On-Demand Webinar
The AI gold rush and the billion-dollar mistake.
Australian spending on AI is projected to reach $3.6 billion in 2025.
70% of projects are failing to see ROI. Don’t become the next statistic.
Everyone’s racing for AI “gold”.
Boards demand results. Teams rush to pilots. The reality?Australian spending on AI is projected to reach $3.6 billion in 2025. Yet:
- 70% of projects fail to deliver ROI.
- Only 24% of organisations say their data is AI-ready.
- Fewer than 6% mandate enterprise-wide AI training.
AI isn’t failing because the algorithms don’t work. It fails because the foundations aren’t there - the data, governance, and culture.
In this session, we’ll will cut through the hype, share real customer experiences, and show you how to avoid the billion-dollar mistake. You’ll leave with:
- Proven local use cases – How Australian organisations are driving impact with AI in security, efficiency, and customer insight.
- Insight into our own journey – compare two different AI projects built on mature vs immature data foundations.
- Clarity on the Medallion Framework – Bronze. Silver. Gold. Explained in plain business language, with practical examples.
- Your quick-win checklist – Three moves you can take tomorrow to de-risk your AI strategy and accelerate outcomes.
Why This Matters:
- Pilots don’t scale. What looks like 99% accuracy in testing becomes 1,000 risky errors when scaled without the right foundations.
- Efficiency is a trap. Chasing speed alone erodes quality and drives rework.
- Top-down mandates fail. AI adoption stalls when employees fear replacement instead of seeing augmentation.
- Data is king. Without trust in your data, your AI will expose flaws, not fix them.
Bronze is more than raw data storage. It’s the foundation for trust, governance, and readiness. Skip it, and AI will only amplify your existing chaos.
If your data’s not ready, AI won’t save you, it will expose you.
Join us to learn how to get your data house in order, avoid wasted spend, and accelerate real AI outcomes.
Hear it from our experts.
Naran McClung
Head of Azure, Macquarie Cloud Services
Naran leads the Azure practice at Macquarie Cloud Services, helping Australian organisations accelerate secure cloud adoption. He’s also the co-host of the Cloud Reset podcast,
where he dives into real-world cloud and security challenges
with Australia’s top CIOs. With deep technical expertise and a
“no bullshit” approach, Naran works with mid-market and enterprise customers to deliver real outcomes from Microsoft investments.
Slava Drozd
Principal Consultant, Macquarie Cloud Services
Slava is a trusted expert in Azure, automation, and the Microsoft ecosystem. With a background in software development across platforms, languages, and databases, Slava bridges the gap between infrastructure and development teams to drive business outcomes. Known for helping customers adopt the right tools, practices, and technologies, Slava ensures efficiency and long-term roadmap success. Practical, approachable, and solutions-focused, Slava makes complex challenges simpler.
About Macquarie Cloud Services.
Trusted by Australia’s leading organisations to manage and modernise their data environments, we’ve spent more than 20 years helping customers get control of their information, build governance at scale, and prepare for the next wave of innovation.
Our Data & AI practice is built on the same foundations of trust, security, and compliance that underpin our work with 42% of Federal Government agencies. From modernising fragmented data systems to scaling AI pilots, we bring structure and control so organisations can move from false starts to outcomes they can trust.
We’re among the few Microsoft partners in Australia recognised as both an Azure Expert MSP and a member of the Microsoft Intelligent Security Association (MISA).
Through strategic partnerships with Microsoft, Dell, and our wider ecosystem, we help organisations simplify their data, accelerate AI adoption, and deliver real operational value.