S’pore’s Al investment surge – Are businesses ready for what’s next?

LEASE management, from contract generation to analytics, now takes Far East Organization minutes instead of days. Singapore’s largest private property developer is using SAP technology to automate its management tasks – including tracking trends in rental, occupancy rates and lease durations – and is exploring SAP’s Business AI to supercharge its transformation, joining hundreds of Singapore companies investing in artificial intelligence (AI)-driven transformation.

“Embarking on this strategic transformation with SAP’s cutting-edge technologies, we’ve reduced repetitive manual work and improved the accuracy and speed of our decision-making,” said Ng Yee Pern, chief technology officer, Far East Organization. “What previously took days can now be completed in minutes, giving our teams the time and insight to focus on customers and business growth. Building on this success, we continue to innovate with SAP Business AI.” 

The latest research from SAP shows Singapore businesses are ramping up investments in Al and are seeing encouraging results. This trend is set to accelerate. According to the SAP Value of Al Report released on Nov 19, Singapore firms are spending an average of $18.9 million on AI in 2025 and reporting an average 16 per cent return on investment (ROI). Within two years, companies expect such investments to increase by 38 per cent, with a 29 per cent ROI on average. Similar stories are playing out across Singapore’s business landscape. However, businesses must look beyond technology to reap Al’s full potential. “Our research suggests that to sustain this momentum and seize the next wave of Al innovation, Singapore organisations will have to bridge their reported gaps in data readiness and workforce capability,” said Eileen Chua, managing director, SAP Singapore.

An uncertain outlook

The SAP Value of Al Report surveyed 1,600 business leaders across eight countries, including 200 in Singapore, and the rest from Australia, Brazil, China, Germany, India, the UK and US. Among Singapore firms, 67 per cent said they were satisfied with their current ROI, with 63 per cent saying Al has already helped them address key challenges such as improving decision-making and customer engagement.

The report found that while Al supports 23 per cent of tasks in Singapore’s businesses today – a figure seen rising to 41 per cent in two years – 70 per cent of Singapore businesses polled in the study were uncertain whether Al is delivering its full potential. Organisational readiness appears to be the main constraint.

The study found that 76 per cent of Singapore organisations have yet to provide comprehensive Al training for employees, while 68 per cent acknowledged wide internal usage of unapproved shadow Al – free tiers of popular chat-based generative Al tools – resulting in data leakage and compliance violations.

Significantly, 58 per cent of Singapore respondents said they lacked confidence in their ability to integrate and share data across business functions, which is a foundational requirement for enterprise-scale Al. The challenge of data readiness is particularly pronounced in functions like legal (80 per cent), finance (73 per cent) and human resources (66 per cent), the study showed. 

Bridging gaps in data readiness and workforce capabilities

According to SAP’s Chua, bridging these gaps requires a systematic approach: improving data quality and governance, enabling secure data sharing, implementing structured upskilling programmes, establishing ethical Al principles and pursuing effective policies to curb the use of shadow Al. SAP’s own approach treats Al as a tool that amplifies human capability rather than replaces it. The company uses a central hub where employees and customers can explore Al use cases and understand how the technology integrates into finance, supply chain, HR and other functions. The key insight? Workers need new skills – not just technical expertise, but the ability to collaborate with Al systems, interpret data-driven insights and exercise sound judgment when guiding autonomous technologies.

“Moving from piecemeal initiatives to enterprise-wide Al strategies will be key to maximising ROI and preparing for future innovations such as agentic Al,” Chua observed.

Agentic AI: Singapore’s next big opportunity 

The SAP report showed that investments in Al, which currently focus on Al automation and generative Al, will soon shift to agentic Al. Seven in 10 Singapore businesses polled rated Al agents as having moderate to high potential to transform operations within the organisation. Some 72 per cent agreed that Al agents can add significant value to their business by managing complex workflows across business units.

However, only 6 per cent of businesses are fully prepared to deploy and scale Al agents, while half (52 per cent) said they are partially prepared. In the next two years, Singapore businesses expect an 8 per cent ROI from agentic Al, below the global average of 10 per cent, the report showed. “Agentic Al has the potential to multiply productivity and innovation, but its success depends on the same fundamentals – data quality, integration and people readiness,” said Chua. “Organisations that invest in these areas now will be best positioned to capture value as Al continues to evolve.”

The future of work

Chua believes agentic Al will enable Singapore businesses to achieve greater autonomy, speed and precision across every process.

“Imagine a supply chain that can anticipate disruptions and reroute shipments automatically, or a finance system that closes the books without manual reconciliation,” she said. But what does this mean for jobs? Addressing concerns that agentic Al will replace people, Chua said that the shift will be less about competing with Al, and more about learning to collaborate with it and bringing insights and innovations that move businesses forward. Continuous learning in areas such as data literacy, critical thinking and digital collaboration are key to future-proofing jobs. “While agentic Al will automate certain tasks, it will also create new roles that didn’t exist before – roles centred on data governance, Al oversight and cross-functional orchestration,” she said. “Singapore has a strong foundation with initiatives like SkillsFuture, which can help workers reskill for Al-augmented roles.” Explore how SAP Business AI can accelerate your organisation’s AI transformation.