A new report from HubSpot, the customer platform for scaling businesses, reveals that despite a strong focus on artificial intelligence (AI) growth and adoption in Singapore, only 27 percent of local organisations have officially implemented AI or AI-enhanced tools to support employee workflows.
While overall organisational adoption of AI is low, individual usage of AI among business leaders is high, with more than half (51 percent) reportedly using AI personally for work. This suggests that more employees may also be privately using AI tools. However, limited visibility of AI usage across teams has raised concerns for a majority (82 percent) of business leaders, potentially hindering the full potential of AI adoption in Singaporean organisations.
Dan Bognar, Vice President & Managing Director for JPAC at HubSpot, stated: “While AI has enormous potential to transform how businesses market to, sell to, and serve customers, our research shows that gaps between AI strategies and operational realities are affecting how companies use AI.
“Moving from independent to organisation-wide adoption will require clear guidelines on AI usage, equipping employees with relevant skills, and integrating AI solutions with existing data and tools. Crucially, implementing measurement frameworks to track AI’s business impact accurately is essential.”
Businesses with Structured AI Tracking See Real Returns
HubSpot’s findings indicate that business leaders who effectively track and measure AI impact see notable business benefits at both company and employee levels. Increased productivity (88 percent) and efficiency (76 percent) were commonly reported, along with improved employee well-being (61 percent).
From a business perspective, benefits include increased revenue (75 percent), improved customer satisfaction (75 percent), higher quality leads (60 percent), and reduced costs (46 percent).
In contrast, organisations without AI measurement systems report reduced benefits, including lower productivity (75 percent) and efficiency (74 percent), and lesser gains in revenue (48 percent), customer satisfaction (48 percent), and lead quality (44 percent).
However, measuring AI’s impact remains a significant challenge. Nearly half of Singaporean business leaders surveyed cited the absence of success metrics (49 percent), relevant skills (48 percent), and AI visibility (45 percent) as major obstacles, potentially limiting the effectiveness of AI measurement.
Growth in AI Adoption Will Drive AI Talent and Upskilling
Almost all (97 percent) Singaporean business leaders plan to invest in AI tools over the next year, with an average investment of approximately S$32,000. As AI adoption grows, demand for specialised AI roles will rise.
A Head of AI position that directs organisational AI use is becoming increasingly common, potentially filled by leaders from non-tech functions such as sales, customer service, and marketing.
Nine out of ten (90 percent) business leaders expect to hire additional roles to support AI implementation, aligning with LinkedIn’s findings that identify Singapore as one of Asia Pacific’s fastest-growing AI talent markets. The Singapore government is also actively nurturing a strong AI talent pipeline, with plans to triple local AI practitioners to 15,000.
Three-quarters (75 percent) of business leaders anticipate appointing a Head of AI within the next year, while recognising the need to adapt existing workforces for an AI-enabled economy.
As AI matures, businesses will discover automation opportunities, empowering AI to handle routine tasks and freeing employees for strategic work, likely boosting job satisfaction and employee well-being. Nearly 87 per cent of business leaders in Singapore have plans to restructure their workforce as AI becomes more prominent in the workplace.
“The best outcomes arise from combining AI capabilities with human ingenuity,” said Bognar. “The AI era offers an opportunity for organisations to reskill or upskill their workforce, leveraging initiatives like SkillsFuture Singapore to meet the rising demand for AI expertise. This crucial step empowers employees to undertake strategic tasks and harness AI’s power to drive better business outcomes.”
SEO to LMO: The Transformation of Search
AI is also reshaping how we search online. With generative AI and large language models (LLMs), users can simply ask questions in natural language and receive tailored information. This shift reduces the time and effort compared to traditional search engines.
Nearly four in ten (38 percent) business leaders in Singapore who use AI for search report a decrease in traditional search engine usage, and almost nine in ten (89 percent) say AI chat models have become their primary search tool. This trend is set to rise, with over 93 per cent of leaders expecting increased use of AI chatbots like ChatGPT and Perplexity in the coming year.
Bognar commented, “AI is increasingly integrated into technology, moving beyond the ‘AI-powered’ label. We are already witnessing this transformation in search, which is evolving to meet user needs. This shift will impact traditional marketing strategies, as practitioners pivot from SEO to Language Model Optimisation to ensure visibility in AI search engines.”
“At HubSpot, we focus on practical AI applications—easy to set up, intuitive to use, and backed by unified data. As AI becomes integral to daily business operations, agentic AI will drive the next major shift. To support this, we are developing a marketplace of AI agents, accessible to businesses of all sizes, with or without a dedicated Head of AI—we call this agent.ai. This innovation will enable businesses to harness AI’s benefits, helping them stay competitive.”
For the full report and information on HubSpot’s AI offering, visit: https://hubs.ly/Q02YGcvH0.
