Some organisations may find it challenging to manage their environment as the number of artificial intelligence (AI) tools increase.
It can be a struggle to ensure everything is running as it should, especially for organisations that deploy different multiple applications and systems.
“The thing that worries me the most is the inconsistency,” said Alvaro Garrido, COO of technology and operations and CIO of information security and data, Standard Chartered Singapore.
He noted that his cybersecurity team works hard to address potential AI-related risks, including hallucinations, agentic, and cyber attacks.
Standard Chartered taps AI at the front-end, pushing relevant information to customers, as well as the backend in its banking operations, including fraud detection.
It buys AI products from different vendors and these do not all operate consistently, Garrido said, during a fireside chat at Gitex AI Asia 2026 in Singapore.
“You’re only as strong as your weakest link,” he said, adding that Standard Chartered has to ensure it is adopting AI safely and this includes its supply chain.
It works closely with vendors, third parties, and customers to build more resilience across the entire ecosystem within which the bank operates, Garrido said.
As it is, 94% of organisations are concerned that AI sprawl is driving complexity, technical debt, and security risk, according to an April 2026 report by OutSystems. The study polled 1,879 respondents worldwide, including India, Japan, Germany, and the UK.
Some 96% are using AI agents in some form, while 97% are looking at system-wide agentic AI strategies, the study found.
Another 38% use a combination of custom-built and pre-built AI agents, which OutSystems noted would create AI stacks that are difficult to standardise and secure.
Just 7% have adopted a unified platform to build and manage their applications, data, and AI agents. This suggests most are tapping agents across fragmented environment, according to the report.
Some 41% cite the ability to use multiple AI models, without vendor lock-in, as a core capability needed to expand their use of agentic AI, the study revealed.
“As organisations move towards a ‘system of agents’ model, the challenge is no longer just about adoption, but about creating a stable architectural foundation that can coordinate these complex intelligent systems to drive real-world productivity,” said OutSystems CEO Woodson Martin.
Finding stability in absence of rules-based order
Efforts to create a stable cyber space also must continue, even in the absence of “rules-based order” amidst growing geopolitical tensions.
“If we look at the state of the world today, actually it goes without saying that the post-World War II rules-based order has been completely upended,” said David Koh, commissioner of cybersecurity and chief executive of Singapore’s Cyber Security Agency (CSA).
In the absence of a robust rules-based order to rely on, nations must work to ensure some level of stability in cyberspace exists, Koh said, during his keynote address at Gitex.
Any international order must provide strategic stability, both in the physical and cyber realms, he noted.
“If we want to reap the benefits of AI and the future, robotics, and Industry 4.0, then we need stability in cyberspace,” he said.
This will enable everyone to be reasonably confident to use cyberspace safely and securely, where the availability and integrity of services and information are assured, he added.
“Cyberspace needs to be predictable, accessible, interoperable, and functioning,” he said. “While change, tensions, and conflict in cyberspace are not absent, they are nonetheless managed, balance, and non-escalatory.”
However, cyberspace increasingly is becoming unstable, threatened by growing geopolitical tensions and evolving cyber threats, said Koh, who is also chief quantum advisor for the Ministry of Digital Development and Information.
Cyber threats, for example, climbed by 47% in the first quarter of 2025 compared to the same period in 2024, he said, citing figures from Checkpoint.
Ransomware also is expected to cause US$74 billion in damages this year, according to Cybersecurity Ventures. This figure is projected to increase further to US$276 billion by 2031.
Singapore, too, saw a four-fold increase in APT (Advanced Persistent Threats) attacks between 2021 and 2024. The country’s critical information infrastructures (CIIs) last year were attacked by APT actor UNC3886, Koh said.
“The deteriorating state of cyber stability is of concern and potentially dangerous,” he said.
He noted that countries already were tweaking their policies to address such threats and putting in measures to safeguard their networks.
There also are calls for more robust forms of action, he added.
He underscored the need for “cyber leaders”, including governments, academia, and industry players, to play their part in preserving cyber stability.
Such efforts should include open channels of communications, to pre-empt escalation, he said.
He also urged for deepen collaboration between cyber agencies locally and globally, such as exchanging threat intel and expertise, and working together to disrupt operations of common adversaries.
In addition, countries must “do what we can” to uphold existing consensus and agreements, Koh said, pointing to international laws such as the United Nations Charter.
