The 5th Deltek Annual Clarity Industry Study offers insights from nearly 200 architecture, engineering and consulting leaders in Australia and New Zealand. How does your business compare to its industry peers?

Deltek’s 5th Annual Clarity Industry Study explores how the market has changed since 2023 and how firms are addressing disruption from new technologies, economic risks and potential cyber threats. Here are five key takeaways:

1.  Advancing technology

Technology innovation – including tools such as artificial intelligence (AI), virtual reality and augmented reality – are among the single biggest growth opportunities for the year ahead, the survey reveals. Investment in new technologies was a key priority for a third of respondents, followed closely by expansion into new markets (31%).

 2. Profit increases

The majority (88%) of firms predict profit increases in 2024 – a rise from 77% in 2023. More than a quarter (27%) expect their profits to rise by at least 10%. What are the secrets to greater profitability? Over a quarter of firms (28%) think that ensuring people register hours on time will lead to a significant increase in their company's profitability, while 27% believe it’s down to balancing their employee-to-cost ratio and reducing expenses.

3. Cybersecurity risks 

More than three-quarters (80%) of respondents were concerned about cybersecurity risks and breaches, which beat global and local recessions (79%), inflation (77%) and rising interest rates (76%). Half of responding firms said cybersecurity investments were very important to their success in 2024.

4. AI expectations

Four in 10 respondent firms said AI was very important to their success; many are already using it for essential tasks, including business process automation (40%), providing insight into operational performance (39%), predicting project outcomes (38%) and computer visioning (37%). Meanwhile, Generative AI helps 43% of firms complete tasks such as extracting and summarising data from documents or drawings, automating repetitive drafting and modelling tasks, and assisting with code compliance checks.

5. Digital maturity

Just 27% of respondents consider their firms at the mature or advanced stage of digital transformation; 55% think they’ll be at that stage in three years’ time. Leaders are also taking multiple approaches to advancing digital maturity, with no single initiative dominating the industry. Just under half (49%) are planning to deploy new business systems, while 47% are identifying tech subject matter experts in their businesses and 45% are creating a strategic plan for implementing tech trends.

Download Deltek's 5th Annual Clarity Industry Study to see how you compare to your competitors and explore strategies for business success.