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SINGAPORE, 22 January 2026 — The Association of Small and Medium Enterprises (ASME) flagship AIFA 2026 opened today under the theme “Helping SMEs Adopt AI and Hire AI Bilingual Talents”. Held at ITE College Central, the event focused on supporting SMEs to go digital first, then redesigning jobs to integrate and hire “AI bilingualists” into transformed workflows.

Guest of Honour, Ms Jasmin Lau, Minister of State for Digital Development and Information, and Minister of State for Education, officiated the opening with Mr Ang Yuit, President of the ASME, and Mr Peter Lam, Chief Executive Officer of the Institute of Technical Education (ITE).

From Digital Transformation to AI Bilingual Jobs

The 2026 edition of AIFA underscores a critical shift for the sector, that genuine AI-readiness must be built upon a foundation of digital transformation. By focussing on digitising critical processes and redesigning workflows, SMEs can create clear roles for “AI bilingual” staff. These are talents capable of briding the gap between technical AI tools and practical business value. AIFA 2026 shines a spotlight on SMEs that have started this journey and gives others practical playbooks to follow.

ASME President Ang Yuit emphasised that “SMEs know exactly where time is wasted, customers are lost or quality slips. What they lack is the capital, partners, and frameworks to move from manual processes to AI enabled workflows. AIFA 2026 is designed to close that gap. We move from abstract potential to measurable returns in productivity and employment outcomes.”

Launch of AI Foundry for SMEs Powered by Lenovo and SME@AITE

A key highlight is the launch of “AI Foundry for SMEs”, a collaboration between Lenovo and ASME, delivered through SME@AITE (the joint AI Centre of Excellence by ASME and ITE).

Under a Memorandum of Understanding signed today, Lenovo will allocate up to S$1 million in hardware, engineering support, and training services to co-develop ten real world AI prototypes with Singapore SMEs.

These prototypes will act as flagship examples of how digital and AI tools can be embedded into everyday SME operations, such as retail footfall optimisation and automated F&B customer service.

Mr Peter Lam, CEO of ITE, said, “ITE students and adult learners have been working with SMEs to solve real-world challenges using digital tools like AI through the SME@AITE initiative. The AI Foundry for SMEs will deepen our collaboration with the SMEs and provide our students with valuable learning opportunities to co-develop and prototype AI solutions with 1 the companies. This way, we can develop a generation of AI bilingual practitioners who are able to bridge technology solutions and business needs in practical ways.”

Following the event, SME@AITE will run an open call for SME business cases to participate in this initiative.

AIFA 2026 will run for two days and is expected to draw over 500 SME leaders, educators, and industry partners. The festival will conclude with a ministerial fireside chat and further announcements on funding support and policy recommendations for SME AI adoption.

Media Contact

Celestyn Karuppiah Strategic Communications & Planning Lead Tel: +65 6513 0894 Email: celestyn@asme.org.sg

Xu Yuzheng Corporate Communications Executive Phone: 9188 4989 Email: xu.yuzheng@asme.org.sg

SME@AITE Contact

Pulse Tan Co-Director of SME@AITE Email: dais@asme.org.sg

Annex

1. About the Association of Small & Medium Enterprises (ASME)

ASME is a not-for-profit organisation established in 1986 for entrepreneurs, by entrepreneurs. With wide-ranging services and programmes, ASME strives to equip member SMEs with the business knowledge and market opportunities to help them grow their businesses.

ASME, as the champion of a pro-enterprise Singapore, bridges the public and the private sectors to promote a more conducive business environment which facilitates the start-up, growth, and development of a larger pool of SMEs. The two ASME flagship awards — The Entrepreneur of the Year Award and Singapore Prestige Brand Award are in recognition of SMEs’ successes.

ASME will continue to roll out new SME-relevant programmes to enhance its position as THE business association For Entrepreneurs, By Entrepreneurs.

2. About AI Festival Asia

AI Festival Asia (AIFA) is the annual flagship event by ASME. The event showcases concrete AI solutions for SMEs across key sectors, revealing how real companies have digitised their operations, redesigned their workflows, and created roles for AI bilingualists that deliver measurable productivity and business gains.

AIFA 2026 is held at ITE College Central on 22 and 23 January 2026.

3. AIFA 2026 Sector Playbooks & Framework

AIFA showcases use cases across nine sectors: food and beverage, retail, wellness, professional services, engineering, manufacturing, and logistics. Each case is structure on a four-step framework:

1. Identified specific pain points and manual processes
2. Adopted digital and AI solutions to transforms those workflows
3. Redesigned roles and responsibilities, creating space for AI bilingual talent
4. Achieved measurable improvements in productivity and business outcomes

4. Supporting Quotes from Partners

• Mr Nigel Lee, General Manager, Lenovo Singapore: “Lenovo wants AI to be useful at street level, not only in large data centres. With AI Foundry for SMEs, we are putting hardware, infrastructure, and engineering talent behind the ideas of small and medium businesses. Each prototype will be designed around a clear workflow, clear metrics, and clear roles for AI bilingual staff. Our goal is to turn these ten projects into repeatable patterns that thousands of SMEs can learn from.”
• Mr Pulse Tan, ASME Council Member, and Co-director of SME@AITE: “Before we talk about hiring AI bilingualists, we must first help SMEs digitise the right workflows and see what AI can change in their day-to-day operations. If the business process is not clear, the job scope cannot be clear. AI Foundry for SMEs lets us walk the ground with business owners, choose the right use cases, and show them concrete examples of what an AI enabled marketing executive, operations supervisor or finance lead really does. These stories are what will galvanise more SMEs to move from curiosity to action.”
• Dr. Benny Ho, Assistant Director at ITE College Central’s School of Electronics and Infocomm Technology, and Co-director of SME@AITE: “The ten prototypes are important, but equally critical is the documentation and learning that comes with them. Beyond delivering solutions for SMEs, the work will be translated into anonymised case studies, playbooks, and learning journeys that support student learning, staff capability development, and industry adoption. These resources will be used to embed real-world AI use cases into student projects and applied learning, while enabling staff to continuously deepen their industry and pedagogical expertise. Over time, this builds a living library of proven, Singapore-based AI use cases that not only accelerates SME adoption, but also strengthens workforce readiness, informs policy, and reinforces ITE’s role as a national training and applied innovation partner.”