Delinea has released new research highlighting how organisations in Singapore are accelerating the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in IT and security operations, whilst also facing heightened risks from shadow AI and gaps in governance.
According to the study of over 1,700 IT decision-makers across six countries, 90% of organisations in Singapore already use AI in their IT operations, a higher adoption rate than 84%, the global average. Both generative AI and agentic AI are being deployed to improve efficiency, automate workflows, and speed up processes.
Despite this widespread use, fewer than half of organisations worldwide (44%) report that their security architecture is fully prepared to support secure AI. While 52% of Singaporean organisations believe they are equipped to secure AI, gaps remain in visibility and governance of machine identities.
Art Gilliland, CEO of Delinea explained how working with systems such as agentic AI demands agentic security.
“Organisations must rethink how they approach identity, building adaptive, risk-aware systems that verify and secure every action, whether it’s human or machine-driven,” Art stated.
“AI agents require more granular and dynamic identity access controls than traditional role-based approaches. Every organisation must build out a comprehensive AI governance model to ensure that it’s being used security and as intended.”
Shadow AI – the unsanctioned use of AI tools without oversight from IT or security teams – has emerged as a pressing issue. In Singapore, 62% of firms encounter shadow AI at least once a month, which is higher than the global average of 56%. For more than a third of businesses, these incidents occur multiple times each month.
The report also identifies the most pressing AI security concerns for Singaporean organisations, including AI-generated phishing and deepfakes, agentic AI systems with unchecked access, AI-driven credential theft, and poor visibility into AI access workflows.
While 97% of Singaporean organisations express confidence that their machine identity security can keep pace with AI-driven threats, only 56% currently have governance policies in place for AI identities. This highlights the need for stronger policies, adaptive security controls, and a comprehensive AI governance model to manage emerging risks.
Delinea’s findings suggest that Singaporean organisations must prioritise identity governance, strengthen privileged access management, and adopt continuous monitoring to ensure AI is used securely and responsibly across IT environments.
