Nearly 70% of Singapore finance leaders struggle to scale AI

Another 64% pointed to fragmented or inconsistent data across systems.

Nearly seven in 10 Singapore finance decision-makers said difficulty monitoring, testing, or validating artificial intelligence (AI) outputs in production is a major obstacle to scaling the technology across operations. 

The issue, cited by 68% of respondents, is the most commonly identified technology challenge in the market, according to a Forrester Consulting study commissioned by Airwallex.

Another 64% pointed to fragmented or inconsistent finance data across systems, entities or regions, whilst 61% cited legacy systems that are difficult to adapt or modernise for AI use cases.

The infrastructure gaps remain even as adoption becomes widespread, with about 68% of respondents’ finance workflows partially digitalised. Meanwhile, 32% described them as fully digitalised. 

Over half (53%) said data either flows inconsistently between finance platforms or remains largely siloed.

Skills were the most commonly cited business-side challenge, with 49% citing gaps or limited experience in operating AI-enabled finance processes. 

Difficulty building a clear business case beyond short-term productivity gains was cited by 44%, whilst 40% identified risk, compliance or reputational concerns.

Despite these constraints, 86% of the market’s finance decision-makers said their organisations had adopted AI in at least some finance workflows, slightly above the global rate of 84%.  

Some 46% plan to expand adoption over the next 12 months, the report showed.

Investment is also expected to increase, with almost all (96%) anticipating higher spending on AI-powered finance over the coming year.

Across core finance workflows, 18% said AI executes tasks autonomously with minimal human input, compared with 11% globally. 

In record-to-report functions such as bookkeeping, closing, and reporting, the share rises to 27%, versus 14% globally.

The report surveyed over 1,200 respondents across 11 markets, including Singapore, and included six in-depth interviews with finance decision-makers.