Almost half of senior leaders say they are only prepared to a small extent to lead organisation-wide transformation driven by artificial intelligence (AI), according to new research from NTUC LearningHub, pointing to a widening gap between AI ambition and leadership readiness.

The findings, released on 23 July 2026, come from NTUC LearningHub’s Special Report on Leadership in an AI-Driven World, which surveyed 131 senior leaders across industries including infocomm technology, finance, advanced manufacturing and healthcare, all of whom have some experience with AI and are involved in AI adoption decisions at their organisations.

Ambition outpacing readiness

Some 46 per cent of senior leaders said they are prepared only to a small extent to lead AI-driven transformation, while a further 2 per cent said they are not prepared at all. In comparison, 37 per cent felt prepared to a moderate extent, and just 15 per cent considered themselves prepared to a large extent.

Keeping pace with rapidly evolving AI technology was cited as the top challenge, by 40 per cent of respondents, followed by regulatory and compliance uncertainty (37 per cent) and insufficient budget or resources for AI adoption (36 per cent). A further 34 per cent pointed to data quality and governance challenges, and another 34 per cent cited the need to upskill or reskill employees to work alongside AI.

• Only 34 per cent of senior leaders have attended formal training or upskilling on AI-era leadership in the past two years, though 53 per cent plan to do so.
• 37 per cent said their leadership approach has shifted toward greater focus on people management and employee wellbeing during AI-driven change.
• Two in five leaders (40 per cent) regard human-centric skills, such as creative and critical thinking, as very important in the AI era.

‘The gap between expectation and readiness reflects a fundamental shift in what is required of leadership in today’s AI era,’ said Mr Sean Lim, Chief Human Resource Officer, NTUC LearningHub. ‘Leaders were once expected to hold all the answers and direct from the top. However, they must now act as strategic navigators, making sense of complexity and providing guidance through this period of rapid change and uncertainty.’

Confidence in high-stakes AI decisions remains mixed

The readiness gap extends into decision-making. Over two in five leaders (43 per cent) said they were quite confident making high-stakes AI-related decisions, while 13 per cent said they were very confident. However, 40 per cent said they were not very confident, and 4 per cent said they were not confident at all.

Among training priorities, AI literacy and strategic understanding topped the list at 57 per cent, followed by data-driven decision-making (46 per cent) and ethical AI governance and responsible deployment (40 per cent). NTUC LearningHub said the full report is available for download on its website.