New SAP Value of AI Report 2026 finds Singapore businesses expect stronger Artificial Intelligence (AI) returns, while gaps in data, skills and governance could slow value realization.
SINGAPORE 4 August 2026 – A new study by SAP SE (NYSE: SAP) and Oxford Economics has revealed that Singaporean businesses see significant value ahead from agentic AI, even as many acknowledge they are not yet fully prepared to govern, scale and realize its potential.
According to The SAP Value of AI Report 2026, return on investment (ROI) from agentic AI is expected to reach US$9.8m (SGD$12.6 million1) in Singapore over the next two years, almost double last year’s estimate of US$4.9m (SGD$6.3 million).
This comes as Singaporean companies expect to drive a total AI ROI of 19% this year, equivalent to USD$3.5m (SGD$4.5 million), up from 16% last year. That ROI is expected to grow to 36% in two years’ time, equivalent to USD$10.3m (SGD$13.3 million).
The research – which surveyed 2,600 business leaders across 13 countries, including 200 from Singapore – shows that over eight in ten Singaporean businesses (89%) believe agentic AI has moderate to very high potential to transform their organization. Yet it remains early days for the technology, with only 2% of businesses saying they are fully prepared for agentic AI. The majority say they are either partially prepared or not prepared at all.
Commenting on the findings, Eileen Chua, Managing Director, SAP Singapore said: “Singapore businesses are moving from AI experimentation to AI execution, and the expected returns from agentic AI show just how much confidence there is in the technology. But value will not come from AI adoption alone. It will come from connecting AI to business data, processes and governance, so organizations can move faster while still acting with control and confidence.”
Singapore businesses advance on AI, but maturity remains uneven
The study found that AI is already becoming embedded in day-to-day work across Singapore. Today, over a quarter of all tasks (27%) in the average Singaporean business are supported by AI. This is expected to increase to 47% in two years.
However, many organizations are still building the leadership, skills and operating models required to scale AI effectively. Less than half of Singaporean companies have a dedicated AI leader responsible for AI adoption, at 45%. Even fewer (32%) have leadership KPIs for AI or provide training on AI capabilities and risks (37%).
This is creating growing pressure on workforce planning and skills. Almost eight in ten Singaporean businesses (79%) are not convinced their company upskilling is keeping pace with the evolution of AI tools.
AI is no longer a side project. It is becoming part of how work gets done,” said Eileen Chua, Managing Director, SAP Singapore. “As Singapore advances AI bilingualism, the real opportunity is to build a workforce that understands both the technology and the business context to apply it responsibly. That means organizations need to treat AI capability as a business capability. Skills, leadership accountability and responsible usage cannot sit behind the technology curve, especially as companies begin to explore more autonomous AI use cases.”
Data, skills and governance gaps could hold back AI value
Many Singapore businesses continue to face foundational challenges that could become more pressing in an agentic AI future.
Data quality remains a major barrier. The share of businesses that say they are data-ready for AI dropped from 62% in 2025 to 55% in 2026. At the same time, 82% of companies revealed challenges with incomplete data. These issues are already affecting business operations, with 81% of businesses experiencing rework, delays or backlogs due to low-quality AI outputs.
Governance is another critical obstacle. Only around one in ten Singaporean businesses say either their skills, at 12%, or their processes and frameworks, at 10%, are fully ready to govern AI effectively.
These gaps may become more significant as agentic AI adoption grows. Today, 27% of Singaporean companies do not have a human-in-the-loop process for agentic workflows, 30% do not have permission and access controls for agents, and only 40% have a registry of the agents in their business. This is critical given two-thirds of Singaporean businesses (66%) either agree or do not know if they are deploying agents faster than they can govern them.
Eileen Chua, Managing Director, SAP Singapore continued: “Agentic AI raises the stakes for enterprise readiness. When AI systems can act across workflows, businesses need clear visibility into where agents are operating, what data they can access, and where human oversight is required. Without that foundation, organizations risk creating more activity without achieving better outcomes”.
The findings point to a clear opportunity for Singapore businesses: AI value will increasingly depend on how well organizations can connect intelligent technologies to the data, processes and people that run their business.
