Not too long ago, artificial intelligence (AI) was seen as confined to the realms of academia or science fiction. Today, it has found its way into almost every industry. Indeed, the progression of AI from a niche interest to a universal force is as remarkable as the technology itself.
This shift has ignited global competition, with countries striving to lead in AI. Singapore’s position as a regional hub, bolstered by thriving AI startups, leading universities, and strong government investment, gives it a significant advantage in the race to lead in AI. There is strong support from the local population too: A study shows that Singaporeans have a consistently more positive attitude towards AI than other countries. 90% believe in the broad benefits of AI, and 60% are willing to trust AI in the workplace.
AI has played a major role in transforming industries in just the last three to five years in terms of productivity and efficiency, one of its significant impacts has been the rise of GenAI and AI agents which now play a crucial role in various applications and interactions.
AI agents are an important evolution of generative AI (GenAI). These intelligent software entities can autonomously perform tasks, reason, and make decisions based on their training data and their defined domain to drive business value. In contrast to conventional AI models, AI agents have a certain degree of autonomy that enables them to act independently and adapt to changing circumstances. We are now at the beginning of a new chapter in which scores of intelligent AI agents are already performing tasks on behalf of humans.
Harnessing the power of AI agents
When companies deploy AI agents, they can significantly expand their AI capabilities beyond simple productivity tools or just be limited to content generation. What’s powerful about AI agents is that, while conventional systems typically handle content generation one step at a time, agents are capable of performing an entire sequence of steps and actions on their own.
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Therefore, the shift from passive GenAI to proactive AI agents will be essential for organisations aiming to transform siloed actions into fully autonomous systems, as these agents can seamlessly integrate and coordinate tasks across different functions without the need for constant human intervention. AI agents are revolutionising industries by automating repetitive tasks, analysing vast datasets, and offering personalised customer service.
Consider a business that generates social media content with GenAI. The AI system initially generates posts using input data and pre-established rules. An AI can up the game and determine when and where to post information, evaluate the effectiveness of prior postings, and modify content strategy based on engagement - all without the need for human intervention.
How can organisations get started with AI agents?
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Data is the lifeblood of AI. Almost three-quarters (73%) of organisations face a lack of data readiness for AI initiatives due to undiscoverable, fragmented, and untrustworthy data, according to the Boomi AI Readiness Assessment. As the saying goes “Garbage in, garbage out”, if organisations use unreliable data, it will thus lead to unreliable AI insights also known as AI hallucinations.
Data quality is key to ensuring the accuracy, completeness and compliance of data. Data liquidity which refers to how quickly data can be contextualised for consumption in customer and other user experiences is also a key factor.
To adopt AI and AI agents effectively to benefit from increased productivity and cost savings, organisations need to have a data foundation in place, as a lot of trust is required around the accuracy of data. If an organisation doesn't understand what data it has, it's challenging to trust the quality and accuracy of output from a large language model (LLM) and AI agent. Organisations also need to seamlessly access, combine, and analyse data from various sources enabling businesses to extract relevant information and apply it effectively to specific scenarios. Those organisations that get the right data at the right time and place, will be the most successful with AI.
Singapore's agent of change: The AI revolution
As Singapore continues to reinforce its lead as a regional hub for innovation, organisations must swiftly adapt to the rapidly evolving landscape shaped by advances in AI. With their advanced capabilities that take AI and automation to the next level, AI agents have immense potential to revolutionise industries and drive economic growth in Singapore.
In the coming years, organisations are likely to see thousands of AI agents working autonomously, addressing gaps, making decisions, and performing tasks across diverse applications and sectors. These capabilities can lead to increased productivity and cost savings, making them invaluable assets for organisations to not just maintain but also sharpen their competitive edge.
David Irecki is the chief technology officer for APJ at Boomi
