Notion Targets SGD $85B Productivity Gap as AI-Powered Workflows Gain Traction

Notion, the Artificial Intelligence (AI) workspace that helps you build beautiful tools for your life’s work, has announced new findings on the scale of workplace inefficiency in Singapore. At the same time, it reaffirmed its investment in the market amid rapid local adoption.

As Singapore businesses navigate increasingly complex tech stacks, Notion’s new research reveals that local office workers lose an average of 66 minutes daily to inefficient work. That is equivalent to more than five hours per week on low-value tasks. This inefficiency could cost the country up to SGD $85 billion annually, representing 12.5% of national GDP.

Fragmentation is Fuelling Inefficiency and Workplace Stress

Notion’s research points to fragmented digital experiences as the primary cause of lost productivity. While nearly half of respondents personally use three to four different tools each day, and more than a quarter juggle five or more, the issue runs deeper at the organisational level.

With different teams often relying on separate, siloed systems, companies may be managing tens or even hundreds of disconnected apps. As such, this makes it harder for employees to find information or collaborate effectively. This constant tool-switching, which can happen up to ten times a day, contributes to cognitive burden and 48% of workers say it directly adds to their workplace stress.

Workers also waste valuable time searching for information across platforms. Nearly a quarter spend one to two hours per day looking for documents and data. In fact, 42% of respondents cited this information hunting as one of their job’s most inefficient aspects, second only to “swapping from one tool to another.”

Appetite for AI to Streamline

Singapore’s office workers see AI as a promising solution to these challenges. According to the research, 82% would adopt AI tools that could significantly reduce time spent searching for information or switching between platforms. Younger professionals lead this trend, with 85% of Gen Z respondents show strong interest in AI-powered workflows, compared to 76% of Gen X.

Andrew McCarthy, General Manager of ANZ, SEA, and India at Notion, noted: “The digital workplace has become a maze of disconnected tools that’s taking a serious toll on Singapore professionals. With 76% of workers calling for businesses to unify their tech stack, we need to listen. Our research reveals the hidden costs of this fragmentation—the average professional spends 84 minutes learning each new tool, with 35% feeling this time is completely wasted. The promise of AI isn’t just about automation; it’s about creating a more humane work experience. We’re seeing professionals eager to reclaim productive time, especially to automate repetitive tasks, retrieve information efficiently, and improve research and analysis processes.”

Notion’s Momentum in Singapore

Since launching Notion 2.0 in 2016, the company has experienced rapid growth in adoption from both individuals and teams. Over a million people in Singapore have signed up for Notion, highlighting the strong demand for tools that streamline tech stacks and save valuable time.

“At Notion, we’re addressing this demand by providing a connected AI workspace that eliminates the cognitive burden of juggling multiple platforms. The strong uptake we’re seeing from local businesses and global tech leaders operating in Singapore shows that this market leads the way in embracing a more intelligent approach to work,” added McCarthy.

To build on this momentum, Notion is actively investing in the region and will soon be hiring its first Singapore-based team member to support local customers. In fact, major global companies with operations in Singapore, like Figma, have already adopted Notion to help their teams work smarter.

“Notion makes it easy for our team to collaborate and ship things quickly. It has also helped us stay connected and aligned as we grow across multiple regions. This in turn has freed us up to do what we love most—spending time with our customers,” said Scott Pugh, General Manager of APAC at Figma.

Similarly, homegrown businesses have also seen measurable gains in efficiency and alignment by streamlining their workflows with Notion.

“As any fast-growing startup knows, scaling requires clear and centralised knowledge management. Notion ensures that key information remains easily accessible and serves as our team’s go-to platform to clarify priorities, stay aligned, and move faster,” noted Allen Lee, Head of People at Aspire.

Notion is also expanding accessibility across Southeast Asia, with plans to launch Thai, Vietnamese, and Indonesian versions of Notion in the coming months.

The Notion Solution

Notion provides a connected AI workspace that brings all knowledge and work together in a tool that adapts to every individual and team. With Notion, people can create exactly the tools they need through customisable software building blocks. Notion AI also helps users eliminate context-switching and save hours on time spent searching for information across different applications, creating more space for deep work and creativity.

In a major AI update earlier this month, Notion introduced a powerful suite of integrated AI capabilities designed to transform workplace productivity. The update included the following:

• Enterprise Search for searching across multiple work apps and tools.
• Research Mode for generating comprehensive reports.
• AI Meeting Notes for real-time transcription and meeting summaries
• Redesigned AI Home interface.

The company also announced that unlimited access to these AI features, including access to advanced models like GPT-4.1 and Claude 3.7 Sonnet, will be included in all Notion Business and Enterprise plans, with free trials available to all.

Last month, the company introduced Notion Mail, a customisable inbox designed to be more personalised and powerful than existing email solutions. Using built-in Notion AI to handle tedious tasks, Notion Mail tackles the inefficiency of traditional email inboxes.

Key features of Notion Mail include AI-powered auto-labelling, custom views for prioritising messages, one-click snippets for replies, built-in scheduling, a personal AI editor, and keyboard shortcuts.

Earlier this year, Fast Company recognised Notion as one of the World’s 50 Most Innovative Companies of 2025 and ranked it first in the Workplace category. Today, Notion serves 62% of the Fortune 100 companies and 90% of the Forbes Cloud 100 companies.