Singapore workers are open to AI, but few use it daily at work

Singapore desk workers are less sceptical about AI than many of their global peers, but that openness has not translated into daily workplace use, according to new Salesforce research.

The survey found that 29% of Singapore respondents identified as AI sceptics, below the global average of 37% and lower than the 53% recorded across the United States, United Kingdom and France. Yet only 6% of Singapore desk workers said AI was a core part of their day-to-day work, compared with the global average of 11%.

Salesforce attributed the gap to weak corporate rollouts rather than worker resistance. The findings suggest that Singapore organisations may have an adoption problem rooted in how AI tools are introduced, trained, and fitted into existing work.

Poor pilots are weakening confidence

Among Singapore workers who had experienced unsuccessful AI pilots, 31% pointed to problems with the quality of those pilots.

The most common issue was generic output. Salesforce found that 40% of these respondents cited generic AI responses as a reason for failed pilots, the highest proportion among the markets surveyed and above the global figure of 30%.

Trust was another problem. Some 38% of Singapore respondents who had seen unsuccessful pilots flagged low trust in AI outputs, compared with 28% globally. Another 30% said the results lacked business context, against a global average of 22%.

Those findings point to a practical problem for employers. Workers may be willing to use AI, but the tools still need to produce relevant, reliable and context-aware output before they can become part of regular work. If early pilots produce answers that require heavy checking or rewriting, employees are less likely to build AI into their daily routines.

Daily use depends on workflow fit

Salesforce also identified more than 500 workers globally who had moved from initial pilots to deep daily AI usage. The company found that successful adoption was linked to role-specific training, AI tools embedded into existing workflows, and stronger data security.

That gives business leaders a clearer view of where AI rollouts can fail. A tool that sits outside normal work patterns may generate interest during a pilot, but it is less likely to become habitual if employees have to leave their existing systems, supply too much context manually, or question whether the output can be trusted.

For Singapore organisations, the research places more weight on implementation quality. AI adoption is less likely to improve through access alone. The tools need to reflect how employees work, what data they can use, and what level of accuracy is required for professional tasks.

Paul Carvouni, SVP and GM for ASEAN at Salesforce, said Singapore workers were “waiting for AI that works for them”. He added that leaders need to move past generic tools and use AI that is trusted, grounded in business context, and built into daily work.

Survey covered desk workers across 14 markets

Salesforce conducted the online survey with YouGov among more than 1,500 desk workers across Australia, India, Japan, Singapore, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Saudi Arabia, the United Kingdom, Mexico, the United States and Canada.

Desk workers were defined as employees whose day-to-day roles are mainly based on mental labour rather than manual or task-based labour. Respondents were required to have at least minimal familiarity with AI.

The survey was conducted from December 2025 to January 2026. Salesforce said the sample was representative across job roles, industries and business size.