New study finds 36% of Singapore’s office workers can’t tell a genuine message from their CEO apart from an AI-generated one, while senior managers are most likely to comply with a cloned CEO voice before verifying it
KnowBe4, the global leader in digital workforce security, securing both humans and AI agents, released its new research, “Would You Know Your CEO’s Real Voice? Singapore’s Growing Deepfake Vulnerability,” during Singapore International Cyber Week and GovWare. As AI-generated voice cloning and deepfake technology make it increasingly difficult to distinguish genuine communications from sophisticated impersonation, the research finds that Singapore workplaces face a dual challenge: employees may hesitate to question senior leaders, while those at the top of the organisation can be overconfident in their ability to spot a fake.
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In Singapore, hierarchy works like a trust shortcut, one that AI-enabled scams are now designed to exploit. A cloned CEO voice doesn’t need to fool the technology. It only needs to activate an instinct not to question authority.
The report, based on a Censuswide survey of 500 Singapore-based office workers, finds that more than a third (36%) would not be confident distinguishing a genuine message from their CEO from one generated using AI, such as through voice cloning or deepfake technology. That uncertainty collides with a workplace culture where challenging a senior leader still carries a real social cost, and the research points to two distinct vulnerabilities: fear among junior and middle-tier staff, and overconfidence among senior managers, the group most likely to comply with a deepfake.
Key findings from the report include:
- 36% of Singapore office workers are not confident they could distinguish a genuine message from their CEO from an AI-generated one
- 50% say they would feel uncomfortable to challenge a request from a senior executive, and 52% would worry about negative consequences for doing so
- 45% would be equally worried about delaying a request from a senior leader as about accidentally causing a cybersecurity incident, and 9% would rather risk the breach than delay the boss
- Senior managers are the most confident group at spotting a fake (78%), but are also the most likely to comply with a cloned CEO voice before verifying it (35%), more than double the rate of clerical workers (16%)
- Only 26% have received training specifically on AI-generated scams involving senior leaders. That training is concentrated among senior managers, the tier shown to be most at risk
Notably, only 10% of respondents identify “employees trusting senior leaders too readily” as the greatest cybersecurity risk their workplace faces, suggesting this vulnerability goes largely unnoticed by those it affects most.
“In Singapore, hierarchy works like a trust shortcut, one that AI-enabled scams are now designed to exploit,” said Dr Kawin Boonyapredee, CISO advisor at KnowBe4. “A cloned voice or a convincing message from ‘the boss’ doesn’t need to fool the technology. It only needs to activate an instinct not to question authority. Closing that gap requires training and simulations to change behaviour at every level of seniority, not just awareness at the top.”
As AI-enabled impersonation grows more convincing and more targeted at senior leadership, the research makes the case that technology alone cannot close this gap. Organisations need an approach that builds psychological safety for junior and middle-tier staff to speak up, and better verification habits, not just more confidence, for senior managers.
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