Digital TransformationAIProductivity
Singapore CEOs see AI productivity gains but ROI lags
Wed, 4th Nov 2026 (Today)
MARA SUGUENews Editor
EY-Parthenon says chief executives are seeing AI lift productivity, but many are struggling to turn those gains into financial growth. Its latest survey found Singapore leaders less confident than global peers in measuring returns from AI.
Among 40 Singapore chief executives surveyed as part of a global sample of 1,200 across 21 countries, 45% said AI was the biggest contributor to productivity gains over the past 12 months. That put AI ahead of business process redesign, cited by 33%.
Half of Singapore respondents said they were reinvesting extra capacity created by productivity gains into innovation and transformation. But 20% said AI-driven improvements were often absorbed before reaching the bottom line, highlighting the difficulty of turning operational gains into measurable profit growth.
The survey also pointed to a sharp gap between AI adoption and the ability to track returns. While 57% of Singapore respondents said they had at least some reliable visibility into AI costs and returns, only 9% had clear real-time visibility of return on investment.
Another 30% said they could track some AI costs but remained limited in their ability to assess overall returns. Globally, 16% of chief executives reported strong real-time visibility into AI return on investment.
This suggests boards and management teams are still working out how to judge whether AI spending is producing commercial value rather than simply improving efficiency. The findings cited legacy technology, organisational complexity and regulatory requirements as factors limiting the conversion of productivity gains into financial outcomes.
“It is clear that AI is creating productivity gains; yet productivity is but a small part of the value that it can bring. Too often, CEOs and management teams deploy AI within individual functions rather than incorporate into the end-to-end workflow, from production through to consumption, to create value for customers. Hence, CEOs and boards need to identify AI-driven business models and value pools that drive growth; capturing those opportunities will require organizations to realign their operating models, talent and capital, turning AI from an efficiency tool into an engine for measurable value creation at scale,” said Sriram Changali, EY-Parthenon Asean and Singapore Strategy and Execution Leader.
The findings also point to a labour market issue emerging alongside wider AI use. Almost all Singapore respondents, 98%, said AI would have a greater effect on roles, skills and ways of working than on workforce size over the next three years.
At the same time, 60% said their organisations were not developing AI skills quickly enough to keep pace with innovation. A larger share, 92%, said skills shortages would become a greater barrier to growth than access to capital within three years, well above the global figure of 72%.
Reskilling already features in productivity efforts, with 50% of Singapore chief executives citing it as a driver of gains. Yet only 22% said overall productivity gains were being reinvested in workforce development, indicating a mismatch between the skills challenge leaders expect and current spending priorities.
Changali said leadership teams also needed a stronger understanding of AI as they decide where to invest and how to assess risks and returns.
“AI literacy must be built at every level of the organization. While employees need the skills to apply AI effectively and responsibly, it is just as critical for the C-suite and boards to have the necessary AI literacy to distinguish isolated experimentation from enterprise value, challenge assumptions on risk and returns, and make informed investment and business decisions to unlock and drive greater value. Without that leadership capability, organizations run the risk of just scaling activity rather than creating impact – investing in more AI without fundamentally improving how the business competes, operates and grows,” said Changali.
Beyond internal operations, the survey found chief executives were looking to transactions and portfolio changes as another route to growth. In Singapore, 72% said their growth strategy was focused more on strengthening the existing business than on rapid market expansion.
Most respondents, 85%, said they expected to pursue some form of transaction in the next 12 months. Acquisitions were cited by 58% of Singapore leaders, while 55% were considering strategic alliances, 50% joint ventures and 46% divestments.
The figures suggest leaders are trying to balance growth ambitions with tighter control over risk, cost and execution. Divestments in particular appear to be part of efforts to release capital, reduce complexity and sharpen strategic focus.
AI is also being used more widely in transaction work. Some 60% of Singapore respondents said they were piloting AI in selected deal activities, while 32% said they were using it across multiple or most transaction activities.
Chief executives saw the biggest opportunities in using AI to identify value earlier, improve decision-making and speed up execution. In Singapore, 48% pointed to earlier identification of value, and 50% to better decisions and faster deal execution.
Geophin George, EY-Parthenon Asean Transactions and Corporate Finance Leader, said: “AI’s value in transactions goes beyond informing which deals to pursue. Applied across the deal lifecycle, it can accelerate diligence, sharpen valuation, identify synergies and risks earlier, and strengthen either post-deal value creation or integration. The advantage will go to companies that use AI not just to make better decisions, but to execute with greater speed and precision and create more value from every transaction.”
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Image: Geophin George
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