Governance, workforce gaps hinder companies’ AI adoption despite rising investments: KPMG

[SINGAPORE] While more than seven in 10 CEOs rank artificial intelligence as a top investment priority, many companies are struggling to scale adoption, KPMG’s 2025 Global CEO Outlook survey showed.

The findings highlight a widening disparity between ambition and sustained enterprise impact as businesses move from early-stage experimentation to large-scale AI deployment.

Gaps in governance, data readiness and workforce capability were the factors most cited by companies.

To address these, KPMG in Singapore on Monday (May 25) launched the Trusted Artificial Intelligence Centre of Excellence (AI CoE) to help organisations adopt and scale AI responsibly, supported by the Economic Development Board (EDB).

Positioned as a dedicated capability hub, the centre aims to help organisations “embed AI as a trusted, enterprise-ready asset”.

It is also aimed at reinforcing Singapore’s standing as a global hub for trusted AI innovation and deployment by “bringing together businesses, academia and the public sector”, said KPMG in a statement. 

Lee Sze Yeng, managing partner of KPMG in Singapore, said that the centre will help businesses to identify capability gaps and develop AI systems that meet international standards. 

“We are partnering with businesses to rigorously assess where they stand, close the gaps that matter, and build AI that is trusted not just locally but in the markets most critical to their growth,” she said.

Speaking at the launch, Minister of State for Digital Development and Information Jasmin Lau said that trust is the “core enabler” of an AI-powered economy. 

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“Without trust, adoption will stall, not because the technology is not ready, but because our people are not ready.”

She added that Singapore aims to position itself and its companies as regional benchmarks for trusted AI, amid growing demand for credible and independent AI assurance as companies deploy AI systems across borders.

Support to scale deployments

KPMG in Singapore also introduced on Monday its Trusted AI Assurance framework, an assessment approach to help businesses evaluate and scale AI deployments.

Developed in response to growing concerns over trust and accountability in companies’ AI adoption, the framework is aimed at helping them move from “isolated pilots” to enterprise-wide deployment by strengthening governance, workforce capability and infrastructure readiness.

Initial focus sectors for the AI CoE include financial services, manufacturing, healthcare and real estate, as well as functional areas such as finance, governance and operations.

Jermaine Loy, managing director of EDB, said the centre will “enable businesses across diverse sectors… to scale use of AI with confidence”.

“At the same time, this strengthens Singapore’s growing AI ecosystem by building enterprise capabilities and workforce readiness for AI adoption,” he added.

Leadership plays a part

At Monday’s launch event, a panel titled “Honest Conversations: AI Transformation and the Singapore Opportunity” had industry leaders highlighting the importance of leadership readiness and AI literacy in enabling successful AI adoption.

Johnson Poh, assistant chief executive of the enterprise transformation and innovation group at the Infocomm Media Development Authority, said that leadership teams must understand how AI reshapes workflows and introduces new risks to successfully embed the technology across organisations. 

Chen Ze Ling, managing director and group head of corporate and small and medium-sized enterprise banking at DBS, said that the size of a business matters less than its level of AI readiness and literacy.

“To build confidence in AI tools, we have to build AI literacy across the organisation,” he pointed out, adding that businesses should first focus on defining the problem they are trying to solve before deciding whether to proceed with AI investments.