AI agents go mainstream in Singapore sales teams

New Salesforce survey data suggests artificial intelligence, including AI agents, is becoming a mainstream part of sales work in Singapore, as teams look to reduce administrative burdens and work around fragmented data.

Its State of Sales research is based on responses from more than 4,000 sales professionals worldwide, including 100 in Singapore. The findings describe sales teams facing higher customer expectations while operating with limited capacity, and link the shortfall to time spent on administrative work rather than gaps in effort or skills.

In Singapore, 80% of sales organisations said they already use AI for tasks such as prospecting, forecasting, lead scoring, and drafting emails. Use of AI agents is also gaining pace: half of sellers said they have used agents, and 44% plan to do so by 2027.

Salesforce framed agent-based tools as a way to shift time away from routine work and towards customer engagement. Leaders who already use agents also reported strong support for the technology: 82% of Singapore sales leaders with agents said they are critical for meeting business demands.

Singapore participants also reported day-to-day benefits. Among AI users, 91% said AI deepens customer understanding and 83% said it makes their job less stressful.

Time pressures

The research highlights how much routine work sits inside sales roles. On average, sellers spend 40% of their time selling. For Gen Z sales representatives, that falls to 35%-equating to roughly two additional hours a week spent on manual data entry compared with more senior colleagues.

The report also points to a training and feedback gap for younger staff. It found that 46% of Gen Z respondents rarely receive feedback on their sales conversations, and 47% said they do not get enough roleplay opportunities before customer calls. Gen Z respondents cited lack of manager time as the top barrier to effective enablement, while other generations pointed to limited access to data and insights.

These pressures appear to be affecting workforce sentiment. Salesforce reported that Gen Z respondents are more open to leaving their job than any other generation, citing a lack of advancement opportunities as the main reason.

Paul Carvouni, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Salesforce ASEAN, linked the findings to the demands of consultative selling in the market.

"In Singapore's competitive business landscape, buyers respond to consultative and value-driven sales approaches. At the same time, sales leaders today grapple with finding the right talent & capacity to deliver that level of engagement. Agentic AI is the strategic lever that allows businesses to offload time-consuming administrative tasks and empower sales teams to focus on quality sales conversations that truly drive business growth and sharpen competitive advantage in the region."

Prospecting focus

The survey suggests prospecting remains a pain point for many sellers in Singapore. Some 70% of sales representatives identified cold calling as the worst part of their job, while teams also reported capacity limits that constrain outreach.

Respondents said they devote nearly one full day of their workweek to prospecting. Even so, 71% said they lack the bandwidth for adequate cold outreach. Against that backdrop, 46% said they use AI for prospecting, while another 49% plan to do so in future.

The research also links higher performance with the use of AI agents. Globally, top-performing sellers were 1.7 times more likely to use prospecting AI agents for outreach than underperforming teams. Salesforce also reported that 92% of global sellers with AI agents said it benefits their prospecting efforts.

Data obstacles

The research suggests many organisations still face foundational data issues that limit how well AI tools work. In Singapore, 64% of sales leaders using AI said disconnected systems are slowing their AI initiatives.

In response, 85% of Singapore sales professionals said they are focusing on data cleansing across siloed systems, including removing duplicates, correcting errors and omissions, and standardising formats.

The report frames data hygiene as a differentiator between performance tiers, with 79% of high performers prioritising it compared with 54% of underperformers.

Looking ahead, respondents expect AI agents to reduce time spent on common tasks once fully implemented. They estimated agents could cut prospect research time by 32% and reduce email drafting time by 34%.