Only 18% of Singapore firms use advanced AI despite widespread adoption: report

Singapore – A sharp gap in Singapore’s artificial intelligence journey, with widespread adoption failing to translate into advanced usage, has been revealed in HubSpot’s latest study.

Surveying more than 700 business leaders, 64% said they are already using AI consistently across daily workflows. 

Yet only 18% have implemented fully autonomous AI agents capable of making decisions and executing tasks end-to-end—highlighting a significant drop-off as complexity increases.

The contrast underscores what may be the most striking finding: while AI is now commonplace in day-to-day operations, only a small fraction of businesses are unlocking its full potential.

The report points to growing friction as companies attempt to scale. 

Trust and reliability concerns were cited by 43% of respondents, making it the top barrier, followed by data quality and integration challenges at 37%. These issues are becoming more acute among businesses that have already advanced their AI usage.

Notably, around 43% of respondents expect AI agents to become highly important to their operations within the next 12 to 24 months, although only 28% are currently investing in them. A further 30% said that clearer proof of business outcomes would influence their decision to invest.

When asked what is needed to make AI agents effective, business leaders pointed to accuracy and reliability (66%) as the most critical factor, followed by system integration (56%), governance (53%), and access to relevant business context and data (48%).