What challenges did Singtel face before AI implementation?

Low AI adoption across sectors prior to 2024, especially for SMEs and public sector. Need for contextually and linguistically local AI solutions for Singapore. Workforce skills gap in AI and digital roles, including gender disparity. Limited accessibility of advanced generative AI and Copilot tools for SMEs. Demand for sector-specific and responsible AI implementations.

What was the impact of the AI solution?

82% of organizations in Singapore using or planning to use AI, surpassing global average. ROI of $3.4 for every $1 spent on AI within 14 months. Exceeding SME upskilling goals: 2,100 SMEs trained in one year vs. a three-year target. Dramatic increase in national access to Copilot and generative AI for SMEs and large enterprises. Broad ecosystem transformation with sector-specific implementations.

Source

MicrosoftLive sourceEvidence: Medium60/100

Singapore's Cross-Sector AI Adoption Transforms Public and Private Industries

Use case typeMultilingual communicationUpdated Jun 13, 2026

The Singapore AI Pinnacle Program, led by Microsoft and involving major organizations such as CapitaLand, Singtel, SATS, SJ Group, and ofi, has significantly driven AI adoption and innovation across public and private sectors. Collaborating with government agencies and research institutions like A*STAR I2R, the program developed contextually relevant AI solutions, including the national multimodal language model MERaLiON. Initiatives include upskilling 200,000 Singaporeans, targeting 10,000 women for AI/data roles, supporting SMEs' Copilot adoption, and co-developing industry use cases. The program facilitated tailored implementations for enterprise, government, legal, food, aviation, and logistics, yielding rapid ROI and ecosystem transformation. Strategic incentives, R&D, and talent development position Singapore as an AI innovation leader and a model for nation-scale, responsible AI deployments.

Organization: Singtel
Industry: Public Sector
Location: Singapore
Published: March 2025

Reported outcomes

82%

quantified impactOther quantified impact

Strategic outcomes

Ecosystem & partnershipsUnited public and private AI adoption effortsNew product / capabilityDeveloped local AI agents and language modelMarket & geographic expansionExpanded AI access for SMEs and enterprisesNew product / capabilityDelivered sector-specific AI implementations

Why do we believe this?Outcome claims, sources, and evidence checks

Normalized claim

Quantified impact: 82%

news.microsoft.comMar 11, 2025News articleInferred claimMedium evidence strength

82% of organizations in Singapore using or planning to use AI, surpassing global average.

Last evidence check: Jun 1, 2026

Why do we believe this deployment?Customer identity, provider attribution, maturity, and source checks

Customer: Singtel, CapitaLand, SATS, SJ Group, ofi
Provider: Microsoft
Maturity: Unknown
Linked source: news.microsoft.com

No explicit deployment-stage evidence found.

Customer identity supportedSource describes one deploymentMaturity evidence evaluated

Primary read

Use case focus

Showing 3 of 4

1Local Multimodal LLM for National Productivity
2Sectoral AI Agent Deployment
3AI Upskilling and Workforce Development

Low AI adoption across sectors prior to 2024, especially for SMEs and public sector.
Need for contextually and linguistically local AI solutions for Singapore.
Workforce skills gap in AI and digital roles, including gender disparity.
Limited accessibility of advanced generative AI and Copilot tools for SMEs.
Demand for sector-specific and responsible AI implementations.

Launched AI Pinnacle Program uniting public agencies and major enterprises for targeted AI adoption.
Co-development and deployment of sectoral AI agents, Copilot integration, and National LLM (MERaLiON) tailored to Singapore.
Training 200,000 individuals by 2027, focused also on women (10,000 target) and SME workforce.
Government grants/incentives and SME access program to accelerate AI and Copilot adoption.
Research and co-innovation in partnership with A*STAR and industry.

Technologies

Azure AI Azure Microsoft 365 Copilot Copilot

82% of organizations in Singapore using or planning to use AI, surpassing global average.
ROI of $3.4 for every $1 spent on AI within 14 months.
Exceeding SME upskilling goals: 2,100 SMEs trained in one year vs. a three-year target.
Dramatic increase in national access to Copilot and generative AI for SMEs and large enterprises.
Broad ecosystem transformation with sector-specific implementations.

Architecture

National LLM (MERaLiON) is developed on Microsoft Azure and integrated with the Microsoft 365 and Copilot platform for contextually relevant AI assistants, supported by A*STAR's research and national supercomputing. SMEs and large enterprises access Copilot via government grants, with deployment approaches tailored per sector. Strategic roadmap includes AI Center of Capabilities for governance, accelerators, and responsible AI frameworks. Partnership network enables scalable, secure adoption across industries and public services.

Sources & evidence1

Evidence: Medium60/100Evidence strength