Singapore businesses are embracing artificial intelligence (AI) with greater confidence than their global counterparts, according to PwC’s Global AI performance study revealed on Monday.

According to the study, Singapore businesses (67 percent) are more willing to take risks when investing in AI compared to those in other countries (41 percent).

Meanwhile, 63 percent of Singapore respondents surveyed reported that they are able to make key decisions regarding financial and human resources on the basis of AI opportunities, higher than the 51 percent in other countries.

The study, conducted between July and September 2025, polled more than 1,200 senior executives primarily from large corporations worldwide.

Of these, 30 respondents are based in Singapore, representing publicly listed companies with revenues exceeding $100 million in their last financial year.

Banking and capital markets, technology hardware, and technology software are the three most represented industries among Singapore respondents, together accounting for four in ten of the local sample.

The study data showed that Singapore businesses significantly outperform the global average across several dimensions of AI adoption.

In particular, 43 percent of Singapore respondents reported using AI to compete with companies outside their own sectors, compared with 20 percent globally.

Singapore businesses are also investing in and piloting AI at above-average rates compared with global peers.

In addition, 30 percent of Singapore respondents said their organizations have eliminated outdated information technology (IT) infrastructure, ahead of the 18 percent recorded among respondents globally.

The global study also found that organizations in many countries are still using AI for less advanced tasks such as analysis, prediction and recommendation (37 percent globally) compared to just 20 percent in Singapore.

In contrast, Singapore businesses are ahead in deploying AI in more sophisticated ways, such as autonomous and self-optimizing ways at 17 percent compared to only 8 percent globally.

However, when measured against AI leaders, Singapore’s overall standing trails in the following areas : governance and risk management; data; workflow redesign; unlocking new value.

It is noted that over half of Singapore businesses surveyed (53 percent) have robust, up-to-date security in place to protect data, AI models and underlying infrastructure, compared to 69 percent among AI leaders.

Additionally, 47 percent in Singapore have a documented responsible AI framework, and 43 percent have a cross-functional AI governance board, versus 63 percent and 64 percent among AI leaders, respectively.

Meanwhile, about four in ten respondents in Singapore reported maintaining a single, trusted record of critical data (37 percent), and using structured data (40 percent).

This compares with about six in ten AI leaders for the same measures (59 percent and 60 percent, respectively).

In Singapore, 37 percent of businesses surveyed have redesigned workflows to integrate AI, rather than simply adding AI tools, compared with 56% of AI leaders.

Among the Singapore businesses surveyed, 37 percent use AI to identify emerging value pools, and 43% create new value through data, compared to 60% and 63% of AI leaders, respectively.

The findings come as Singapore accelerates its national AI momentum.

In 2025, the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) and the AI Verify Foundation advanced efforts to operationalize trust in GenAI through initiatives such as the Global AI Assurance Pilot, enabling organizations to test applications and strengthen assurance at scale.

More recently, Budget 2026 added further momentum with the announcement of a National AI Council and National AI Missions across four priority sectors—advanced manufacturing, connectivity, finance and healthcare—alongside regulatory sandboxes and enhanced tax incentives.

Against this backdrop, the study affirms Singapore’s strategic intent while highlighting where execution must now accelerate.

“The companies achieving the highest AI-driven returns globally are distinguished not by how much they spend, but by how deliberately they operate: making targeted choices about where AI creates value, embedding it into core workflows, and scaling what works consistently across the enterprise,” said Anthony Dias, AI Hub Leader, PwC Singapore.

According to him, trust is a critical enabler in this equation, and organizations that establish strong governance, transparency and accountability frameworks are better positioned to deploy AI with confidence and at scale.

“Singapore businesses can start by looking at the governance and risk dimension first. It is foundational to sustained AI performance, and an area where local businesses currently trail their global peers,

“The national environment is becoming more supportive, but the onus remains on organizations to act on what the data shows,” he added.

It is noted that among the more than 1,200 companies surveyed, those in the top quintile of AI-driven performance (which the study terms ‘AI leaders’) achieve 7.2 times more revenue and efficiency gains than peers on an industry-adjusted basis.

The study also found that AI leaders invest 2.5 times more than other companies and are 2.4 times more likely to maintain reusable AI components across their organization.

They are also 1.7 times more likely to ensure the right high-quality data is readily available for priority AI applications.

Top performers are also distinguished by how they deploy AI. They are roughly twice as likely to apply AI across the full breadth of business functions, including corporate strategy, supply chain management, and front and back-office operations, and nearly twice as likely to operate AI at higher sophistication levels, including autonomous operation.

They are also 1.5 times more likely to use AI to develop new business models, and 1.2 times more likely to use it to drive revenue growth, rather than focusing solely on efficiency gains.

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