AITAI Hosts First AI Research Roundtable, Bringing Together WA's Leading Research Institutes

AITAI brought together the heads of Western Australia's leading AI research institutes at St Catherine's College to align priorities, share what's happening, and start building a stronger collective voice for the state's AI research community.

Australia's productivity growth has been near zero for almost a decade. AI is the clearest lever to reverse that, but only if research translates into real capability across industry and government. That requires coordination, and right now, WA's AI research efforts are spread across multiple institutions working largely in parallel.

AITAI was founded to be the connective tissue. One of our core roles is bringing people together who should be in the same room but aren't, and supporting the excellent work already underway across the state.

Our first research-focused AI roundtable did exactly that. Around the table we had leaders from the WA Data Science Innovation Hub (WADSIH), the UWA Data Institute, the Curtin Institute for Data Science, and the UWA Public Policy Institute. The goal was straightforward: share what's happening, align on priorities, and start building a unified voice that carries weight nationally and internationally.

The conversation covered where each institute's research is heading, where there's overlap worth leveraging, and where WA has gaps that no single institution can fill alone. We discussed practical pathways for translating research into real-world applications, and how to present a coordinated case when engaging with government, industry and national funding bodies.

Judging by this first roundtable, the appetite for coordination is strong, and the role AITAI can play as convener and connector is exactly what's needed.

We would like to sincerely thank the research leaders who contributed their insights and experience to the discussion: Paul Maginn, Melanie Johnston-Hollitt, Renee Hallam, Alex Jenkins, Tom Ridsdill-Smith, Justin Strharsky, Sonny Pham, Zachary Aman, and Michael Small.

Are you a senior researcher or leading an AI research institute? Want to be part of this discussion? Reach out to us.