Singaporean organizations are rapidly adopting artificial intelligence (AI) and Generative AI (GenAI), with implementation rates close to the APJC regional average, but their strategic focus on innovation is slightly lower than the APJC results, Dell Technologies‘ survey showed Monday.
Dell said in its findings that this highlights an opportunity for Singaporean businesses to integrate more innovative solutions into their strategies, ensuring technological progress drives broader business impact.
“Singaporean companies are ahead of the Asia Pacific and Japan region in terms of adopting AI and Gen AI – 52 percent of Singaporean companies are in the mid to early stage of adoption, as compared to the regional average of 47 percent,” said Andy Sim, Vice President and Managing Director, Singapore, Dell Technologies.
“But with 95 percent acknowledging integration challenges and 44 percent struggling to keep pace with rapid changes in AI, it’s clear that ambition is also met with realities such as data security, selecting the right technology partner, and a workforce with the right AI skills,
“Organizations can best harness AI when they couple AI ambition with robust infrastructure, skilled talent, and trusted partners who can help navigate complexity,” he added.
According to the survey, Singapore organizations are highly strategic in their business priorities.
72 percent of Singapore companies see innovation as key to their business strategy and 73 percent considered AI/Gen AI central to that vision.
Moreover, 80 percent aimed to integrate sustainability into their strategic planning, while 85 percent prioritized security as a strategic imperative.
These actions highlight a commitment to progress, as organizations actively leverage emerging technologies to drive forward.
The survey also showed Singapore’s AI/GenAI adoption rate is close to the APJC regional average.
In Singapore, 52 percent of companies are in the early to mid-stages of AI/Gen AI adoption, slightly higher than the APJC regional average of 47 percent.
Meanwhile, 27 percent are actively deploying AI/Gen AI solutions, with 15 percent already well established in using Gen AI tools.
Additionally, 21 percent have appointed strategy leads but have yet to identify practical use cases for AI/Gen AI.
The survey also highlighted that Singapore businesses remain cautious about AI return on investment and expectations.
Singaporean companies anticipate a 26.9 percent of AI return of investment (ROI), which is below the APJC regional average of 33.3 percent.
This also represents a notable difference compared to India’s 38.4 percent and Southeast Asia’s 37.3 percent.
Consequently, 42 percent of Singaporean companies are pessimistic about the short-term value of AI.
The survey also found that companies facing challenges in adapting to industry changes.
Integrating AI and GenAI remains a challenge despite strategic alignment.
In Singapore, 44 percent of companies are struggling to keep pace with rapid changes and 47 percent are unsure about the industry’s direction over the next 3-5 years.
This uncertainty stems from evolving technology, regulatory changes and competitive pressures.
Over 95 percent of Singapore companies acknowledge difficulties in incorporating AI/GenAI, sustainability and security into their strategic priorities.
“High AI adoption paired with cautious ROI expectations shows that organizations are being intentional and critical about where AI delivers real value,
According to the survey, some of the key challenges faced include technology partner selection and skill gaps.
It is noted successfully adopting innovation, AI/Gen AI, sustainability and security often depend on securing the right technology partners and developing crucial skills.
When deploying AI/Gen AI, nearly 33 percent identify selecting the right partner as a primary challenge, while an overwhelming 99 percent agree that employees need strong AI-related capabilities.
Essential skills for thriving in AI implementation include data science, machine learning, critical thinking (52 percent), creativity (46 percent), and a deep understanding of business processes (44 percent).
Meanwhile, there are barriers to AI/Gen AI adoption. While 96 percent of respondents face or expect to face barriers when implementing AI and GenAI, 88 percent still see significant opportunities in agentic AI.
The primary challenges cited are data security and privacy (43 percent), regulatory compliance (40 percent), integration with existing systems (36 percent), and a lack of expertise (34 percent).
Singapore businesses also face challenges in preparing data for AI, said the survey.
It found 97 percent of companies faced challenges in preparing data for AI and key issues identified were data privacy/security (41 percent), handling sensitive data (37 percent), integration with infrastructure (36 percent) and lack of internal expertise (36 percent).
There are also concerns about the environmental impact of AI on energy usage.
93 percent are concerned about AI’s impact on the environment and 97 percent are taking steps to manage AI’s energy impact.
Key countermeasures include upgrading to energy-efficiency hardware (49 percent), adopting power management tools (48 percent), algorithm optimization (43 percent) and using more efficient thermal/cooling technologies (37 percent).
Meanwhile, 89 percent say that AI helps improve resource use.
80 percent believe that AI’s benefits outweigh its environmental impact.
87 percent support integrating sustainability into innovation and 90 percent prioritize energy efficiency in data centers.
Additionally, 98 percent have developed sustainability strategies focusing on key areas: energy efficiency (24 percent), information technology (IT) asset life cycle management (17 percent), regulatory reporting (16 percent), and carbon footprint reduction (14 percent).
The survey also highlighted security concerns and innovation paradox as one of the challenges.
As 97 percent navigate the challenge of balancing innovation with security, a strong 95 percent agree that security is essential for driving innovation forward.
MEanwhile, 74 percent express concerns about GenAI tools potentially exposing intellectual property.
The survey also showed 86 percent expect improvements in security-related operations through GenAI and 94 percent report increased confidence due to new security solutions.
Organizations identified threat detection and response (36 percent), recovery capabilities (22 percent) and zero trust implementation (13 percent) as key opportunities to strengthen their security.
Dell said the results reveal a technologically ambitious yet cautious business landscape in Singapore.
While organizations are embracing innovation, AI and sustainability as strategic imperatives, it noted they face significant challenges in integration, skills development and data management.
The findings also showed that Singapore is strong in AI planning and workplace modernization, but can improve in innovation prioritization, infrastructure readiness and ROI expectations.
To navigate the complexities of digital transformation, businesses need holistic strategies, cross-functional collaboration and trusted partnerships, it concluded.
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