Dell builds on $50m Singapore investment with new AI hub

Dell Technologies has opened an artificial intelligence (AI) innovation hub in Singapore to speed up AI adoption for enterprises and governments across the Asia-Pacific region, building on a $50m investment it made in its global innovation capabilities in 2021.

The new hub, announced at Dell Technologies Forum in Singapore today, is an extension of the company’s Global Innovation Hub in the city-state and will focus on three key pillars: AI transformation, AI enablement and AI leadership.

Speaking at a media briefing today, Andy Sim, vice-president and managing director for Singapore at Dell Technologies, said the new hub aims to bridge the gap between organisations’ AI ambitions and successful deployment. A key challenge, Sim noted, is that many companies lack a data strategy to support their AI initiatives.

“There should be a data strategy, then an AI strategy,” Sim said. “Without a data strategy, you just have lots of data, and then, you know, rubbish in, rubbish out. That becomes a problem when you try to create and get inference out of the data.”

Dell’s AI innovation hub is designed to help organisations address this and other challenges, providing expertise and a platform to validate use cases, create prototypes and conduct proof-of-concepts (POCs).

To date, the hub’s team has developed around 50 AI engineering solution prototypes and conducted over 100 POCs, workshops and demonstrations for enterprises across the region. Ng Nam Guan, senior director of the AI innovation hub, said this work has already culminated in real-world applications.

Examples include projects in the energy sector to bolster critical infrastructure resilience, helping a telco improve AI development across its infrastructure, and empowering education providers with AI and cloud technology to enhance research capabilities.

When working with customers, Sim said Dell is looking to provide an open ecosystem and works with a range of semiconductor suppliers, independent software suppliers and cloud providers, underpinned by cloud-native principles.

The hub’s second pillar, AI enablement, is focused on addressing the region’s tech skills gap. Noting that 47% of Singapore organisations have reported a lack of local AI talent, Dell said it is partnering with 10 local institutes of higher learning to integrate AI skills into their curricula.

The company aims to train around 10,000 students and mid-career professionals through the hub by the end of 2025, covering areas such as AI engineering, machine learning operations (MLOps) and cloud-native architecture.

The final pillar, AI leadership, will see Dell participate in Singapore’s technology governance initiatives. The company is a founding member of the AI Verify Foundation, which promotes responsible AI, and is involved with the IT Standards Committee (ITSC) to shape national IT standards.

The launch aligns with Singapore’s national AI strategy, which aims to empower individuals and industries to use AI with confidence and trust.

Peter Marrs, president for Asia-Pacific and Japan and Greater China at Dell Technologies, said: “Singapore’s 60th birthday marks decades of progress and innovation. The new hub strengthens our commitment to bridge the gap between AI aspirations and real-world applications.”