CEOs worldwide, including those in Singapore, feared falling behind in AI in 2025. In 2026, they fear something far more personal — being held accountable for it.
A new global study from Dataiku shows that CEOs are expected to deliver measurable business gains from AI, even as many still do not fully trust, control, or govern the systems informing and making critical business decisions.
In Singapore, 89% of CEOs say they would stake their job on delivering results from AI initiatives, yet 33% still would not allow AI to make decisions without human approval.
The research was conducted online by The Harris Poll on behalf of Dataiku from February 2, 2026, through March 2, 2026. The survey was conducted among 900 CEOs in the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, the United Arab Emirates, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore.
Respondents to this study work for large companies with an annual revenue of more than US$500 million or regional equivalents and hold the title of CEO.
The pressure on CEOs has intensified sharply in just one year. Globally, 81% say their job will be at risk by the end of 2026, but in Singapore, the sentiment is even starker, with 88% of CEOs admitting so.
Meanwhile, 83% believe a fellow CEO will be ousted due to a failed AI strategy or crisis.
Dataiku said the era of AI as a strategic bet is over. Boards want results and are running out of patience for missing proof of AI’s impact on business performance.
“Every enterprise now has access to powerful AI. The differentiator is whether they can turn that power into reliable business decisions,” said Florian Douetteau, CEO and co-founder of Dataiku.
“That is the cognitive dissonance happening in the C-suite right now: CEOs are staking their jobs on AI, but still questioning its outputs and struggling to control the systems they say they own,” said Douetteau. “The companies that close that gap will be the ones building AI worth being accountable for. That is what separates a bet from a business.”
As AI scales, so does the growing strain on operations and governance across Singapore enterprises — 95% of CEOs believe at least some employees are using generative AI tools without approval, known as “Shadow AI.”
Also, 78% are concerned about legal exposure from AI agents, and 59% say insufficient AI explainability could lead to a crisis that erodes customer trust or brand credibility
The disconnect extends beyond the CEO level, running through the entire organisation. While 81% of CEOs are confident they will be able to deploy AI agents in full production in 2026, significant barriers remain.
Among CIOs in Singapore, 88% say gaps in traceability or explainability have already delayed or stopped AI projects from reaching production.
AI accountability is intensifying faster in Singapore, where expectations and visibility at the leadership level are particularly high — 78% of Singapore CEOs say their involvement in AI decisions has increased, versus 79% globally, reflecting heightened accountability.
Also, 94% say they are comfortable disclosing AI-driven decisions to their boards, on par with the global average, reinforcing that AI is now fully exposed at the highest levels. That pressure is translating directly into personal risk.
Further, 86% say their role is on the line if they fail to deliver measurable business gains from AI by the end of 2026, reinforcing just how tightly leadership outcomes are now tied to AI performance.
