Cursor sets up Singapore base to match AI adoption pace in APAC

Cursor is hiring locally and partnering with universities as leaders admit AI adoption is still not moving fast enough.

Cursor is setting up its Asia-Pacific headquarters in Singapore as enterprises and government agencies face pressure to adopt AI in software development more quickly and securely.

Simon Green, President of Cursor, said Singapore was chosen for its policy support, enterprise demand and access to regional markets. The hub will cover operations from Japan to Australia, and from India to the Far East.

Speaking in an interview, Green said Singapore is “forward-leaning” in artificial intelligence, with the government and large enterprises trying to understand how AI can be adopted securely and used to develop products that could be exported from the country.

The move comes as software development is being reshaped faster than earlier technology shifts. Green said software-as-a-service took about 15 years to become mainstream, whilst public cloud took about 10 years. Artificial intelligence, he said, reached mainstream adoption in about 36 months.

“The rate and pace of change in this industry is at a staggering speed,” Green said.

Still, Green said few government or enterprise leaders would say they are moving quickly enough. He said enthusiasm remains high, but adoption is now being shaped by a better understanding of controls, cost controls and token burn rates.

Cursor already has hundreds of regional customers despite previously having no local staff, including users in Singapore. Green said the company now needs to support those organisations as they move from basic software development workflows towards agent-assisted development.

The company plans to hire engineering and go-to-market talent in Singapore, alongside support functions such as marketing, legal and human resources. Green said Cursor will work with local universities if it cannot find enough talent locally, whilst also bringing in workers from outside the country.

For Cursor, the test is whether it can build local capability quickly enough to support enterprise demand across APAC.