Singapore’s C-suite bet big on gen AI, but face stiff challenges

Generative AI is no longer a question of ‘if’ but ‘how fast’ among Singapore’s corporate leaders. A striking 87% of C-suite executives now rank it among their top business priorities, according to a recent Salesforce study. Yet, as companies rush to adopt this transformative technology, significant hurdles—especially in data accessibility and governance—threaten to slow their progress.

The Salesforce research—conducted by YouGov—which polled 221 executives from large Singaporean firms, reveals that nearly half (48%) of these organisations have already crafted a clear and defined gen AI strategy. An additional 47% are in the midst of doing so.

The biggest motivation for embracing the gen AI wave is staying at the forefront of cutting-edge technology (43%) and maintaining a competitive edge (42%) in an increasingly competitive world.

However, when stacked against the broader APAC region, Singapore shows signs of lagging.

While 83% of APAC C-suite executives also view generative AI as a critical business priority, 54% of APAC companies have already solidified their AI strategies. This suggests that despite Singapore’s status as a regional hub, its concrete implementation of AI might be trailing behind its regional peers.

Who leads the AI charge?

Within Singaporean companies, the responsibility for AI integration predominantly rests with the CEOs, with 42% of executives identifying them as the key drivers. CIOs and CTOs follow behind at 31%. In the broader APAC region, while CEOs are still seen as the primary leaders (37%), the responsibility is more evenly shared with other C-suite members, CIOs and CTOs (25%).

As for where gen AI is expected to make the biggest impact, executives in Singapore pinpoint IT (40%), operations (33%), finance (29%), and customer service (28%) as the top areas. This aligns with what leaders in APAC think, where IT (42%) and operations (31%) also lead, though customer service (30%) and research and insights (28%) are given slightly more emphasis.

Barriers to AI adoption

Despite the optimism, a staggering 95% of Singapore’s C-suite leaders concede that the road to AI adoption is fraught with challenges. The most pressing issues include accessibility and inclusivity (43%), a lack of skill-building or training opportunities (33%), and the reliance on incomplete customer or company data to train AI models (31%). Similar concerns are echoed across APAC, where nine in 10 executives face these barriers, with additional worries about the costs and the accuracy of AI outputs.

Sujith Abraham, senior VP and GM of ASEAN at Salesforce, emphasises that data is the linchpin for successful AI initiatives.

“As CEOs look at AI to deliver measurable value and remain competitive, their first step should be unifying their data. Every conversation I have with business leaders about AI inevitably comes back to data and overcoming silos to increase the impact and accuracy of AI,” Abraham said. 

Methodology: Salesforce commissioned YouGov to conduct a double-anonymous online survey of C-suite leaders of large businesses in Singapore. The research was conducted between July 16 and 23, 2024 and yielded responses from 221 C-suite executives across a variety of departments at companies with 250 or more employees.