Microsoft drives AI adoption at scale in Singapore

Source: Microsoft. Launching the Leading in the Era of AI event. From left: Cynthia Yeo, Enterprise Commercial Director, Microsoft Singapore; Chen Hong, CIO, Singtel; Henry Low, CEO, Singapore Hub, SATS; Mrs Josephine Teo, Singapore Minister for Digital Development and Information and Patron of the Singapore Women in Tech (SGWIT) movement was the Guest-of-Honour; Lee Hui Li, MD, Microsoft Singapore; Quah Ley Hoon, Group Chief Corporate Officer, CapitaLand Investment; Keith Zecchini, CTO, SJ Group; and Roshan Kapoor, Head of Data and Analytics, IT Strategy and Architecture, Senior VP, ofi.

Microsoft has announced new collaborations with the public and private sector in Singapore through its AI Pinnacle Program. The initiatives will further transform industries with AI, deliver contextually-relevant generative AI for businesses, support AI research, upskill the workforce, and deepen the local AI talent pool, Microsoft said.

Strategic collaborations with CapitaLand, ofi (Olam Food Ingredients), SATS, Singtel, and SJ Group were announced at the Leading in the Era of AI event. As programme members representing key industries including real estate, food and beverage ingredients and solutions, aviation, telecommunications, and architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC), these companies will co-innovate with Microsoft to scale the benefits of AI through developing sector-specific AI solutions and competencies as pioneers in their fields. 

As part of Microsoft’s investment in its AI research capabilities in Singapore, the expanded programme will also include research engagements with member organisations to unlock further value and discover AI solutions for complex use cases. Microsoft Research will initially focus on collaboration with industry pioneers in the AI Pinnacle Program, institutes of higher learning and research institutions to discover groundbreaking uses of AI that can have sectoral impact, such as AI for manufacturing, financial services, transportation and logistics, health and biomedical, sustainability, and public services.

Furthering the delivery of Singapore-specific AI solutions, Microsoft and A*STAR Institute for Infocomm Research (A*STAR I2R), represented by Dr Sun Sumei, Executive Director, A*STAR I2R and Lee Hui Li, MD, Microsoft Singapore, signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to develop MERaLiON (Multimodal Empathetic Reasoning and Learning in One Network) using Microsoft Azure. The collaboration will support IMDA and A*STAR I2R in delivering Singapore’s first national multimodal large language model. 

Under the terms of the MoU, which was witnessed by Mrs Josephine Teo, Singapore Minister for Digital Development and Information and Andrea Della Mattea, President, Microsoft ASEAN, both parties will also work towards integrating MERaLiON into the Microsoft 365 productivity suite and Copilot. Access to MERaLiON will significantly scale the accessibility for businesses to work with AI assistants tuned to local context and languages.

MERaLiON is supported by the National Research Foundation, and IMDA under Singapore’s National Multimodal Large Language Model (LLM) Funding Initiative which aims to expand the nation’s capabilities in AI research and innovation. The initiative was launched in collaboration with AI Singapore (AISG), leveraging high-performance computing resources from the National Supercomputing Centre (NSCC) Singapore.  

An additional collaboration was announced between Microsoft and IMDA’s SG Women in Tech Initiative to commemorate International Women’s Day. Microsoft announced how it will strengthen AI talent and empower the tech ecosystem to hire women for AI roles. As part of its skilling initiatives to train a total of 200,000 learners in Singapore by 2027, Microsoft will expand its Code; Without Barriers programme to mentor, skill and provide internship and employment opportunities for 10,000 women in AI and data to advance equitable gender representation in AI together with influential local organisations. 

New members of the Code; Without Barriers programme were also announced. The list includes the Bank of Singapore, CapitaLand, Cloud4C, Cognizant, CPF Board, SATS, SJ Group, and Total eBiz Solutions. This brings the total number of participating companies to 60 across Southeast Asia. 

Companies involved are encouraged to support skilling and certification efforts for women in their organisations, hire female talent from the programme for internships and full-time roles, and strengthen the pipeline of women leaders in AI and technology. Code; Without Barriers participants benefit from access to certification programmes in cloud, data and AI, on-the-job training, mentorship, and real-world AI projects and innovation.

Microsoft Singapore MD, Lee Hui Li said: “Our focus at Microsoft is ensuring AI benefits the entire Singapore community, so we’re excited to expand the AI Pinnacle Program to make it easier to access effective AI and build new skills, while transforming and modernising how key industries do business. By working with industry-leading organisations we are co-innovating to develop AI use cases that will unlock real value and solve unique challenges in their sectors. 

"Facilitating groundbreaking AI research and developing and scaling access to our national LLM MERaLiON will also enable businesses to benefit from generative AI tailored to the Singapore business landscape. To keep up the AI momentum we’ll need to deepen our local AI talent pool, so we’re thrilled to extend skilling initiatives including our Code; Without Barriers programme supporting women in tech. Together with Singapore’s public and private sector, we’re equipping individuals and organisations to thrive in the AI economy.”

A*STAR Institute for Infocomm Research (A*STAR I2R) Executive Director, Dr Sun Sumei, said: “Our collaboration with Microsoft to further co-develop MERaLiON represents a significant step in advancing AI capabilities tailored to Singapore’s linguistic and cultural diversity. By leveraging Microsoft Azure’s scalable infrastructure, we aim to enhance MERaLiON with a deeper understanding of local languages, dialects, and communication patterns. As Microsoft explores the potential integration of MERaLiON into Copilot, this partnership offers opportunities to translate our cutting-edge AI research into practical applications that improve productivity and decision-making for businesses, while also contributing to the broader AI research landscape.”

Launched in March 2024, the Microsoft AI Pinnacle Program aims to enable organisations in Singapore to realise scalable, impactful AI-powered solutions that will have transformative impact on their businesses and sectors. With its member organizations, the program facilitates the co-creation and co-innovation of AI use cases and fosters an AI-first culture and ecosystem. 

Designed to drive industry-wide transformation through AI, it involves partnerships with government agencies and collaborations with leading enterprises across key sectors, who are empowered as AI role models for their industry peers, along with government-supported grants to help smaller businesses access AI technologies including Copilot. The programme aims to empower every sector with AI, transforming critical industries by scaling the adoption of Copilot, introducing agentic AI, and co-innovating tailored AI solutions.

In addition to the large enterprises in the AI Pinnacle Program, Singapore’s small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have shown strong demand for AI initiatives. Through its role as a SkillsFuture Queen Bee, Microsoft’s collaboration with SkillsFuture Singapore exceeded its three-year training target of 2,000 SMEs by upskilling 2,100 in the first year alone. The Copilot for SMEs Program supported by Enterprise Singapore and AI Singapore has also benefitted hundreds of SMEs through grants to access Copilot for 12-months, tech partners to support implementation, and AI skills to grow their businesses.