Speeches
Opening Address by SMS Tan Kiat How at SMEs Go Digital
7 October 2025
Distinguished guests
Representatives of our SME community
Industry partners
It is my pleasure to join you today at the inaugural SMEs Go Digital Day.
Digitalisation is a key part of Singapore’s economy, which now comprises $128 billion, or 18.6%, of our overall GDP. Early on, we recognise that technology when harnessed well can benefit our enterprises and workers.
As such, we launched the SMEs Go Digital programme in 2017 to support Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) in their digital transformation journey. What started with 28 solution categories has now grown to over 300 pre-approved solutions across 64 categories, with 30% of the solutions now AI-enabled.
Our SMEs are no strangers to digitalisation. We have made good progress over the years, and especially since the launch of the Digital Enterprise Blueprint in May last year. 95% of SMEs in Singapore have adopted at least one digital solution.
However, we cannot stand still. Technology developments, especially Artificial Intelligence (AI) is advancing rapidly. Customer expectations are increasing, demanding quicker responses and more personalised services. At the same time, AI opens up exciting possibilities for SMEs to improve productivity, enhance customer engagement and seize new business opportunities.
With effective use of AI, SMEs can punch above their weight, and when our SMEs thrive, our economy thrives.
So I am glad to see that many SMEs have started their AI journey. Usage of AI among SMEs in Singapore has more than tripled to about 15% between 2023 and 2024. The increase was driven by micro and small enterprises kickstarting their AI journeys with tools such as ChatGPT, Gemini, Midjourney and Copilot.
I recently met Endowus, a digital wealth management platform. They were facing a challenge that many of you might recognise – time and budget constraints for marketing. With just a four-person team, they turned to GenAI to create targeted, market-specific content across multiple channels, and scaled up their content operations, achieving a 30% productivity boost.
But GenAI solutions are not just for digital-native companies. Even traditional businesses can benefit from AI. An example is Yong Kang TCM Clinic that is leveraging AI to transform their customer service operations for acupuncture and 推拿 (tuina) services.
jog regularly, so I asked their GenAI chatbot to recommend a therapy for sore muscles. It recommended a consultation with a TCM physician and a 30min acupuncture session targeting specific acupoints to help ease discomfort and boost overall wellness. It also listed the price and locations of the different outlets, and offered to help me to make an appointment – all in a few minutes. In the past, I might be online or on the phone for 30 minutes to get the information I needed. This has freed up their customer service team to focus on more complex queries. Later today, Yong Kang will be sharing how they used AI to boost customer satisfaction and increase sales by 20%.
These examples show that enterprises that effectively use AI can derive significant benefits. And the numbers back this up – SMEs using AI-enabled solutions achieved an average cost savings of 52% in 2024.
Importantly these stories show us that AI isn’t just about technology – it is about business transformation and enabling our people to do more meaningful work while serving customers better.
What sets the enterprises that succeed apart from the rest are three important attributes:
First, they are laser focused and relentless in their effort to redesign core workflows to make full use of technology, not the other way around of customising technology to follow existing processes.
Second, they involve their employees as key stakeholders right from the start and ensure staff are trained with the skills to make good use of the digital tools. Because it is a waste of money to invest in a turbo-charged race car engine, when the driver only can drive in first gear. The employees are front and centre of the digitalisation effort, and not an afterthought.
Third, they dare to try, starting somewhere in their business operations, starting small and scaling incrementally. Big bang approaches usually end up in big flops. Most enterprises don’t get it perfect the first time, but make it work with constant adjustments.
While the AI adoption trend is encouraging, I would like to see more enterprises to come onboard and not be left behind.
Many SMEs have shared that they are worried about disrupting their existing processes when adopting new solutions, including AI solution. Additionally, Furthermore, with the large number of solutions available in the market, they are unsure which solutions are tried and tested, which ones are relevant to them, and whether the service providers can be trusted.
To better support our SMEs on their selection and decision process, we have revamped the CTO-as-a-Service platform with a new "Go Digital Advisor", that helps to match solutions to business pain points in just 3 clicks.
For those who want a deeper dive, the Go Digital Advisor tool brings you through key business areas like Sales & Marketing, Customer Service, Operations, and Human Resources, to help you identify your top 3 business gaps and recommended pre-approved tools. SMEs that need more support can go to any SME Centres where business advisors can walk them through the Go Digital Advisor.
AI tools have also become much more intuitive and easier to use. We can adopt AI without the need for large or complex IT systems. Many solutions that you might already be familiar with are being augmented with AI.
We have worked hard to get about 30% of existing pre-approved solutions to be AI-enabled. Take an HR system you already use for payroll and leave management as an example. Now that its AI-enabled, that same system can now analyse your workforce data and predict staffing shortages or flag turnover patterns. Think of it like upgrading your familiar car with smart features like automatic parking or lane assistance – same car you're comfortable with, now enhanced with intelligence that helps you perform better. Your staff are already familiar with the HR solutions will just need to learn how to use the new features to help them be more productive.
Let me share the story of Ministry of Clean, a local cleaning company that found themselves overwhelmed by manual forms and Excel spreadsheets as their customer base expanded.
Through the CTO-as-a-Service platform, they identified an AI-enabled CRM solution that learns from customer patterns, and prioritises high-value opportunities, leading to increased sales revenue and customer retention.
The CRM’s built-in GenAI features can help craft customer responses, suggesting the right tone and content for different situations. What struck me most was how seamlessly their team embraced this technology – from older employees who had limited experience with digital tools, to operations staff who transitioned to a new function in the company using these tools. The right solution should empower every member of your team to succeed.
While the Go Digital Advisor helps you find the right tools, we recognise that every industry faces unique sector specific challenges. That is why we are also refreshing our Industry Digital Plans (IDPs) to serve as clear roadmaps tailored to your sector’s specific needs.
We refreshed the Food Services and Hotels IDPs earlier this year, and plan to refresh Food Manufacturing, Marine and Offshore Engineering and Early Childhood IDPs next year. For colleagues in these sectors, I hope that the plans will be beneficial for your digitalisation journey.
While we are providing tools and roadmaps, supporting SMEs require an ecosystem approach. That is why we have been building strong partnerships with industry leaders, who have come on board as partners for Singapore’s Digital Enterprise Blueprint.
11 partners – Alibaba Cloud, Amazon Web Services, DBS Bank, Google, Microsoft, Prudential Singapore, Salesforce, SGTech, Singapore Business Federation, Singapore Computer Society and ST Engineering – have pledged their commitment with various initiatives to uplift enterprises and workers.
To date, more than 20,000 enterprises have benefited, with more than 5,000 of these enterprises supported through this partnership programmes.
For example, SG Solution Stack, an IT consultancy firm, used the complimentary Cyber Threat Scanning Service under the SME CyberResilience Programme launched in May provided by ST Engineering, to identify gaps in their existing security measures.
SG Solution Stack went on to adopt ST Engineering's pre-approved cybersecurity solution, which allowed them to strengthen their cybersecurity posture.
Today, I am pleased to welcome two new Digital Enterprise Blueprint partners – Singtel and the Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCCI).
Singtel will be launching its Singtel Cyber Protect Programme, offering 14,000 SMEs free mobile protection and 35,000 SMEs free broadband security for 12 months. It will also conduct cybersecurity workshops and produce educational content to help enhance SME’s cyber resilience. Sign-ups begin on CTO-as-a-Service from 1 November 2025.
SCCCI will be launching the SCCCI AI Experience for SMEs Programme, leveraging their network of 5,000 members and 160 trade associations to strengthen AI adoption through hands-on workshops with IMDA's pre-approved AI tools. SMEs can register their interest on CTO-as-a-Service from January 2026.
I want to thank all our partners for stepping forward, and we welcome more companies to join us. Working together as an ecosystem, we can further enable SMEs to punch above their weight and compete on their own terms by harnessing technology.
Let me say a few words in Mandarin.
我鼓励所有中小企业积极采用数码和人工智能技术。相信这些技术对大家来说并不陌生。无论规模大小，企业都可以利用它们来大大节省成本,提高生产力。
我们发现，在迈向数码化后获益最多的公司，都有三个共同点：第一、它们不会墨守成规，而会大胆采用新科技去改革现有的工作流程；第二、它们从一开始就确保员工训练有素，以充分发挥科技的潜能；第三、它们很清楚不能一步登天，而必须一步一步来，先从小规模的实验开始，之后再不断改进并扩大规模。
为了鼓励更多企业加入，我们不断提升中小企业数码化计划，例如让CTOaaS这项服务更容易使用，以及更新产业数码化蓝图，为想迈出第一步的企业提供更明确的方向。
我们也通过“数码企业蓝图”同更多不同领域的业界伙伴合作，借助它们的行业知识，与政府的措施相辅相成，为企业和员工提供量身定制的帮助。
我鼓励大家稍后到这里的展区走一走，与参展代表深入交流，看一看CTOaaS可提供的解决方案。说不定，今天迈向数码转型的第一步，日后就能让您的企业取得关键的竞争优势。
To all the SMEs here today – I encourage you to explore what's available on our CTO-as-a-Service platform, attend the SMEs success sharing at the tech talks, and speak with the more than 200 IMDA pre-approved solution vendors and DEB Partners here today to discover how digital and AI can help your business punch above its weight.
Thank you, and I wish you all a productive and inspiring SMEs Go Digital Day!