IMDA ramps up AI support for SMEs with new industry partnerships

Singapore’s small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are adopting artificial intelligence (AI) at a faster pace, but many still face barriers to putting the technology to work. In response, the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) is introducing new programmes to help businesses organise their data, automate workflows and find suitable AI solutions.

Announced on 13 October at SMEs Go Digital Day, the initiatives include a partnership with Singtel’s International Digital Services to provide up to 10,000 eligible SMEs with complimentary six-month access to SPACE, an AI-powered document management solution that turns business documents into searchable, reusable data.

The Singtel Stack-EZ AI Data Enablement Programme aims to help businesses build the data foundations needed to make more effective use of AI. SPACE can organise documents such as invoices, contracts and receipts, extract key information and make records easier to retrieve. It is also expected to introduce capabilities to export structured data for use in business applications such as accounting, customer relationship management and human resource systems.

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The two-year programme includes AI capability-building workshops to help SMEs explore how their business data can support digital and AI-enabled applications. After the complimentary six-month period, participating businesses can continue using SPACE via a subscription.

The move comes as AI adoption among Singapore SMEs increased from 14.5% in 2024 to 23.4% in 2025, according to IMDA’s Singapore Digital Economy Report 2026. This remains below the 70.4% adoption rate among large local enterprises.

Among enterprises that have adopted AI, 87.6% cited productivity and process improvements as key benefits, while 44% reported cost reductions and resource optimisation.

“For many SMEs, useful business information sits across documents, emails and shared drives in formats that may not be readily usable for AI,” said Johnson Poh, assistant chief executive of IMDA’s Enterprise Transformation and Innovation Group.

“A strong foundation for AI adoption starts with well-organised and structured business information,” he added.

More support for AI adoption

Beyond the Singtel partnership, IMDA has brought on Salesforce and Beyondsoft to help SMEs move from experimenting with AI tools to applying them to everyday business needs.

Salesforce’s Slack AI Launchpad Programme will support 1,000 SMEs with a complimentary two-month trial of Slack Business+, including AI agent capabilities. Participating businesses will attend two workshops to identify relevant use cases and receive support to build at least one AI-enabled workflow.

Beyondsoft’s Tech Bridge Programme will provide up to 1,000 SMEs with access to a curated catalogue of AI solutions covering sales management, store operations, customer engagement, retail analytics and market intelligence. Initially focused on the retail, wholesale and food and beverage sectors, the programme will offer complimentary 60-day trials with guided onboarding and hands-on support.

IMDA is also expanding the range of AI tools available through its SMEs Go Digital platform, which now features more than 100 curated global AI tools across business functions such as customer relationship management, marketing automation, creative content generation, workplace collaboration, finance and operations. Examples include Canva, DeepSeek, Lovable and Notion.

Meanwhile, 55% of pre-approved solutions on the platform are now AI-enabled, exceeding IMDA’s earlier target of 50%. The authority aims to increase this proportion to at least 70% within the next two years.

The latest initiatives build on IMDA’s existing efforts to help SMEs move from AI awareness to implementation. Through the Grab AI Programme for SMEs, the authority is working with Grab to help 10,000 businesses in Singapore’s food and beverage, retail and eCommerce sectors adopt AI.

Delivered through GrabAcademy, the programme offers online training, masterclasses and webinars, alongside a two-day course co-developed with the Singapore University of Technology and Design to help businesses identify relevant AI use cases and develop implementation roadmaps.

Participating SMEs can also receive support from Grab and IMDA-approved vendors to identify suitable AI solutions.

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