Microsoft executive Charles Lamanna blamed Australian employers' hesitation to take risks with AI for lagging productivity, citing "institutional inertia" in remarks reported by The Australian. Lamanna, Microsoft's executive vice president for Copilot, said companies are hesitant to take risks with AI, noting that any technology and any person doing a job comes with risk, and the best companies make a risk-reward trade-off calculation. His comments come as 18 of ASX 20 firms and 66 federal government agencies implement Microsoft's Copilot, with more than 10,000 employees receiving the technology. Despite this, Australia's multifactor productivity declined over the 12 months to June 2025. Alex Robson, deputy chair of the Productivity Commission, said MFP decreased by 0.5% over 2024-25, below the 20-year average of 0.4% growth per year and well below the 1.6% annual average increases between 1994-95 to 2003-04. The PC previously forecasted productivity gains from AI will be above 2.3% in the next decade, with labour productivity growth predicted at 4.3%. Other executives cited scattered AI adoption without achievement and AI amplifying bad corporate habits. Innes Willox, chief executive of the Australian Industry Group, urged the government to make quick decisions about its appetite for AI, warning over-regulation would diminish competitiveness.