AI agent breach fuels Wong's push for tighter safeguards

ADP finds just 17% of Singapore workers feel ready to advance amidst AI shift.

Singapore's push to scale up artificial intelligence (AI) adoption will hinge on more than technological progress alone, with industry players stressing that workforce readiness and safeguards will determine how successful — and inclusive — that shift becomes.

At this year's National Day Rally, Prime Minister Lawrence Wong announced that Singapore will put safeguards in place as AI agents become capable of taking more actions with less human supervision.

He cited an incident in which an OpenAI agent broke into another company's systems during testing — acting beyond what its developers intended, without being instructed to do so — as an example of risks that grow harder to predict as the technology becomes more powerful.

Beyond the question of agent safeguards, industry leaders have also pointed to the workforce dimension of Singapore's AI push.

"Progress will depend not only on innovation, but on investing in skills, infrastructure and trusted safeguards so that adoption is both responsible and inclusive. No single company or government agency can do this alone," said Andy Sim, vice president and managing director, Singapore at Dell Technologies.

"The real test for our industry lies not only in how advanced AI becomes, but in how responsibly it is deployed, how effectively we scale its impact, and how consistently we keep people at the centre," he added.

In his budget speech early this year, Wong said Singapore would focus on building industry clusters powered by AI, linking companies across sectors to develop technologies that could compete globally. The government will also set up a National AI Council to guide a set of AI missions designed to speed up adoption across sectors and cement Singapore's standing as a regional hub for innovation.

On the skills front, Leanne Chin, chief financial officer, APAC at ADP, said in a statement ahead of the National Day Rally that the bigger risk to Singapore's workforce is not AI itself, but a failure to prepare people for how work is changing.

"The real risk is not AI itself. It is failing to prepare people for how work is changing. Organisations that actively guide that transition will be better positioned to unlock the benefits of AI while retaining the talent they need to succeed," she said.

Chin also said that technology alone will not determine future productivity. Citing ADP's People at Work 2026 report, she noted that only 17% of Singapore workers feel they have the skills needed to advance, and only 13% feel their employer is investing in the skills they need.

"AI adoption may create new opportunities, but employees need confidence that they can keep pace with changing expectations. Skills development can no longer be treated as a standalone learning initiative," Chin said.