About 78% of IT leaders in Singapore reported that the lack of real-time data infrastructure is hindering AI adoption. This was revealed in a report by Confluent analysts.
According to the 2026 Data Streaming Report, which surveyed 4,625 IT leaders across 14 countries, 72% of companies faced three or more challenges in scaling AI initiatives. In Singapore, this figure reached 78%.
The main obstacles include:
- insufficient infrastructure for processing streaming data — 72% (a significant increase from 61% in 2025);
- chronic shortage of skills and experience in AI — 71%;
- uncertainty regarding the origin, timeliness, and quality of information — 66%;
- fragmented data ownership — 65%;
- limited ability to seamlessly integrate new sources — 64%.
For Singapore, the most pressing issue is the lack of infrastructure for real-time data processing. Analysts indicate that this barrier negatively impacts the deployment of agent-based AI, as systems need to make decisions based on current business or customer conditions, rather than relying on outdated information.
More than 73% of leaders from Singaporean IT firms reported project suspensions in this area. These figures are comparable to those across the Asia-Pacific region, where 74% of projects were frozen and 53% were closed.
Regarding investment priorities, 86% of Singaporean leaders rank data streaming among their top focuses, alongside AI and machine learning solutions.
In February, JPMorgan analysts reported on the bets made by the world's largest family offices on artificial intelligence.