Singapore ranks highest among eight countries surveyed for AI governance maturity, according to a new report from OneTrust, even as businesses there report growing friction between rapid AI adoption and the controls meant to keep it in check.

The AI-Ready Governance Platform surveyed 1,200 senior business decision-makers across the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Spain, Australia and Singapore for its second annual AI-Ready Governance Report, published on 14 September.

Governance keeping pace, but gaps remain

Some 41 percent of Singaporean organisations said governance is now built into the AI lifecycle — the highest share of any country in the survey. A third reported using AI across multiple business functions.

That lead comes with strain. Nearly half, 46 percent, said employees had used AI tools that weren’t approved because sanctioned tools or processes weren’t ready in time. Separately, 57 percent pointed to data quality, access, privacy or security concerns as the biggest reason AI initiatives had been delayed or stalled.

“The real test now is whether governance can keep pace,” said Arran Mulvaney, OneTrust’s Regional Director for Southeast Asia and India.

Mulvaney argued governance needs to be built into AI systems from the outset, rather than bolted on after an incident, and that businesses which get this right will be positioned to scale AI further.

The picture beyond Singapore

Globally, the report found a wider gap between how fast AI agents are being adopted and how well they’re being watched. While 87 percent of organisations said they encourage AI agent use, only 47 percent had clear governance and oversight in place. More than a quarter, 28 percent, had experienced two or more incidents in the past year in which AI systems took unapproved actions.

Despite that, 86 percent of respondents reported at least one AI-related incident — from sensitive data exposure to misinformation — in the past year, and organisations were more likely to respond with employee training (49 percent) than by pausing AI deployment (27 percent).

The survey was conducted by Sapio Research on OneTrust’s behalf.