Melbourne, Australia — Despite growing interest and investment in AI, Australian enterprises struggle to scale 80% of AI pilots, a failure rate twice that of conventional IT projects. Among the top barriers are a lack of AI governance, immature digital infrastructure and limited access to AI-skilled talent.
With the launch of its Melbourne Innovation Centre, Persistent aims to support Australia’s transition from AI experimentation to enterprise-scale execution, combining AI-led engineering, modernisation depth and domain-aligned innovation to help organisations operationalise AI at speed. Australian AI investments are projected to contribute AUD 142 billion to the nation’s GDP by 2030.
Anchored on three core pillars, Re(AI)maginingTM Melbourne is Persistent’s strategy to empower Australian enterprises to tap into and scale AI. Unlike traditional IT service expansions, the Melbourne Innovation Centre is designed as a co-innovation and commercialisation hub, integrating engineering execution, AI research and domain-specific solution development under one model. The first pillar embeds AI across engineering workflows to materially improve delivery velocity, reduce development costs and compress time-to-market. With its portfolio of AI accelerators, autonomous testing agents, coding copilots and platform-led engineering models, Persistent will help Australian enterprises develop digital products faster and more efficiently.
The second pillar addresses one of the region’s biggest barriers to scaling AI to unlock business hyper-productivity: legacy estates. By modernising core systems and data foundations through cloud-native architectures and AI-powered observability, enterprises can reduce operational risk while creating platforms built for continuous innovation. Leveraging its deep partnerships with hyperscalers and technology providers such as AWS, Google Cloud, Microsoft, OpenAI and NVIDIA, Persistent will accelerate the pivot to cloud-native architectures and modernised data platforms powered by GenAI and intelligent agents.
Together, these two underpin the third pillar: enterprise readiness for AI, leveraging industry-aligned AI to transition digital pilots into commercial, revenue-generating products and services. Persistent’s Melbourne Innovation Centre will build, modernise and monetise digital initiatives for Australian enterprises and capture more tangible value from AI investments.
“Our growth strategy is centred on helping enterprises accelerate transformation through AI-led engineering, platform-driven modernisation and strong data and engineering foundations. The Melbourne Innovation Centre strengthens our presence in ANZ and reflects our continued investment in the region as a strategic growth market. It enhances our ability to partner closely with clients through localised expertise, helping them adopt AI more effectively, modernise core systems and build scalable digital platforms that drive long-term growth,” said Jaideep Vijay Dhok, Chief Operating Officer - Technology at Persistent.
In January, Persistent was recognised as the fastest-growing IT services brand globally in the 2026 Brand Finance IT Services 25 report, placing it among the world’s top 25 IT Services brands. This reflects Persistent’s successful repositioning from a digital engineering provider to an enterprise transformation partner, driven by domain-aligned offerings, investments in repeatable platforms and outcome-driven engagement models.
By investing in learning and development initiatives, Persistent will also build a thriving talent development ecosystem in Melbourne and Sydney to support the country’s growing digital ambitions through upskilling local talent in AI and cybersecurity, among other capabilities.
Looking ahead, Persistent plans to continue investing in emerging technologies, strengthening hyperscaler partnerships, empowering the local workforce for AI-first skills and driving innovation across critical industries.
