Trust, data gaps slow AI scaling at Singapore firms: survey

HubSpot says daily use has outpaced business readiness.

Trust and reliability concerns, along with data quality and integration gaps, are the biggest barriers preventing Singapore businesses from scaling artificial intelligence more effectively, according to HubSpot research.

The survey of 736 business leaders found that trust and reliability were cited as the top barrier to scaling AI deployments at 43%, followed by data quality and integration challenges at 37%.

Among businesses already using fully autonomous AI agents, the pressure points were even more pronounced, with data integration challenges rising to 41%, legacy system limitations to 42%, and skills gaps to 39%.

HubSpot said the main constraint is no longer access to AI tools, but the ability to operationalise them across the business by connecting data, systems, and business knowledge so AI can act reliably.

The findings come even as AI use becomes more common in day-to-day operations. The study found that 64% of respondents apply AI consistently across daily workflows, although only 18% use fully autonomous AI agents capable of making decisions and executing tasks end to end.

Interest in agentic AI remained high despite the operational hurdles, with 43% of respondents saying AI agents would become highly important to their operations in the next 12 to 24 months. More than a quarter, or 28%, said they were already investing, whilst only 2% said they had no intention to invest.

HubSpot said wider adoption would depend on stronger proof of business value, with 30% of respondents saying clearly demonstrated results would most increase their willingness to invest further.

Leaders also ranked accuracy and reliability, system integration, governance, and access to relevant business context and data as the most important conditions for AI agents to work effectively.