Australian IT leaders see data streaming as key to AI growth
New research from Confluent reveals that a significant majority of Australian IT leaders expect data streaming platforms to play a growing role in supplying AI systems with real-time, contextual, and trustworthy data.
The 2025 Data Streaming Report, based on a survey of 4,175 IT leaders across 12 countries including 225 from Australia, highlights the pivotal nature of data streaming platforms (DSPs) in advancing artificial intelligence (AI) efforts and broader digital transformation initiatives within organisations.
Data streaming and AI
The study highlighted that 85% of Australian IT leaders believe DSPs will be increasingly used to feed AI systems, emphasising the necessity for up-to-date, contextual data to support real-time AI applications. In addition, nearly all (97%) global IT leaders surveyed indicated their organisations had faced at least one challenge—such as insufficient infrastructure for real-time data processing—when attempting to scale their AI and machine learning (ML) capabilities.
"The latest findings from Confluent's research in Australia and globally shows us that data streaming shouldn't be viewed as just an data infrastructure upgrade, it should be seen as a business accelerator — a driver for real-time innovation," said Simon Laskaj, Regional Director ANZ at Confluent. "From powering insights in real-time to enabling the latest advancements in AI, data streaming platforms are the driving force behind meeting today's business needs."
The report demonstrates a strong appetite for increased investment in data streaming across Australia, with 93% of local IT leaders planning higher expenditure in 2025, compared to a global average of 90%.
Return on investment
Regarding financial impacts, 73% of the Australian organisations surveyed realised a two to fivefold return on their data streaming investments, while 12% reported a tenfold return. These results support the view that data streaming technology has moved beyond being a supporting function and is now viewed as a strategic business asset. The data further shows that DSPs are seen to mitigate prevalent issues including data silos, cited by 89% of respondents, and challenges with accessing usable data, mentioned by 81%.
"The benefits achieved by businesses that prioritise data streaming platforms are widespread. Nearly every IT leader surveyed sees multiple benefits," said Laskaj. "Data streaming platforms are uniquely able to address key data challenges, helping to deliver continuous, trustworthy and contextual data so organisations can deploy AI applications at scale."
Data management challenges
The research found that 97% of Australian IT leaders indicated at least one significant barrier to leveraging data and related technologies, such as data availability, inconsistent data sources, timing and quality issues, or governance. Moreover, 80% of Australian respondents agreed that AI systems must leverage enterprise data to achieve their full potential.
Ease of AI adoption was also a prominent theme, with 89% of those surveyed stating that DSPs would make enterprise-level AI adoption more attainable by alleviating structural barriers around data integration and management.
Shift left approach
The adoption of a 'shift left' approach was highlighted as another trend among Australian organisations, with 84% stating their IT teams are now handling data processing and governance closer to the data source and earlier in the pipeline. The aim is to improve data reliability, reduce operational costs, and mitigate risks across development and operations.
The data for the 2025 Data Streaming Report was collected through a survey designed by Freeform Dynamics and administered by Radma Research among IT leaders at companies with more than 500 employees. The survey included respondents from regions such as Australia, Canada, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Japan, Singapore, Spain, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, and the United States, all of whom are familiar with data streaming technologies.
These findings collectively point to an ongoing shift in how organisations approach AI and data infrastructure, signalling the strengthening link between data streaming platforms and enterprise strategy in Australia and worldwide.
