstream in New Zealand workplaces

Robert Half’s 2025 New Zealand research gives the cleanest snapshot of what is happening on the ground.

• 91% of Kiwi workers are already using generative AI to some degree in their role.
• 56% use it regularly or almost every day.
• 26% use it every workday.
• 93% are open with their employer about using it.

That is not dabbling. That is normalisation. The interesting question is no longer whether workers will use generative AI. It is whether organisations will catch up and give them good systems, clear guardrails, and better habits.

2. The next five years look even more saturated

RNZ’s reporting on the Access Partnership study commissioned by AWS shows how quickly employers expect this to spread.

• 90% of businesses and staff expect generative AI tools to be in use within five years.
• 92% of the workforce is expected to be using AI.
• AI skills are projected to boost salaries by 30% to 41%.

So the bet is not really on whether generative AI matters. The bet is on who develops the skills fastest and who gets left doing shallow copy-paste work while others build real leverage.

3. New Zealand’s bottleneck is training, not enthusiasm

The workforce is interested. Employers are interested. The blockage sits in capability.

• 63% of businesses want to hire people with AI skills.
• 70% are struggling to find the right talent.
• 79% are unsure how to train workers to use AI productively.
• 87% of workers say AI skill development is necessary for career success.

This is the shape of a national skills scramble. Workers know it matters. Employers know it matters. But many organisations still do not know how to turn tool access into repeatable performance.

4. The productivity upside is enormous, if New Zealand gets its act together

Microsoft New Zealand’s 2024 analysis makes the upside hard to ignore.

• Generative AI could add $76 billion a year to New Zealand’s economy by 2038.
• In a stronger scenario, that rises to $102 billion.
• 24% of tasks could be augmented and 14% automated.
• Workers could save 275 hours per year on average.

But Microsoft is explicit about the condition attached to those gains: they depend on better skills, stronger trust, clearer policy, and enterprise-level readiness. In other words, the upside is available, but not automatic.

5. Awareness is high. Understanding is still thin.

MBIE’s AI strategy page is useful because it separates surface awareness from actual comprehension.

• 97% of workers have heard of AI.
• Only 34% can clearly explain what it is.
• 43% of non-users cite lack of expertise as their main reason for not adopting AI.

That is why so many workplaces look chaotic right now: lots of experimentation, not enough shared understanding. When a team can name the tools but not explain the workflow, you get scattered wins and very little operational maturity.

6. Trust is still trailing behind usage

KPMG’s 2025 New Zealand findings add an important correction to the growth story: heavy usage does not automatically equal confidence.

• Only 44% of New Zealanders believe the benefits of AI outweigh the risks.
• 81% believe AI regulation is required.
• Only 23% believe current safeguards are sufficient to make AI use safe.

That means the practical winners in generative AI will not be the people who simply adopt the fastest. They will be the ones who make AI feel reliable, reviewable, and safe to use in everyday work.

7. Businesses already using AI are seeing measurable value

The AI Forum’s 2025 productivity findings make the commercial case rather blunt.

• 91% of businesses using AI report efficiency improvements.
• 77% report reduced operating costs.
• 50% report positive financial impacts.
• 75% now report AI setup costs under $5,000.

So the strategic picture is fairly clear. Generative AI is already mainstream at the worker level, increasingly normal at the employer level, and economically meaningful at the national level. The remaining work is not convincing people it exists. It is helping them use it well.

What these New Zealand generative AI statistics really say

Put the numbers together and the pattern is surprisingly coherent:

• Generative AI use is already mainstream in New Zealand workplaces.
• The next bottleneck is training, not tool access.
• The economic upside is real, but only if capability and trust improve.
• Businesses that build repeatable AI workflows will pull away from businesses that merely allow casual experimentation.

If you are leading a team, that suggests three sensible moves:

1. Train people on live work, not abstract AI theory.
2. Set review standards for sensitive outputs before AI use becomes invisible infrastructure.
3. Move from ad hoc browser usage toward workflows that are private, documented, and consistent.

That is how generative AI stops being novelty software and becomes a real productivity system.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

Every statistic on this page is grounded in a public source so you can inspect the original reporting yourself.

• Robert Half NZ — New Zealand workers embrace Gen AI and see AI skills as imperative to career success
• RNZ — AI skills linked to higher salary, productivity, new jobs - report
• Microsoft NZ — Generative AI expected to more than double New Zealand’s productivity
• MBIE — Addressing barriers to AI uptake in New Zealand
• KPMG NZ — Trust, attitudes and use of artificial intelligence
• AI Forum NZ — AI in Action: Key Findings from New Zealand’s Third AI Productivity Report

OpenClaws NZ helps New Zealand professionals move from casual AI use to private, reliable workflows that fit real work.