AI becomes productive when firms complement it with skills, quality data, management capability and supporting institutions. Turning AI into Productivity draws on a case base of 110 place-based innovation ecosystems and four weeks of site visits to show where Australia is strong, where the gaps are, what seven recommendations could do to capture the opportunities, and how they could be implemented. A UTS research project funded by the Google Foundation. Available from the Ama

Australia performs strongly in research, yet struggles to translate this into innovation outcomes. This Insight argues that the SERD report reinforces this divide by treating the research system as a proxy for the innovation system. While funding, governance and capital reforms are well developed, the report underweights management capability, industry structure, demand-side dynamics and place-based ecosystems that ultimately determine whether research delivers economic and s