Why 87% of Australian organisations are betting on automated agreements

New research from Deloitte and Docusign finds that almost 9 in 10 Australian organisations are embracing AI to streamline and strengthen agreement workflows. And, as the data shows, the investment is paying off.

It was only a few years ago that AI seemed experimental. Today, it’s an integral part of business operations – particularly in areas like agreement management, where automation and AI are reshaping how organisations develop, negotiate, execute, and extract value from their agreements. There’s no doubt that AI is being adopted at a remarkable pace. But is it delivering measurable business value?

A new global report from Deloitte and Docusign digs into the data and finds that not only is AI paying off in spades for early adopters, but also that Australian organisations are amongst the leaders in the race to put AI to work. 

AI adoption in Australia is surging

The majority of Australian organisations have put the era of manual, paper-shuffling processes behind them. According to the report, 87% of Australian organisations have already reached a measurable level of AI maturity in their agreement workflows. These workflows may be: 

• AI-assisted: Using LLM-powered tools for drafting and summarising agreements

• AI-enabled: Systems that independently complete defined tasks with human oversight

• Agentic: Workflows that can autonomously plan and take action to achieve goals

Globally, 86% of organisations report they are using the above workflows, positioning Australia slightly ahead of the curve. 

The investment is paying off

One of the most compelling metrics in the report is how much time organisations save with AI. Australian businesses report an average 18-hour reduction in end-to-end cycle times following the implementation of automated workflows and AI tools. 

To put that into perspective, this represents a 34% reduction in the time it takes to get an agreement from initiation to completion. When you think about the friction that usually bogs down a deal – the back-and-forth emails, the manual risk checks, and all those follow-ups – reclaiming nearly 20 hours per agreement is a massive win for operational velocity.

This isn’t just about moving faster for the sake of speed. As one Chief Procurement Officer noted in the report, “Automation freed our team from tactical redlining to focus on strategic relationships while finally capturing what fell through the cracks, such as vendor SLAs. That alone has recovered over $500,000 in credits that teams had been too stretched to claim.”

When it comes to measurable returns, Australian firms reported an average ROI of 32% over the last 12 months from automated and AI-driven tools, realised through a combination of:

• Efficiency gains through reduced cycle times

• Risk mitigation and improved accuracy

• Cost savings from lower labour costs

• Revenue uplift from better renewal management

Interestingly, 65% of Australian respondents also reported that agreement accuracy has improved. They experience fewer administrative errors and better regulatory compliance, which is critical given the tightening landscape of local regulations. In fact, 42% of local firms cited regulatory compliance as the area where they’ve seen the most significant accuracy improvements.

Is your business ready to capture the value? 

There’s no doubt that AI is delivering dividends: 88% of Australian respondents expect to realise the full ROI of their investment in automated workflows and/or AI tools within the next four years. It won’t be long before the cost of doing things the old way will become a liability.

The message for Australian business leaders is clear: AI in agreement management has moved from a nice-to-have innovation project to a foundational productivity requirement. If you’re not looking at how to bridge the gap now, you’re essentially leaving 18 hours of productivity on the table for every agreement you sign.

To see how your organisation compares, read the full report now. Or get in touch to see how Docusign’s in-built AI capabilities can help your business to realise value, fast.