News
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Singapore's Most Important AI Companies Are the Ones You Never Hear About
A Straits Times opinion piece argues Singapore's most important AI companies are the quiet, unnoticed firms solving SME problems — following the same one-viable-business-at-a-time playbook that built Southeast Asian tycoons like Tan Kah Kee and Aw Boon Haw.
82% of Singapore Firms Have Rolled Back Live AI Agents, Survey Finds
A Sinch survey reveals 82% of Singapore enterprises have rolled back live AI agents — eight points above the global average — despite boasting the highest AI deployment rate in Asia-Pacific at 72%. The governance gap is the starkest in the region.
Vietnam Leads Southeast Asia in AI Enthusiasm as Singapore Workers Stay Sceptical
An ADP survey of 39,000 workers reveals 29% of Vietnamese workers strongly believe AI will benefit their jobs versus just 15% in Singapore — the lowest in SEA. Singapore workers also rank lowest in job security confidence and employer upskilling trust.
AI Demand Expected to Sustain Singapore Export Momentum Through Geopolitical Headwinds
Economists expect artificial intelligence-related demand to keep driving Singapore non-oil domestic exports in the months ahead, even as Middle East tensions threaten global trade routes. Maybank has already lifted its full-year 2026 NODX forecast to 15 percent, following May blockbuster.
Singapore Hiring Intentions Cool to Late-2021 Levels, but AI and Tech Roles Remain in Demand
Singapore hiring confidence has fallen to its weakest level since late 2021, with just 35 percent of employers planning to increase headcount in the third quarter of 2026. But beneath the cautious headline numbers lies a clear exception: employers are still aggressively competing for.
Rapid AI Adoption Outpaces Enterprise Security Policies, Survey Finds
Nearly half of organisations lack a formal AI strategy even as more than 60 per cent of workers use AI tools daily, according to a new Okta survey that highlights a growing governance gap in enterprise AI adoption.
SMRT's Stellar Lifestyle Deploys AI and Robotics to Revive Transit Retail
Stellar Lifestyle, the retail and advertising arm of Singapore's SMRT, is using AI and robotics to reinvent transit retail across the MRT network's 3 million daily commuters, supported by IMDA's Open Innovation Platform.
Singapore Exports Surge 38.4 Percent in May on AI-Driven Demand
Singapore's key exports surged 38.4 percent in May — the biggest jump since 2003 — driven by surging global demand for artificial intelligence-related components and equipment. The data, which caught most economists by surprise, underscores the extent to which AI infrastructure buildout.
Swift Appoints Michael Manos as CIO to Lead AI and Post-Quantum Strategy
Swift has appointed Michael Manos as its new Chief Information Officer, tasking the 30-year technology veteran with steering the financial messaging giant's response to artificial intelligence, tokenisation, and the looming threat of quantum computing.
AI Mandates Fuel Rising Anxiety Among Singapore Workers, Study Finds
Singapore's relentless push for AI adoption may be taking an unexpected toll on the very workforce it aims to empower. A Telus Mental Health Index survey of 1,000 Singapore workers, conducted between February and March 2026, found that those under pressure to use AI score markedly worse.
Singapore Workers Lead Globally in AI-Driven Productivity, Microsoft Study Shows
Singapore's knowledge workers are outpacing global peers in AI-driven productivity, with 66 per cent producing work they couldn't have created a year ago — eight points above the global average. The Microsoft 2026 Work Trend Index finds organisational culture matters twice as much as individual effort, but leadership alignment remains a weak spot.
Acrab Raises $350M to Build Agentic AI Compute Infrastructure in Singapore
Acrab, a Singapore-headquartered startup building the hardware and software stack for agentic AI, has raised over US$350 million in cumulative financing. Backed by Temasek-linked Vertex, the company is developing dedicated AI silicon and a full-stack compute architecture designed for edge-based agentic workloads.