Opening Address by SMS Tan Kiat How at UOB FinLab AI Ready Changemakers Summit

A very good morning. Let me start by acknowledging Managing Director & Group Head, UOB, Janet Young, partners who are supporting this event – IMDA, AI Singapore, Microsoft, Ngee Ann Polytechnic, and all of you for being here this morning, part of the changemakers ecosystem and riding the next wave of AI.

Many of you have spent the past few years digitalising your businesses. You may already be using accounting software, HR systems, CRM tools or other digital solutions. So perhaps the question you are asking now is: “What comes next?”

AI is the next major shift. It is not often in the technology space you see such a big shift in terms of the capability of the technology itself. AI is not something new per se. We have been talking about artificial intelligence for many decades, but over the last few years, we have seen  a tremendous shift. It is a step change in the capabilities  of these technologies. You see things coming to the fore, especially in recent months – agentic software, AI agents, autonomous systems, and the speed of change of this technology is only picking up pace.

When technology is one of the important themes of a conversation between the two largest economies in the world, when the two leaders of these countries meet, you know it is not just a technology issue. It is a more fundamental issue –  an economic issue, a geopolitical issue, and a strategic issue. You see it being discussed at the UN General Assembly, and you know that these are important topics on everyone's minds.

So what does this mean for all of us, companies, enterprises, and our workers that we care for?

I think this is a tremendous opportunity for all of you. All of you know that you cannot adopt technology because it is new. It's newfangled, it looks shiny. You become FOMO, you feel like you are missing out. For business owners who do that, you realise that after a while, you do not reap the benefits of using that technology.