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Salesforce has announced the launch of the Data + AI Boost SME Program, designed to equip 5,000 small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Singapore, across all stages of digital maturity, with the tools and knowledge to harness the transformative potential of Artificial Intelligence (AI) by unlocking the value of their data.
Data + AI Boost SME Program, in partnership with IMDA, was announced at the Asia Tech x Enterprise 2024 as part of a series of partner pledges in support of the Digital Enterprise Blueprint (DEB) launched by the Ministry of Communications and Information. It aims to empower Singaporean enterprises and their workers in the next phase of their digital transformation efforts through the four focus areas identified:

1. Empower enterprises to Be Smarter by adopting AI-enabled solutions
2. Enable enterprises to Scale Faster through integrated digital solutions
3. Equip enterprises to Be Safer through improved cyber resilience and
4. Upskill Workers to make full use of digital capabilities.

“Aligned with Singapore Digital Enterprise Blueprint, IMDA is excited to partner with Salesforce to enable our SMEs to stay ahead of the curve,” said Leong Der Yao, Assistant Chief Executive, Sectoral Transformation Group, at IMDA.

Enterprises and workers will be supported in adopting digital technologies such as AI and securing a competitive edge while equipping the workforce with the skills needed to maximise the use of these digital solutions. Salesforce will collaborate with IMDA to bring this program to 5,000 SMEs in Singapore.

He added: The Data + AI Boost SME program by Salesforce will help strengthen AI adoption for the broad base of SMEs by firstly providing them with the know-how to unlock the full potential of their data assets as well as providing access to resources to understand the ethical use of data and AI. We look forward to the support of industry partners to enable SMEs to leverage technology to be more competitive and scale faster in today’s fast-moving digital economy,”

Data + AI Boost SME Program: Democratising Access to AI by Unlocking Trapped Data

According to the Singapore Business Federation’s National Business Survey 2023/2024, SMEs recognise emerging technologies, such as AI, as one of the top business trends affecting their operations. They also identified growing revenue as their top priority for the year.

While AI provides SMEs with a significant opportunity to drive operational efficiency, better customer service, and higher revenue, its effectiveness hinges on the quality and integration of the underlying data. Salesforce’s recent AI Trust Quotient research has found that data is critical for building trust in AI, with 61% of workers in Singapore saying that incomplete data will break their trust in AI. Among workers who do not trust AI, 70% shared that it lacks the necessary data to be useful.

Salesforce’s new Data+AI Boost SME Program aims to help SMEs utilise their rich but often-underused data assets, typically disconnected across multiple systems, such as customer relationship management (CRM) systems, data lakes, and legacy systems, in order to build a strong data foundation for AI.

Saleforce’s Data+AI Boost program also provides individual consultation sessions to support SMEs in areas such as discovering their needs and business challenges, as well as providing access to knowledge and online learning tools through Salesforce’s Trailhead platform. These resources will help SMEs unlock the full potential of their data assets, understand the ethical use of data and AI and leverage technology responsibly.

Tailored Tools, Knowledge, and Support for SMEs to Harness AI for Growth

By harnessing the powerful combination of valuable, integrated data and AI, Singapore SMEs can uncover and act upon customer preferences, market trends, and areas for improvement more efficiently, in order to compete and scale their businesses. Through the Data + AI Boost SME Program, SMEs can use the know-how and resources to accelerate business growth and scale faster.

The Data+AI Boost SME Program will include:

• Webinars, workshops, and events that provide Salesforce training for SMEs to harness trusted AI and data to drive business growth, operational efficiency, and customer relationships
• Complimentary 1-1 consultation sessions with Salesforce to understand an SME’s business challenges and needs, and uncover ways to catalyse their innovation and growth
• Access to Trailhead, Salesforce’s online learning platform to help employees to understand how to use generative AI in their daily work. This includes dedicated modules, such as Ethical Data Use in Personalisationand Ethical Data Use Best Practices, which will equip SME workers to better discern and use data and generative AI responsibly

“SMEs are the bedrock of the Singapore economy, and need access to AI and its foundational building blocks to support their growth and competitiveness in the future,” said Sujith Abraham, Senior Vice President and General Manager at Salesforce ASEAN. Setting up the right data foundations will put them in the best possible position to embrace AI. After all, AI  tools are only as good as the data those tools are accessing and acting upon. The immediate challenge for SMEs is to ensure that their data sets are interconnected in a way that is valuable.”

He added: “Through the Data + AI Boost SME Program, Salesforce is making AI more accessible for SMEs to compete and succeed in today’s economy.”

SMEs can find out more about the Data + AI Boost SME Program and upcoming events here.

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