Most businesses are digitalised yet many miss optimal value: report

The report found that only 15% of businesses have fully integrated core systems.

Whilst 91% of Singaporean businesses are digitalised to some degree, only a fraction are fully leveraging their technology, according to a HubSpot research.

The report found that only 15% of businesses have fully integrated core systems, impacting return on investment, as fully integrated companies are three times more likely to see ROI within a month.

Moreover, digitally mature businesses with advanced artificial intelligence are five times more likely to report strong performance, rising to nine times for fully digitalised businesses, and ten times for those with fully integrated systems.

Whilst 83% of businesses have adopted AI, only 16% are in advanced implementation stages. Fragmented data from integration challenges appears to hinder AI initiatives, as only 6% of early AI adopters are fully integrated.

Further, as businesses mature digitally, barriers shift from technology to internal bottlenecks such as a lack of leadership buy-in and slow decision-making. Nearly 40% of fully digitalised businesses cite slow decision-making as their biggest growth barrier.

Lastly, government support has significantly aided digital transformation, with 89% of businesses reporting a positive influence from programs like the Enterprise Development Grant.

However, smaller businesses show a slightly less pronounced impact (86%) compared to large enterprises (93%).