Singapore — Singapore enterprises are rapidly adopting agentic artificial intelligence (AI), with usage more than doubling in the past year. However, most organisations are still using the technology to support individual employees rather than redesigning business processes.
The findings come from ServiceNow’s annual Enterprise AI Maturity Index, which surveyed 4,500 senior leaders across 19 countries, including 200 in Singapore. The study found that agentic AI adoption among Singapore enterprises increased from 22% in 2025 to 51% in 2026.
Agentic AI tools are designed to take actions without requiring human input at every stage. While 33% of Singapore enterprises use AI to assist employees with day-to-day tasks, 10% have progressed to redesigning processes in which AI completes multi-step business tasks end-to-end. A further 18% reported no progress on advanced AI adoption, compared with 11% globally.
The findings suggest that adoption alone does not necessarily translate into broader changes to how organisations operate. ServiceNow said enterprises that redesigned their work processes around AI in the previous year were nearly four times more likely to report significant productivity and efficiency gains than those that added AI to existing ways of working.
“Singapore enterprises have rebuilt important foundations for AI, and that progress is showing up in the numbers,” said CK Tan, APJ Innovation Officer of ServiceNow.
“But adoption and transformation are not the same thing. Helping individuals work faster has value. Redesigning how work moves across the enterprise is where AI starts to change business outcomes,” he added.
Singapore’s overall AI maturity score also increased in 2026, rising 19 points to 53 out of 100. The score was above the global average of 51 and higher than Singapore’s previous peak of 45 in 2024, following a decline to 34 in 2025.
AI investment increases
Singapore’s AI investment is broadly in line with global trends. AI budgets increased by 108% year on year, compared with 110% globally, while 15.4% of IT budgets are now allocated to AI, compared with 15.8% globally. Both figures are projected to reach around 20% by 2027.
Enterprises in Singapore expect AI spending to increase by a further 83% next year, slightly ahead of the global projection of 81%.
The study also found that Singapore enterprises are ahead of global averages in several areas linked to the foundations for AI deployment. Some 23% have replaced legacy technology systems with modern platforms, compared with 16% globally, while 28% have formal processes for testing, auditing and managing AI risk, compared with 20% globally.
Furthermore, 25% said they are already integrating AI workflows across business functions, compared with 16% globally.
However, AI-enabled workflows remain the weakest of the seven dimensions measured by the index. Singapore leads the global average on six dimensions, with talent readiness showing the largest advantage at three points.
“The issue is where the next dollar goes. Singapore is ahead on foundations, but weaker on embedding AI into daily operations. If the next wave of investment goes mainly into tools rather than workflow redesign, the maturity gap will widen instead of close,” Tan said.
Standard Chartered redesigns onboarding
Standard Chartered is among the organisations using AI as part of a broader redesign of workplace processes. The bank reworked its colleague onboarding journey from end to end, assessing which stages required human judgement and where technology could provide greater value.
The changes are expected to reduce onboarding effort for hiring managers by 35% and deliver approximately 20% productivity gains across HR teams.
“Long before we deployed AI, we invested in understanding our people, their relationship with technology, appetite for change, and familiarity with AI both inside and outside the workplace,” said Melinda McKinley, Strategy and Talent Chief Operating Officer for Standard Chartered.
“That research shaped what came next. When you know where friction exists and why, you can apply automation and AI with precision. The goal is not to layer new technology onto existing challenges, but to redesign experiences in ways that genuinely improve how work gets done for both colleagues and clients,” she continued.
Privacy and security remain concerns
Despite the improvement in Singapore’s overall AI maturity score, data privacy and security remain significant concerns, with 58% of local enterprises identifying them as a leading AI challenge.
The findings indicate that organisations are continuing to work through the practical requirements of implementing AI, including governance and risk management, as adoption expands.
“The governance framework Singapore has built is genuinely world-leading. What the data shows is that most enterprises are still working toward what it asks of them. Getting the right oversight and risk processes in place before AI systems are operating at scale is the most important step Singapore enterprises can take right now,” Tan said.
Tan Kit Yong, Chief Regional Enterprise of StarHub, said, “The conversation has shifted from AI adoption to AI execution. Enterprises are discovering that AI only delivers lasting value when it is built on trusted digital infrastructure, unified data platform and strong governance.”
“At StarHub, we’re helping organisations modernise these foundations so they can embed AI into critical workflows, automate with confidence and achieve measurable business value at scale,” he added.
Peter Carr, Director and Principal Analyst of Councilio, commented, “Singapore has largely solved the question of AI adoption. The organisations that pull ahead from here will be those that integrate and prioritise AI through their established investment and portfolio management frameworks.
“These disciplines have long underpinned the nation’s success in digital transformation. The opportunity now is systematically embedding it into the existing work of the enterprise,” he continued.
The study indicates that Singapore’s next stage of AI adoption will depend less on the availability of AI tools and more on how effectively enterprises incorporate them into operational workflows.
