Left to right: Ms. Cynthia Yeo, Enterprise Commercial Director, Microsoft Singapore; Ms. Chen Hong, Chief Information Officer, Singtel; Mr. Henry Low, Chief Executive Officer, Singapore Hub, SATS; Mrs. Josephine Teo, Minister for Digital Development and Information; Ms. Lee Hui Li, Managing Director, Microsoft Singapore; Ms. Quah Ley Hoon, Group Chief Corporate Officer, CapitaLand Investment; Mr. Keith Zecchini, Chief Technology Officer, SJ Group; Mr. Roshan Kapoor, Head of Data and Analytics, IT Strategy and Architecture, Senior Vice President, ofi.
- Microsoft Singapore’s AI Pinnacle Program expands industry transformation through new collaborations with CapitaLand, ofi (Olam Food Ingredients), SATS, Singtel, and SJ Group
- Microsoft and A*STAR Institute for Infocomm Research (A*STAR I2R) developing contextual Generative AI for Singapore and working towards integrating Multimodal LLM MERaLiON into the Microsoft 365 productivity suite and Copilot
- Upskilling local AI talent through Microsoft’s Code; Without Barriers together with Bank of Singapore, CapitaLand, Central Provident Fund (CPF) Board, Cloud4C, Cognizant, SATS, SJ Group, and Total eBiz Solutions
Singapore, 11 March 2025 – Microsoft today announced new collaborations with the public and private sector through its AI Pinnacle Program to scale adoption of the game-changing technology across the community and further Singapore’s lead in the era of AI. These 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. The AI Pinnacle Program has been expanded to build AI competencies to implement AI, including more sectors and industry pioneers with aspirations to drive AI at scale across their organization, ecosystem and value chain. This is aligned with the Singapore Government’s push for tech-driven growth as part of Budget 2025.
These initiatives were announced at the ‘Leading in the Era of AI’ event. Mrs. Josephine Teo, Minister for Digital Development and Information and Patron of the Singapore Women in Tech (SGWIT) movement was the Guest-of-Honour at the event, which was organized by Microsoft and the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA)’s SGWIT in conjunction with International Women’s Day. At the event, Minister Teo gave a speech on the importance of a diverse and inclusive workforce in growing the digital economy. She also witnessed the signing of an MoU between Microsoft and A*STAR Institute for Infocomm Research (A*STAR I2R).
Accelerating AI Transformation in Singapore
To drive AI innovation across sectors in Singapore, Microsoft is expanding its AI Pinnacle Program through new strategic collaborations with industry-leaders CapitaLand, ofi (Olam Food Ingredients), SATS, Singtel, and SJ Group. As program 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.
The AI Pinnacle Program’s progress transforming industries with AI including healthcare, maritime, legal services, the public sector and more over the past 12 months reflects Microsoft’s commitment to local partnerships, deepening AI expertise, and driving AI ROI. Demonstrating the potential value of AI to Singapore businesses, new IDC* research shows that 82% of organizations in Singapore are using or planning to invest in AI, above the global average of 75%, and have seen ROI of $3.4 for every $1 spent within 14 months.
As part of Microsoft’s investment in its AI research capabilities in Singapore, the expanded program will also include world-class research engagements with member organizations 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.
Collaborative Research to Deliver Tailored AI Tools for Singapore 
MoU signed by Dr. Sun Sumei, Executive Director, A*STAR I2R and Ms. Lee Hui Li, Managing Director, Microsoft Singapore, and witnessed by Mrs. Josephine Teo, Minister for Digital Development and Information and Ms. Andrea Della Mattea, President, Microsoft ASEAN.
Furthering the delivery of Singapore-specific AI solutions, today Microsoft and A*STAR Institute for Infocomm Research (A*STAR I2R) signed an MoU to develop MERaLiON (Multimodal Empathetic Reasoning and Learning in One Network) using Microsoft Azure, and work towards integrating it 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, improving and streamlining workflows. This collaboration will support IMDA and A*STAR I2R in delivering Singapore’s first National Multimodal Large Language Model.
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.
Developing AI Skills and Local Talent
Today’s event was also a collaboration between Microsoft and IMDA’s SG Women in Tech Initiative to commemorate International Women’s Day, where 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 program to mentor, skill and provide internship and employment opportunities for 10,000 women in AI & Data to advance equitable gender representation in AI together with influential local organizations.
Microsoft announced the expansion of its Code; Without Barriers program
New members of Code; Without Barriers announced today include 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 organizations, hire female talent from the program 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 programs in Cloud, Data & AI, on-the-job training, mentorship, and real-world AI projects and innovation.
Microsoft Singapore Managing Director, Ms. 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 modernizing how key industries do business. By working with industry-leading organizations 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 program supporting women in tech. Together with Singapore’s public and private sector, we’re equipping individuals and organizations 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.”
About the AI Pinnacle Program
Launched in March 2024, the Microsoft AI Pinnacle Program aims to enable organizations in Singapore to realize 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 program 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.
Leveraging Microsoft’s AI innovation factory and capabilities, industry-leading AI experts, and practitioners, the Microsoft AI Pinnacle Program includes:
- Envisioning and prioritizing AI roadmaps for strategic AI use cases with clear business ROI and outcomes
- Operationalizing prioritized AI use cases to deliver business impact
- Establishing an AI Center of Capabilities (CoC) that includes AI accelerators and toolsets, responsible AI framework and program governance
- Incorporating AI enterprise skilling through comprehensive training programs
In addition to the large enterprises in the AI Pinnacle Program, Singapore’s small and medium businesses 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.
About Microsoft
Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT” @microsoft) creates platforms and tools powered by AI to deliver innovative solutions that meet the evolving needs of our customers. The technology company is committed to making AI available broadly and doing so responsibly, with a mission to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more.
* Source: *IDC Resource Map Document: sponsored by Microsoft, The Business Opportunity of AI 2024, IDC# US52638724, November 2024,clouddamcdnprodep.azureedge.net/gdc/gdcflXNT6/original
Media Contacts:
Microsoft Singapore
Zoe Knobel
zoeknobel@microsoft.com
Edelman (partner agency for Microsoft Singapore)
MSFTSingapore@edelman.com