(Left-right) Kavita Bedi Bhattacharya, Managing Director and Head of Group SME Banking, UOB; Johnson Poh, Assistant Chief Executive, Enterprise Transformation and Innovation Group, IMDA; Rachel Bondi, Corporate Vice President, Small, Medium Enterprises and Channel, Microsoft Asia; Josephine Teo, Minister for Digital Development and Information; Chia Wee Luen, Managing Director, Microsoft Singapore; and Janet Young, Managing Director and Group Head, Channels and Digitalisation, Strategic Communications and Brand, UOB officially launch the AI QuickStart programme.
6 February 2026, Singapore: Microsoft has launched the AI QuickStart programme, a new initiative to help digitally mature enterprises – including small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) as well as large enterprises – known as Digital Leaders[1] to rapidly deploy practical, enterprise-ready artificial intelligence (AI) solutions. Supported by the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) and United Overseas Bank (UOB), the programme focuses on accelerating AI deployment in key business areas, including knowledge mining, customer engagement, operations automation, content creation and conversational analytics.
AI QuickStart enables Digital Leaders to deploy real-world AI quickly through enterprise-grade AI solutions to solve their most pressing challenges. Projects will be completed within three months, with costs capped at up to S$20,000 each, including cloud and compute resources, and professional services for solution development and implementation. To streamline the process, a set of curated solutioning services are available for selection, which will then be customised to business needs using proven large language model (LLM)-based architectures with responsible AI guardrails. Eligible enterprises may receive funding support from IMDA and UOB.
Mrs Josephine Teo, Minister for Digital Development and Information, officially launched the AI QuickStart programme today, alongside Microsoft, IMDA, UOB, policymakers, industry leaders, ecosystem partners, and industry organisations across sectors.
Microsoft is one of the first technology partners under IMDA’s Generative AI (GenAI) x Digital Leaders initiative to launch this programme, with the aim to empower Digital Leaders with cutting-edge AI tech to achieve real business impact. The GenAI x Digital Leaders initiative, first launched by IMDA in 2024, has been helping Digital Leaders deepen their understanding of GenAI and providing them with access to expertise and resources to develop and implement GenAI solutions with technology partners.
Mr Johnson Poh, Assistant Chief Executive, Enterprise Transformation and Innovation Group, IMDA, said: “Public-private partnerships are key to helping enterprises scale AI. Our strong partnership with Microsoft has delivered encouraging results by combining IMDA’s understanding of local business needs with Microsoft’s AI capabilities. By deepening our collaboration and expanding access to Microsoft’s network of technology partners, we can further enable our Digital Leaders to develop and deploy AI solutions that are reliable and practical.”
Rachel Bondi, Corporate Vice President, Small, Medium Enterprises and Channel at Microsoft Asia, added: “Small and medium enterprises power Singapore’s economy, and they need AI solutions that are affordable, secure and deliver real results fast. AI turns every small business into a scale business. We are seeing a new wave of frontier SMEs emerging in Singapore – organisations that are using AI not as an experiment, but as a core capability to run leaner operations, serve customers better, and grow with confidence. AI QuickStart removes the biggest barriers – figuring out how to implement, scale and govern safely, while choosing the right tools and managing the cost of trusted tech partners with the support of IMDA. It’s a simple, low risk way for SMEs to experience the value of AI and accelerate their digital journey.”
Both Microsoft and UOB are recognised as SkillsFuture Queen Bees, industry leaders who champion skills development across Singapore’s business ecosystem, and share a commitment to supporting the transformation of businesses of all sizes.
As a partner in the AI QuickStart programme, UOB will support through its UOB FinLab AI Ready programme which equips small-medium enterprises with knowledge, tools, and expert guidance to scale AI adoption, coupled with financing packages to support SMEs undertaking AI projects and broader digital transformation.
Kavita Bedi, Head of Group SME Banking, UOB, said: “We recognise the urgency for enterprises to be AI-ready, with our commitment to strengthen long-term resilience for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) across decades. In 2025, we engaged more than 1,000 SMEs across ASEAN as part of the UOB FinLab AI Ready Programme to accelerate their path to growth. This includes supporting a local SME in the Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions (MICE) industry to build an agentic customer acquisition platform which empowered them to scale customer outreach and conversion despite limited resources. Our partnership with IMDA and Microsoft to power the AI QuickStart programme will enable SMEs to adopt digital transformation with ease and speed.”
The AI QuickStart programme is designed to give enterprises a clear path to success, making digital transformation more approachable and practical. The programme offers easy-to-deploy AI solutioning services that address common business needs for Digital Leaders including:
- Improving customer engagement – helping businesses connect with clients more effectively.
- Simplifying content creation – making it faster and easier to produce information and promotional materials.
- Automating routine tasks – freeing up time for employers and teams to take on higher value work.
- Boosting productivity and operational efficiency – streamlining processes for better results.
The launch of AI QuickStart builds on the success of earlier Microsoft and Singapore government agencies’ initiatives in supporting enterprise digital transformation. These include the GenAI x Digital Leaders initiative, and the Copilot for SMEs programme that provided subsidised licences for the AI tool Microsoft 365 Copilot, helping thousands of local business owners and workers begin their AI journey.
Singapore businesses, spanning sectors from education to manufacturing, have benefited from Microsoft’s initiatives and are expressing strong demand for the next level of AI capabilities. This new programme represents the next step for enterprises: moving from productivity gains with AI to scaling measurable business outcomes.
David Lee, Director of Innovation, At‑Sunrice GlobalChef Academy said: “At‑Sunrice has always believed that the future of culinary education must blend deep craftsmanship with intelligent technology. Through IMDA’s Digital Leaders Programme and our partnership with Microsoft, we’ve moved beyond AI pilots into real operational impact – streamlining academic workflows, enhancing learner support, and empowering our educators to focus on what matters: developing global‑ready F&B professionals. This collaboration accelerates our vision of becoming a frontier‑ready academy where innovation elevates both teaching and learning in optimising excellent customer journey and experience.”
Christophe Ng, Head of Information and Technology, BRC said: “Like many operations-intensive organisations, our teams were spending excessive time on manual data entry from documents and images, slowing engineering workflows. By adopting Microsoft AI, we have substantially reduced repetitive work, improved data reliability, and enabled our teams to focus on higher-value activities. This provides a secure and trusted platform to scale adoption and support our long-term AI journey.”
Today’s launch event featured an interactive AI Experience zone where businesses could explore the solutions offered by several Microsoft technology partners who SMEs can choose to work with to transform their workflows and operations as part of the AI QuickStart programme.
To find out more about the curated set of solutions in the AI QuickStart programme that can be delivered through Microsoft technology partners, visit https://aka.ms/AIQuickStart
Promotional pricing for SMEs to adopt Microsoft’s new Copilot for Business is also available until March 2026, setting businesses up for success in the Year of the Fire Horse.
(Left-right) Johnson Poh, Assistant Chief Executive, Enterprise Transformation and Innovation Group, IMDA; Janet Young, Managing Director and Group Head, Channels and Digitalisation, Strategic Communications and Brand, UOB; Kavita Bedi Bhattacharya, Managing Director and Head of Group SME Banking, UOB; Tolgar Elverici, General Manager, Small Medium Enterprises & Channel, Microsoft ASEAN; Josephine Teo, Minister for Digital Development and Information; Rachel Bondi, Corporate Vice President, Small, Medium Enterprises and Channel, Microsoft Asia; Samantha Su, Director, Digital Transformation, IMDA; and Chia Wee Luen, Managing Director, Microsoft Singapore at the AI Experience zone of the launch of the AI QuickStart programme.
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.
About the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA)
The Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) leads Singapore’s digital transformation by developing a vibrant digital economy and an inclusive digital society. As Architects of Singapore’s Digital Future, we foster growth in Infocomm Technology and Media sectors in concert with progressive regulations, harnessing frontier technologies, and developing local talent and digital infrastructure ecosystems to establish Singapore as a digital metropolis. For more news and information, visit www.imda.gov.sg or follow IMDA on LinkedIn (IMDAsg), Facebook (IMDAsg) and Instagram (@imdasg).
About UOB
UOB is a leading Asian bank with a global network in Southeast Asia, Asia Pacific, Europe and North America. Operating through its head office in Singapore and banking subsidiaries in China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam, UOB has a global network of more than 470 branches and offices in 19 markets. Since its incorporation in 1935, UOB has grown organically and through a series of strategic acquisitions. Today, UOB is rated among the world’s top banks: Aa1 by Moody’s Investors Service and AA- by both S&P Global Ratings and Fitch Ratings.
[1] Digital Leaders are non-ICT enterprises that have the ambition and commitment to leverage digital and have already started investing in building internal digital capabilities. They are also financially capable to invest and sustain digital transformation efforts.