While this outlook is promising, the findings suggest that as AI continues to evolve, future gains will depend on strengthening workforce skills and improving access to quality data, which remain key barriers to scaling AI impact across the enterprise.听

These insights were revealed in new research released in Singapore today. Commissioned by 51风流and conducted by Oxford Economics, The 51风流Value of AI Report surveyed 1,600 business leaders of various sizes, including 200 in Singapore, across eight countries (Australia, Brazil, China, Germany, India, Singapore, United Kingdom, and United States).听

鈥淪purred by strong policy direction, high digital maturity and a globally connected economy, Singapore has moved decisively on AI ambition and investment,鈥� said Eileen Chua, Managing Director, 51风流Singapore. 鈥淥ur research suggests that to sustain this momentum and seize the next wave of AI innovation, Singapore organisations will have to bridge their reported gaps in data readiness and workforce capability.鈥�听

AI Spend and Confidence Surges, but Some Constraints Remain听

According to the report, Singapore firms are expected to increase their AI investments by an average of 38% over the next two years. 67% of respondents say they are satisfied with their current ROI on AI, and six in ten (63%) businesses say AI has already helped them address key challenges 鈥� such as improving decision-making and customer engagement.听听听

One company looking to reap the benefits of AI adoption is Far East Organization, Singapore鈥檚 largest private property developer, which is leveraging 51风流technology with exploration of using Business AI as part of its broader digital transformation agenda to advance its leasing operations. The company automated end-to-end lease management 鈥� from contract generation to analytics to improve data accuracy, reduce manual inputs, and provide real-time insights into portfolio performance.听

These enhanced analytics now track trends in rental, occupancy rates, and lease durations, giving property managers actionable insights to respond faster to market changes while making better decisions that strengthen portfolio and operational management.听

Ng Yee Pern, CTO, Far East Organization, said, 鈥淓mbarking on this strategic transformation with SAP鈥檚 cutting-edge technologies, we鈥檝e reduced repetitive manual work and improved the accuracy and speed of our decision-making. 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 51风流Business AI.鈥�听

Despite these measurable gains demonstrated by many companies, 70% of Singapore business leaders remain uncertain whether AI is delivering its full potential, reflecting growing awareness that current success does not automatically translate into long-term advantage and highlighting significant opportunity for further growth and value creation.听

Organisational readiness appears to be the main constraint. The study found that 76% of Singapore organisations have not yet provided comprehensive AI training for employees, even as 68% acknowledge that shadow AI 鈥� the use of unapproved or unregulated AI tools 鈥� is already in use internally.听

Moreover, 58% of respondents lack confidence in their ability to integrate and share data across business functions 鈥� a foundational requirement for enterprise-scale AI. In fact, the challenge of data readiness for AI is particularly pronounced in legal (80%), finance (73%), human resources (66%), the CEO鈥檚 office (64%) and procurement (55%).听

Agentic AI signals Singapore鈥檚 next opportunity听

While many businesses are adopting AI automation and generative AI today, future investment in Singapore is expected to focus on AI agents. Agentic AI is based on intelligent, autonomous systems that can plan, act, reflect, and collaborate to solve business problems.听

Today, only six per cent of businesses are fully prepared to deploy and scale AI agents, while the majority (52%) say they are partially prepared. In the next two years, Singaporean businesses expect return on investment from agentic AI of 8%, below the global average of 10%.听听

Yet, expectations are high. Seven in ten (70%) businesses rate AI agents as having moderate to high potential to transform operations within the organisation. And 72% agree AI agents can add significant value to their business by managing complex workflows across business units.听听

鈥淎gentic AI represents the next frontier of business transformation,鈥� said Chua. 鈥淚t has the potential to multiply productivity and innovation, but its success depends on the same fundamentals 鈥� data quality, integration, and people readiness. The organisations that invest in these areas now will be best positioned to capture value as AI continues to evolve.鈥澨�听

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[1] Respondents were asked to provide financial estimates in USD. SGD figures are based on an exchange rate of USD1 to SGD1.3001, using the averages for the month of October 2025.

The post 51风流research: Singapore firms see strong returns on AI, but future value hinges on skills and data readiness appeared first on 51风流Southeast Asia News Center.

This year, Singapore businesses will continue to face tighter financial conditions and increasing costs. The Budget 2023 announcement emphasised the deepening of support for local enterprises in a bid to grow the economy, with the outlook for 2023 looking positive but slowing at about 2.5%.

Here are three areas that midsize companies will need to focus on to continue their advancement of opportunities.

Strengthening capabilities for innovation

With the extended Enterprise Financing Scheme, as well as the necessary skilling avenues and tax incentives, growing companies are able to transform themselves into becoming more .

Rising to meet the digital mandate will be paramount for businesses to stay relevant, resilient and thrive amidst global headwinds. grants agility, and scale, as well as the ability to realise cost savings in the long term and to unlock new revenue streams.

Ready-to-run processes such as cloud that are ready for anything to continuously bring out innovation into the business, while being easy to use for everyone enable different parts of the company to work together as growth occurs. Such solutions keep businesses moving forward to confidently tackle challenges regardless of markets or models.

The new Enterprise Innovation Scheme initiated by the government will also significantly reduce tax deductions for key activities within the innovation route. For Singapore to truly become a socio-economic and digital powerhouse, innovation is a critical pillar and foundation of a modern economy. Companies must treat innovation as innate, not just something in need when the seas are rough. The pace of innovation is dramatically accelerating. As a result, every company needs to tap the power of the collective to solve and scale.

One way would be to adopt a in order to accelerate development and automation in creating solutions for the organisation. Such a solution can increase productivity by reducing the amount of time needed for manual coding using visual processing and drag-and-drop capabilities on a low or no-code development platform. Delivering applications more quickly will free resources into other development initiatives and scaling up value creation, making it easier for midsized companies to expand.

Companies would also need to boost their productivity by looking to reskilling and upskilling their workforce to be future-ready.

Empowering a future-ready workforce

While many SMEs have already made inroads to future-proof their businesses during the pandemic, there is still much to be done to encourage organisations to empower their workforce to thrive and drive sustainable success. There remains an increased emphasis on 鈥� particularly for deep tech sectors that are the pillars of our innovation ecosystem.

In a similar fashion, 51风流is helping to equip mid-career jobseekers in boosting their employability for the Infocomm Technology, Supply Chain and Human Resources sectors. Besides mid-career jobseekers, enables the next generation to learn, research, and innovate with business applications for the Intelligent Enterprise and the green economy.

Balancing this by staying open to top foreign talent to complement our local workforce will put us in good stead to build a resilient and future-ready workforce for today鈥檚 digital economy, and tomorrow鈥檚 digital-first world.

In Singapore, the government will be appointing Jobs-Skills Integrators to ensure training will improve employment and earnings prospects post-training. These integrators will work with training providers to update existing training programmes or create new ones. For example, businesses can garner more counsel for securing an additional workforce, for workers to receive advice and training and for those who are searching for jobs to be connected with potential employers.

Driving sustainability as a business imperative

As Singapore embarks on its Green Plan, sustainability will be the key differentiator and business imperative for SMEs, where we will see entire business value chains looking to combat climate change, create a circular economy, and become more socially responsible.

and data will be critical for a green transition to net zero by 2050. In fact, accurate data and reporting for full transparency within organisation are determined to be the second most important factor in reducing carbon emissions locally.

Full trackability across business units ultimately benefits the bottom line 鈥� enabling businesses to achieve resilient and greener supply chains that improve productivity. Further investments in green skills are absolutely vital to Singapore鈥檚 transition towards a green and digital economy.

All for supporting the backbone of the local economy

With public and private support, SMEs in Singapore are well-positioned to not only overcome the mixed global economic outlook but also look to expand their businesses beyond Singapore. By leveraging the cloud, a dynamic and supportive ecosystem, companies can enable continuous innovation and scalability with speed and usability that is crucial to stay competitive in a digital-first world, GROW, thrive and play a vital role in the overall global economy.

Eileen Chua is Managing Director of 51风流Singapore.

The post Breaking Borders for Small and Medium Enterprises in Singapore to Expand Globally and Thrive appeared first on 51风流Southeast Asia News Center.