According to new research, AI adoption in Singapore has moved beyond experimentation, while businesses are encountering “a plateau in their transformation journey.”
The research commissioned by HubSpot and conducted by Lonergan Research surveyed more than 700 Singapore business leaders and found that 64% are applying AI consistently across daily workflows, while 18% are using fully autonomous AI agents capable of making decisions and executing tasks end-to-end.
The data shows that businesses advancing further in AI use are encountering increased complexity. As AI use cases mature, challenges related to data integration, legacy systems, and skills become more pronounced.
The findings indicate that scaling AI depends on connected data and integrated systems that provide context for AI to act reliably. HubSpot said it is building an agentic customer platform designed to unify customer data and business knowledge in one place, making these insights available to teams and AI agents to market, sell, and service customers.
“The key challenge among Singapore businesses is no longer whether they are using AI. It is whether they have the knowledge of customers, market trends, and operations needed to scale the business reliably,” said Megan Hughes, Managing Director & Vice President, JAPAC, HubSpot.
“Only by powering AI with customer data and process understanding can businesses consistently transform generic outputs into tangible results. The most successful businesses will be those with a context advantage, combining leading-edge AI models with deep context to deliver highly impactful outcomes and create reliable digital teammates for sustained growth.”
Key findings include:
- Nearly two-thirds (64%) are applying AI consistently across daily workflows, but progression into more advanced AI use remains limited. Only 18% are using fully autonomous AI agents capable of making decisions and executing tasks end-to-end.
- The businesses hitting the hardest walls are the ones who’ve gone the furthest. As AI use cases mature, barriers such as data integration, legacy systems, and a lack of skills become more pronounced.
- Data quality and integration challenges (37%) rank among the top two barriers to scaling AI deployments, just behind trust and reliability (43%).
- The limiting factor is no longer access to AI tools, but the ability to operationalise them across the business — connecting data, systems, and business knowledge so AI can act reliably.
- Interest in agentic AI remains high despite foundational challenges, with more than two in five leaders (43%) expecting AI agents to become highly important to their operations within the next 12 to 24 months.
- More than a quarter (28%) are already investing into AI agents, while the rest remain in a wait-and-see phase. About a third (30%) say clearly demonstrated business results would most increase their willingness to invest further.
- Leaders say the most important factors for AI agents to operate effectively are accuracy and reliability (66%), system integration (56%), governance (53%), and access to relevant business context and data (48%).
The bottleneck
Data quality and integration challenges (37%) rank among the top two barriers to scaling AI deployments, just behind trust and reliability (43%).
These challenges become more visible, not less, as organisations scale. Among businesses already using fully autonomous agents, data integration challenges rise to 41%, legacy system limitations to 42%, and skills gaps to 39%. The limiting factor is no longer access to AI tools, but the ability to operationalise them — connecting data, systems, and business knowledge so AI can act reliably.
Solving for data quality and integration reduces technical friction and builds the organisational confidence that moves businesses from cautious experimentation to larger-scale adoption. High-quality, unified data grounds AI outputs in reality, directly addressing the trust and reliability concerns that rank as leaders’ top barrier.
Appetite is strong
Interest in agentic AI remains high despite foundational challenges. Businesses are not just looking for more AI output — they are looking for output they can rely on to drive measurable results. Leaders cite accuracy and reliability (66%), system integration (56%), governance (53%), and access to relevant business context and data (48%) as the most important factors for AI agents to operate effectively.
More than two in five leaders (43%) expect AI agents to become highly important to their operations within 12 to 24 months. Just 2% have no intentions to invest. More than a quarter (28%) are already investing, while the rest remain in a wait-and-see phase. What will move them: about a third (30%) say clearly demonstrated business results would most increase their willingness to invest further.
“With Singapore’s National AI Council and the Champions of AI programme, the government is making a clear commitment to building the conditions for AI to thrive, and businesses are responding,” added Hughes.
“Our previous Singapore State of Business Growth 2025 research found that organisations with fully integrated systems are ten times more likely to outperform their peers. That level of integration is now the entry point, not the edge. Now, this context combined with AI is how a digitally advanced nation turns ambition into outcomes.”
Featured image by Charles Deluvio.
