AI Human Capital Investment Index
23.07.2023 - 10:40
Mandala's new AI Human Capital Investment Index measures how companies are investing in hiring workers with AI-related skills.
Measuring investment in AI skills
Mandala used data from job ads to construct an AI Human Capital Investment Index, a measure of how intensely companies invest in hiring workers with AI-related skills.
There was a 5x investment growth in human capital investment between 2017 and 2021
Companies have been steadily increasing their investment in AI skills over time. Between 2017 and late-2021, the index in Australia grew by 5 times. This investment fell in 2022 during the global technology downturn as many companies froze hiring but it’s started to accelerate again as we’ve seen new investments in generative AI and other applications.
Human capital Investment was dominated by universities and has flowed to services
As AI technology matured and its applications proliferated, investment in AI skills is flowing across the economy. Current investment is dominated by professional and financial services companies with some contributions from mining, logistics, manufacturing, and healthcare. There is opportunity to identify sectors that would benefit from the productivity gains provided by AI technology.
Human capital investment is geographically concentrated in NSW and Victoria
Organisations in NSW and Victoria contributed 76% of Australia’s total investment in AI skills. Encouraging investment across the country will ensure that productivity gains and benefits from AI technology are more evenly spread.
Read our latest posts
How EV adoption insulates Australia against oil supply shocks
Mandala’s latest research finds that the adoption of electric vehicles is helping to insulate Australians from the oil supply shocks. This analysis looks at the contribution of Australia’s electric vehicle fleet to our petrol reserves, as well as the savings in fuel costs for Australian households.
16 Mar, 2026
Shaping the Australian banking system for a changing economy
Mandala’s latest research, prepared for the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, finds that Australian banking has been transformed beyond recognition by technology, globalisation, and regulatory change. However, policy has not kept pace. Major banks now face a shrinking revenue base while providing a growing suite of collective goods including regional branches, ATM networks, and payment infrastructure, that comparable financial institutions are not required to provide. The report finds that declining profitability and an uneven regulatory playing field amid rising geopolitical uncertainty place Australia's financial resilience at risk. It recommends three principles for policymakers to shape Australia’s banking system to best serve our national interest. First, consider system-wide impacts of policy settings. Second, apply the same obligations to firms conducting the same activities with the same risk. Third, assess how overseas firms operating in critical parts of the financial system would behave in a crisis.
15 Mar, 2026
The Fragmentation Tax
Australian retailers operate across a patchwork of inconsistent state and territory regulations that, left unchecked, will cost the economy $26 billion and households $9.4 billion over the next decade. Commissioned by the Australian Retail Council, this Mandala report finds that regulatory fragmentation in retail - Australia's second-largest employer, generating $649 billion in economic activity annually - is compounding the country's productivity crisis at the worst possible time. The report identifies specific issues in transport and logistics, and packaging and waste as priority areas for reform, where harmonisation alone would inject up to $1.65 billion into the economy over 10 years. It recommends the Federal Government use its National Competition Policy framework to drive reform - including a $260 million increase to the National Productivity Fund, a new National Harmonisation Council, and a mandate that Regulatory Impact Statements explicitly quantify fragmentation risks.
23 Feb, 2026
Reforming Victoria's Windfall Gains Tax
Victoria's Windfall Gains Tax (WGT), introduced in July 2023, has compounded a decade of new and increased property taxes that have made Melbourne the most costly major city in Australia for development. Commissioned by the Property Council Victoria, this Mandala report finds that developer taxes and charges now account for 18% of total costs on Melbourne developments - double the rate of Sydney - and that the average WGT liability pushes project returns below the viability threshold. The analysis estimates that removing the WGT could unlock $1.4 billion in additional annual investment, support 2,700 jobs and deliver the equivalent of 3,100 new homes per year by 2030. The report also presents a suite of targeted reforms across financial relief, predictability, and policy alignment that would restore investor confidence while balancing the government's revenue objectives.
23 Feb, 2026