A new Board Intelligence survey of more than 400 directors found that nearly all boards have discussed using AI in decision-making, while almost half are already determining which decisions AI should help shape. The findings suggest AI’s role inside organizations is evolving beyond automating tasks and analyzing data to influencing corporate strategy, investment priorities, and risk management.
For Singapore enterprises, the trend raises an important question: if AI starts influencing boardroom decisions, who remains accountable when those decisions go wrong?
Boards that have not considered AI are becoming the exception
According to the survey, 98% of respondents have at least discussed whether AI should play a role in boardroom decisions. Nearly half have already moved beyond discussion and are evaluating which decisions AI can support, while only a small minority have not considered the idea at all.
The findings indicate a growing willingness among organizations to view AI as more than a productivity tool. Instead of simply helping employees complete work faster, AI is increasingly being considered a source of strategic insight that can inform business decisions.
For Singapore enterprises, the significance lies in what this says about the future direction of AI adoption. Many organizations are still focused on operational use cases, but boards globally are beginning to explore whether AI can support decisions around risk, investment, workforce planning, and business strategy. The question may soon become not whether enterprises use AI, but how and where they are willing to use it.
Dissatisfaction with board performance is driving this trend
The survey suggests boards are not embracing AI simply because the technology is available.
Many respondents reported frustrations with how decisions are currently made, citing delays, inconsistent processes, information overload, and difficulty focusing on future opportunities. According to Board Intelligence, these challenges are encouraging organizations to explore whether AI can help improve the quality and speed of decision-making.
Those pressures are hardly unique to the survey respondents. Singapore enterprises operate in an increasingly complex environment shaped by many factors, including growing regulatory expectations. As the volume of information presented to boards continues to grow, directors may face many of the same challenges identified in the survey.
The technology is also increasingly viewed as a tool for performing the analytical heavy lifting behind major decisions. By processing large volumes of information, identifying patterns, and surfacing risks, AI could help directors spend less time reviewing data and more time evaluating strategic options.
The result is a notable shift in how organizations perceive AI’s role: from executing tasks to helping shape judgment.
Why Singapore enterprises should pay attention
The survey’s findings may carry additional significance in Singapore, as they coincide with a broader regulatory push toward accountability in organizational decision-making.
Singapore’s regulatory approach to AI has generally focused less on restricting adoption and more on ensuring that organizations can govern AI’s use responsibly. Frameworks from the Model AI Governance Framework and AI Verify emphasize transparency, risk management, and human oversight, particularly when AI is used in ways that could materially affect people or business outcomes.
Regulations like the Workplace Fairness Act (WFA) shine a light on corporate decision-making. Although the WFA was made for human decisions, when AI becomes more deeply embedded in these decision-making processes, organizations may find that adopting the technology is only part of the challenge. They must also be prepared to demonstrate how decisions were reached, what role AI played, and who ultimately signed off on the outcome.
The effect becomes closer to the trend outlined in the survey. Using AI to summarise reports, identify trends, or simplify routine tasks is one thing; relying on AI to influence investment priorities, workforce planning, risk assessments, or strategic direction is another. The closer AI gets to decisions that carry financial, legal, reputational, or human consequences, the more important governance and accountability become.
For Singapore enterprises, the challenge may therefore be less about whether AI can generate useful recommendations or sit as board members and more about how those recommendations are evaluated, documented, and acted upon. Even if AI contributes to the analysis, under Singaporean regulations, it likely won’t bear whatever consequences that decision brings.
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AI’s next enterprise challenge may be accountability
For years, enterprise AI discussions focused on efficiency, automation, and productivity gains.
The Board Intelligence survey suggests the conversation around enterprise AI is now expanding into a more consequential area: decision-making itself. For Singapore enterprises, that shift could prove particularly significant because it sits at the intersection of two trends already underway: growing AI adoption and growing expectations around organizational accountability.
If boards increasingly rely on AI-generated analysis and recommendations, organizations will need governance structures that balance innovation with accountability. How prepared these organizations are to put the structures in place remains to be seen.