Riverbed survey finds Australian organisations see strong AI ROI but remain cautious on autonomy

AI adoption across the enterprise continues to face questions around measurable value, governance and readiness. In IT operations, however, new research from Riverbed suggests organisations are already seeing tangible returns.

The company's 2026 Global Survey: The State of Autonomous IT Operations, based on 1,200 business decision-makers, IT leaders and technical specialists across seven countries, examines how organisations are moving from AI experimentation toward more autonomous IT operations.

The Australian findings point to a market that sees clear value in AI, while remaining cautious about giving AI systems greater operational control.

AI is already delivering measurable returns

According to the Australian data, 93% of respondents say AI in IT operations is meeting or exceeding ROI goals, compared with 91% globally.

That suggests the conversation around AI in IT operations is increasingly moving beyond experimentation and toward measurable business outcomes.

Globally, Riverbed found that 91% of respondents say their AI investments have met or exceeded expectations, while 63% have increased AI investment.

For Australian organisations, the strong ROI result indicates that AI is already becoming a practical part of the IT operating model rather than simply an emerging technology initiative.

Human oversight remains important

Despite the strong returns, Australian organisations remain cautious about allowing AI to operate independently.

84% of Australian respondents say they are hesitant to allow AI to make operational decisions without human approval, compared with 77% globally.

The finding highlights an important distinction between using AI to support IT teams and allowing AI to take direct operational action.

As agentic AI becomes more capable of identifying and resolving issues, organisations will need to determine where human oversight remains necessary and where greater autonomy can be introduced safely.

Australia is taking a more measured path to autonomy

The Australian findings also suggest that the transition toward fully autonomous IT operations may take longer than the global trend indicates.

Only 14% of Australian respondents expect full autonomy within a year, compared with 21% globally.

That does not necessarily indicate a lack of confidence in AI. Instead, it points to a more measured approach as organisations work through the technical, governance and skills requirements involved in deploying autonomous systems.

Riverbed's global research found that 90% of organisations expect to achieve human-supervised or highly autonomous IT operations within the next two years.

Skills remain a significant barrier

People and skills are another area where Australia faces a greater challenge than the global average.

45% of Australian respondents cite skills gaps as a barrier to AI adoption, compared with 37% globally.

As organisations move from individual AI tools toward AI-enabled IT operations, the skills requirement is also changing.

Teams increasingly need to understand AI systems alongside observability, data quality, governance, security and the operational processes that determine how AI can safely act.

Consolidation could reduce AI friction

The Australian research also points to technology complexity as an area where organisations see an opportunity for improvement.

95% of Australian respondents say consolidation would reduce AI friction.

The finding aligns with Riverbed's global research, which identifies tool sprawl, fragmented visibility and inconsistent data as barriers to scaling AI-driven IT operations.

Globally, 96% of respondents say multi-domain visibility is important for AI-driven IT operations, while only 17% report having fully unified visibility across networks, applications and endpoints.

For organisations looking to increase AI autonomy, simplifying the underlying technology environment could therefore be as important as deploying new AI capabilities.

From AI experimentation to operational execution

Riverbed's research suggests the Australian AI conversation is becoming more focused on execution.

The question is increasingly not whether AI can create value, but how organisations can scale that value while maintaining appropriate oversight, improving skills and simplifying the technology environment.

That is particularly relevant as agentic AI moves closer to operational decision-making. The next phase of adoption will depend not only on the capabilities of AI systems, but also on whether organisations have the visibility, governance and infrastructure required to trust them.

The path toward autonomous IT

Riverbed's global research found that only 19% of IT operations are currently automated, despite growing expectations around autonomous IT.

The company argues that high-quality data, unified visibility, governance and intelligent automation will be foundational to moving from today's AI-assisted operations toward more autonomous environments.

For Australian organisations, the combination of strong AI ROI and continued caution around autonomy suggests a pragmatic path forward: prove value first, strengthen the foundations, and expand autonomy as confidence grows.

About Riverbed

Riverbed is an AIOps and observability company focused on helping organisations prevent, identify and resolve IT issues through AI-powered automation and visibility. Its solutions cover digital experience, observability and application acceleration.

Source and Credits

Riverbed's 2026 Global Survey: The State of Autonomous IT Operations and Riverbed's official press release dated 7 October 2026.