Singapore Firms Expect Agentic AI ROI to Double, but Readiness Lags: SAP Study

Singapore businesses expect the return on investment from agentic AI to double to US$9.8 million (S$12.6 million) over the next two years, up from last year’s estimate of US$4.9 million, according to the SAP Value of AI Report 2026 conducted with Oxford Economics. However, only 2% of businesses say they are ready for agentic AI.

Strong expectations, weak readiness

The report surveyed 2,600 business leaders across 13 countries, including 200 from Singapore. It found that 89% of Singapore businesses believe agentic AI has moderate to very high potential to transform their organization. Yet only 2% of businesses say they are ready for agentic AI.

Singapore companies also expect overall AI returns to rise. Businesses surveyed expect to generate a total AI ROI of 19% this year, equivalent to US$3.5 million (S$4.5 million), up from 16% last year, and expect that to increase to 36% in two years, equivalent to US$10.3 million (S$13.3 million).

“The value in adopting AI is from connecting AI to business data, processes and governance, so organizations can move faster while still acting with control and confidence,” said Eileen Chua, managing director for SAP Singapore.

Uneven AI maturity

The study found that AI has become part of day-to-day work in Singapore, with 27% of all tasks supported by AI, expected to grow to 47% in two years. However, many organizations still need to put in place the leadership, skills and operating models to scale AI effectively.

Just 45% of Singaporean companies have a dedicated AI leader responsible for AI adoption, while only 32% have leadership KPIs for AI, and 37% provide training on AI capabilities and risks. The gap has resulted in increased pressure on workforce planning and skills: 79% of Singapore businesses believe their company’s upskilling is not keeping pace with the development of AI tools.

Data quality and governance gaps

The report also highlighted foundational gaps that could hold back AI returns. A key challenge is data quality. The share of Singapore companies that say they are data-ready for AI fell from 62% in 2025 to 55% in 2026. In addition, 82% of firms reported challenges with incomplete data. These issues are impacting business operations, with 81% of businesses experiencing rework, delays or backlogs due to low-quality AI outputs.

Governance is another challenge. Only 12% of Singapore businesses say their skills, and 10% say their processes and frameworks, are fully ready to govern AI effectively. As agentic AI adoption grows, 27% of Singapore companies do not have a human-in-the-loop process for agentic workflows, while 30% do not have permission and access controls for agents. Only 40% have a registry of the agents in their business, and 66% of businesses either agree or do not know if they are deploying agents faster than they can govern them.

“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,” said Chua. “Without that foundation, organizations risk creating more activity without achieving better outcomes.”

Singapore’s status as a regional business hub means these findings offer a gauge for how enterprises across Southeast Asia are approaching agentic AI, a technology expected to play a growing role in enterprise software spending.

Source: Techgoondu

Cover image generated by AI for illustrative purposes only.