The federal government could “explore” using artificial intelligence programs to write sensitive cabinet submissions or business cases, as part of a major initiative to embed AI across the public service, despite concerns about the technology increasing risks of security and data breaches.
The finance minister, Katy Gallagher, also announced on Wednesday the public service would build its own special AI program for government workers, spruiking productivity benefits for rolling out generative programs such as ChatGPT, Copilot and Gemini to departments.
While many public servants said trials of AI had helped their work, others voiced alarm at the poor quality and inaccuracies in AI-generated work, the potential slashing of entry-level jobs, and public fears about automated decision-making in the wake of the robodebt scandal.
“Interviews with Australian government agencies highlighted that women could be disproportionately impacted as they currently comprise most APS administration staff,” stated a government report into a trial of Microsoft Copilot.
Gallagher, also minister for the public service, told a conference the government wanted to see AI “widely taken up across government in every department” in a bid to “take hold of the opportunities that AI presents”.
Gallagher also launched a “whole of government AI plan”, and results from a six-month trial of Microsoft’s Copilot across government.
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The report’s main finding was: “There are clear benefits to the adoption of generative AI but also challenges with adoption and concerns that need to be monitored.”
Surveys found most trial participants were positive, noting management and executives specifically had reported productivity benefits and saving up to an hour each day through AI helping summarise information, write first drafts, or search for information.
Some 69% said it helped them work faster and 61% said it improved the quality of their work.
However, a range of negatives were also reported, including “inaccuracy” of AI output, with 60% of participants saying they had to make “moderate to significant” edits to the AI-generated work. There were also concerns about “Copilot’s potential unpredictability and lack of contextual knowledge”.
The AI plan sets out a goal “that every public servant will have training and access to generative AI tools”. It says the to-be-developed GovAI Chat program will be rolled out widely, expected to be in the first part of 2026, but the government will also develop guidance on public servants using public platforms, such as ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini, to handle government information up to the “official” level of classification.
That included “novel” suggestions from participants to use AI for assessing documents, writing public documents, and “drafting content for business cases and Cabinet submissions”. The report included these ideas under a heading of “opportunities to further explore use cases”.
But the Copilot report also raised security issues with data, with instances of “Copilot inappropriately accessing sensitive information”.
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“Use of Copilot enabled some participants to access documents that they should not have had permission to access. Trial participants raised instances where Copilot surfaced sensitive data that staff had not classified or stored appropriately,” it said.
“This was largely because their organisation had not properly assured the security and storage of some instances of data and information before adopting Copilot. Without the appropriate data infrastructure and governance in place, the use of Copilot may further exacerbate risks of data and security breaches in the APS.”
The report also noted public expectations around managing data.
“In the wake of the Royal Commission into the Robodebt Scheme, public scrutiny around the APS’ use of technology and automation to support decision-making is particularly high,” it stated.
Gallagher pledged ongoing consultation with staff and unions about job changes, stressing that the government “does not view widespread AI adoption across the APS as a way of replacing people”. The Community and Public Sector Union was contacted for comment.
Vivek Puthucode, Microsoft’s general manager of public sector, backed the government’s plan and said the new technology could “help improve service delivery, strengthen policy outcomes and make government more responsive to community needs”.
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TOKYO – November 12, 2025 – NTT DATA, a global leader in AI, digital business and technology services, today announced that it has once again been named a Leader by Everest Group in its 5G Engineering Services PEAK Matrix® Assessment 2025 report (PDF : 551KB). This is the second consecutive time NTT DATA has been recognized as a leader in the assessment This distinction underscores NTT DATA’s consistent growth in market impact, vision and capabilities.
The report evaluated 20 leading providers across the 5G engineering services ecosystem, assessing their vision, capabilities and market impact. Everest Group highlighted NTT DATA’s robust offerings across the value chain, from equipment and network orchestration to engineering solutions and use case deployments, positioning the company as a true provider of end-to-end solutions.
Everest Group praised NTT DATA for its globally distributed delivery model, which offers clients local proximity, access to regional talent and cost efficiency at scale. The recognition also reflects NTT DATA’s ongoing investments in intellectual property (IP) development, strategic partnerships, skills development initiatives and its global network of labs and Centers of Excellence (CoEs).
“NTT DATA has been recognized as a Leader in Everest Group’s 5G Engineering Services PEAK Matrix® Assessment 2025, supported by its rapid client expansion, combined capabilities post-merger and a robust services portfolio spanning across the 5G value chain. Its strengths include end-to-end solutions from networks to use cases, in-house IP and frameworks and investments in labs and CoEs that enhance service quality. NTT DATA is diversifying its portfolio across private 5G, AI, NTN and monetization-oriented use cases. Clients have appreciated NTT DATA’s telecom heritage, delivery model efficiency and ability to execute with global consistency,” said Nishant Udupa, Practice Director at Everest Group.
The report also highlighted NTT DATA’s ability to capitalize on emerging technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), Non-terrestrial Networks (NTN), Multi-access Edge Computing (MEC), Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) and monetization strategies as key strengths, report also noted the company’s strong presence in private 5G.
As enterprises adopt private 5G to power intelligent operations, digital transformations and new revenue streams, NTT DATA is delivering innovative, outcome-driven solutions.
Across industries such as manufacturing and automotive as well as smart cities, clients are already benefiting from private 5G networks for AI-driven analytics, real-time monitoring and enhanced connectivity. A recent example includes the City of Brownsville, Texas which is using NTT DATA’s Private 5G network to improve city operations and community services.
“Enterprises today expect far more from private 5G than just connectivity, they look to it as a catalyst for AI-based operations such as robotics and Physical AI,” said Shahid Ahmed, Global Head of Edge Services, NTT DATA, Inc. “This recognition from Everest Group underscores our ability to deliver on those expectations. By securing contracts from world-class clients, strategic partnerships and a globally distributed delivery model, we help clients accelerate time to market, enhance performance and unlock the full value of private 5G.”
The PEAK Matrix® assessment is based on Everest Group’s RFI submissions, briefings, client references and ongoing research in the 5G engineering space. Leaders are distinguished by significant investments in building IP, automation frameworks and CoEs to support full-stack 5G engineering across RAN, core, private 5G and monetization use cases, including with hyperscalers, NEPs and OEMs.
For more information, find the full report here.
About NTT DATA
NTT DATA is a $30+ billion business and technology services leader, serving 75% of the Fortune Global 100. We are committed to accelerating client success and positively impacting society through responsible innovation. We are one of the world’s leading AI and digital infrastructure providers, with unmatched capabilities in enterprise-scale AI, cloud, security, connectivity, data centers and application services. Our consulting and industry solutions help organizations and society move confidently and sustainably into the digital future. As a Global Top Employer, we have experts in more than 70 countries. We also offer clients access to a robust ecosystem of innovation centers as well as established and start-up partners. NTT DATA is part of NTT Group, which invests over $3 billion each year in R&D. Visit us at nttdata.com
About Everest Group
Everest Group is a leading global research firm helping business leaders make confident decisions. Everest Group’s PEAK Matrix® assessments provide the analysis and insights enterprises need to make critical selection decisions about global services providers, locations, and products and solutions within various market segments. Likewise, providers of these services, products, and solutions, look to the PEAK Matrix® to gauge and calibrate their offerings against others in the industry or market. Find further details and in-depth content at www.everestgrp.com
Disclaimer
Licensed extracts taken from Everest Group’s PEAK Matrix® Reports, may be used by licensed third parties for use in their own marketing and promotional activities and collateral. Selected extracts from Everest Group’s PEAK Matrix® reports do not necessarily provide the full context of our research and analysis. All research and analysis conducted by Everest Group’s analysts and included in Everest Group’s PEAK Matrix® reports is independent and no organization has paid a fee to be featured or to influence their ranking. To access the complete research and to learn more about our methodology, please visit Everest Group PEAK Matrix® Reports.
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Luckin Coffee is preparing to relist its shares in the U.S., its co-founder and CEO, Jinyi Guo, said at an entrepreneurs’ gathering earlier this month, five years after a $300 million accounting scandal derailed the coffee chain’s business. Speaking at a government-hosted event in the southeastern city of Xiamen, where Luckin Coffee is headquartered, Guo said that “under the municipal government’s guidance, we are actively pushing the process of relisting on a U.S. main board,” according to CNBC’s translation of his speech in Mandarin published by a Xiamen government-backed industry and commerce group. The relisting process, once completed, would help promote Xiamen’s reputation as an attractive venue for global business and investment, Guo added, while acknowledging the government’s support for Luckin’s turnaround. However, Guo did not provide details on the company’s progress toward a relisting. In an emailed statement to CNBC, a company spokesperson said that Luckin Coffee “remains committed to the U.S. capital markets, though we have no clear timeline for returning to the main board listing.” “Our current priority is focusing on strategy execution, concentrating on business operations and development, and enhancing our brand influence and market competitiveness,” the company said. Luckin was delisted from the Nasdaq stock exchange in June 2020 after revelations that the coffee chain had fabricated over $310 million in revenue for 2019. Six months later, Luckin agreed to pay a $180 million penalty to settle accounting fraud charges with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Guo took over the helm as the new CEO in 2020 , following the ouster of co-founder and former chairman Charles Zhengyao Lu in the aftermath of an internal fraud investigation. In 2022, Luckin announced that it had completed the restructuring of its financial debt and emerged from Chapter 15 bankruptcy proceedings. Its shares have continued to trade over-the-counter in the U.S. since its delisting, giving the company a market valuation of approximately $10.9 billion as of Tuesday night. For comparison, Starbucks ‘ operations in China were recently valued at $4 billion on a cash-free and debt-free basis, excluding Starbucks’ licensing of its brand and intellectual property. Once on the brink of collapse, the coffee chain has staged an extraordinary comeback, with its budget drinks attracting a growing number of customers, overtaking Starbucks as China’s largest coffee retailer in 2023 . Luckin has also taken on Starbucks on its home turf , opening two new stores in New York City in July this year. The turnaround was underpinned by the backing of private equity fund Centurium Capital, its largest shareholder , which doubled down on its investment following the 2020 scandal to help Luckin cover mounting legal fees and fines, and installed its own team to revamp the business. In April this year, David Li, founder of Centurium Capital, became the firm’s chairman — a move seen by some in the industry as signaling Luckin’s plans to accelerate its relisting in the U.S. Media reports emerged as early as 2022 that the coffee chain was planning to relist on the Nasdaq. However, the company had rebutted the reports, with Guo most recently stating on an investor call in October last year that Luckin did not have a clear timeline for an uplisting . Any new overseas listing by a Chinese company must now be filed with the China Securities Regulatory Commission under rules that took effect in 2023 . It is unclear if Luckin has approached the regulator about its plan to relist in the U.S. Luckin may also face regulatory hurdles in meeting U.S. SEC financial disclosure requirements. U.S.-listed companies are required to have their financial statements audited by accounting firms registered with and overseen by the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, or PCAOB. In July, the PCAOB permanently revoked the license of Centurion ZD CPA & Co., a former auditor for Luckin Coffee, for violating audit rules for companies operating in China. Regulators said the firm failed to identify and assess fraud risks in Luckin’s 2021 financial reporting. Luckin has hired BDO China Shu Lun Pan Certified Public Accountants LLP as its auditor since 2022, according to company filings . Centurium Capital and the China Securities Regulatory Commission did not immediately respond to CNBC’s requests for comment. In the second quarter of this year, Luckin’s revenue jumped 47.1% from a year earlier to $1.7 billion, according to its filing, with 26,206 stores globally as of the end of June. — CNBC’s Evelyn Cheng contributed to this report.
