Speech by Mdm Rahayu Mahzam, Minister of State for Digital Development and Information, at the Reimagining F&B in a Growing AI Environment Forum

SSA Group CEO Mr Suhaimi Salleh, speakers, industry and community partners, good morning.

Today’s theme on reimagining the food and beverage sector in a growing AI environment is timely and important.

This is an exciting time for all of us, whether we work directly with technology or use it in our personal capacities. AI is rapidly transforming how industries operate, grow, and serve communities. As new developments come to pass, the collective effort to experiment with, adopt and scale AI innovations will form the cornerstone of success for businesses and Singapore.

It is no surprise to me that our SMEs recognise the vast potential for AI to bring benefits to their businesses. We’ve seen some incredible progress by those who have seized AI opportunities as they came by. I am impressed not just by long-term, ambitious AI projects, but also the initiative to reinvent small, common tasks through AI.

SMEs are increasingly tapping on existing, available and easy-to-use AI tools for the creation of social media content, ideation for business strategies and drafting of job ads. Take chatbots for instance, many local businesses now use basic chatbots to respond to customer queries instantly – even outside business hours.

These are small steps that make a big difference in service quality and customer satisfaction, at minimal cost.

In May 2024, we launched the Digital Enterprise Blueprint. Co-developed with industry, the DEB charts the next chapter in Singapore’s enterprise digitalisation journey amidst a rapidly evolving landscape. Enterprises will be empowered through adoption of AI-enabled solutions, enabled to scale faster through cloud-based and integrated solutions, and equipped to be safer through improved cyber resilience. The DEB also looks to support enterprises to upskill workers’ digital capabilities.

We encourage you to implement solutions that are specific and relevant for your sector. This is why EnterpriseSG and IMDA have refreshed the Food Services Industry Digital Plan under our SMEs Go Digital Programme.

Developed alongside sector leads, the refreshed Food Services Industry Digital Plan outlines digital solutions and training recommended for F&B SMEs at every stage of growth.

Launched just yesterday, the updated Food Services IDP introduces new solutions enabled by AI. This includes automated self-checkout systems, unmanned stores, kitchens and end-to-end operation lines. These ready-to-deploy systems and technologies will support F&B SMEs that are looking to improve their business operations, enhance productivity and save cost.

1. One such example is the Hainan Story, which used to face limitations with traditional cooking methods that required constant monitoring and experienced staff. This made it difficult to maintain consistency, and challenging for labour costs to be managed efficiently.

2. The Hainan Story implemented an automated capsule-based cooking system with preset temperature and timing controls. Teams simply load pre-portioned ingredients into the capsules and the cooking process will be managed independently by the system.

3. Since then, The Hainan Story has also incorporated use of GenAI in their social media content and captions. These efforts have yielded a productivity rise by over 50% and improvements in food consistency.

Moving more specifically to AI adoption, how can SMEs begin on your AI adoption journey?

I’m glad to say that we are working off a strong digital foundation. I encourage you to think about incorporating AI as just another set of tools, as you would with social media tools such as Instagram and TikTok. Put to good use, AI tools can support your business in ways that will alleviate costs and human effort, and generate new business opportunities.

To keep things simple, you could begin with small, incremental steps. A good starting point is for SMEs to explore and innovate with free and accessible AI tools currently available in the larger AI ecosystem.

As we look back at this past year, we’ve seen an encouraging proactive uptake in AI adoption within the F&B industry in Singapore.

1. Durian Memories, a local durian shop, used to struggle with high volume of customer enquires – many of which came after business hours. After observing a drop in sales, Durian Memories started enhancing operations through a Customer Relationship Management System that came with a built-in GenAI chatbot. Durian Memories was able to respond to customers around the clock, ensuring no enquiries and leads were missed, leading to improved seasonal sales, and operational efficiency.

2. Playmade, a popular bubble tea chain in Singapore, used to spend days brainstorming marketing materials for its new product launches which happen every four to six weeks. The founder decided to use GenAI tools to generate creative and tasty descriptions of new drinks, and social media captions using simple prompts. Not only was Playmade able to maintain its fun brand voice, it also experienced a boost in social media engagement.

These are all small steps that your fellow SMEs have initiated and explored in their own time.

If you don’t know where to start, IMDA’s Generative AI Playbook for Enterprises is a good place for you to begin your journey. The Playbook illustrates the benefits of GenAI while offering resources on GenAI solutions. The complementary Gen AI Navigator recommends appropriate AI solutions with grant support, and SkillsFuture Singapore (SSG)-funded training for SMEs. You may be glad to know that all pre-approved AI solutions are cloud-native, and that you will not need a hefty investment into digital infrastructure prior to deployment.

1. Cheeselads, a cheese shop and restaurant, had previously used Microsoft Excel for payroll, leave and tax calculations.

2. As their team grew from three to 15 persons, this manual process became unsustainable and prone to error. Cheeselads decided to tap on an HR management solution, which automated key HR tasks on a monthly basis. This came with timely reminders to help companies stay on top of things,

3. Cheeselads had been able to reduce administrative processing time. Employees were also able to apply for leave and view payslips via a mobile app, as the system was cloud-based.

With the strong foundation built from previous waves of digitalisation, SMEs are well-positioned for adoption of AI. For those amongst us who are looking to take the next step for their AI ambitions, I encourage you to explore grants-supported solutions and available resources by both government agencies and community partners on the Chief Technology Officer-as-a-Service platform.

Those with greater AI ambitions may be interested to know that PM had announced the Enterprise Compute Initiative (ECI) at Budget 2025. Under the ECI, $150 million had been set aside to support Singapore-based companies’ AI transformation projects. This programme will help companies leverage AI more effectively in their transformation journey, and support value creation of AI across the economy.

Beyond organisational development, we need to make sure that everyone on our teams is on the same page. Let us build on the existing digital capabilities of our teams to deploy both simple and complex AI effectively. I am aware that it is not easy for everyone to train for the future while handling the challenges of today.

1. I am thus glad that we have a well-developed training infrastructure supported by an ecosystem of competent training providers such as SkillsFuture Singapore, SSA Academy, and the Singapore Malay Chamber of Commerce and Industry. There is an emphasis to keep the content of such training relevant and able to meet the varied needs of SMEs and interested individuals alike. Your dedication and commitment to uplifting our enterprises, fostering innovation and advocating for inclusive progress continues to make a real difference.

For the SME leaders here today, the IMDA’s Digital Leaders Programme (DLP) could be an interesting resource to look into. The DLP helps digitally ambitious local businesses leaders accelerate their businesses’ digital transformation.

1. Under the DLP, SaladStop! assembled a four-person in-house digital team comprising of an Engineering manager and three software engineers. The team successfully implemented a Digital Ledge system that accelerated order processing by 40% and doubled their Marina Bay outlet’s revenue.

2. The team further developed an innovative GenAI platform that was able to personalise meal recommendations from over 500 salad combinations based on their customers’ nutritional goals, creating greater value for their customers. Through effective use of digital technology, SaladStop! has optimised their operations and driven greater revenue growth.

We need to build up a base of confident AI users, who will not just use AI solutions, but adapt, innovate and thrive with AI.

The SkillsFuture for Digital Workplaces 2.0 is a training programme that equips Singaporeans with basic digital skills required at the workplace to improve confidence in AI and productivity in the workplace. This includes skills such as automation, cybersecurity risk, data analytics and GenAI.

As AI is a cross-cutting capability, the Government has also launched sectoral Job Transformation Maps (JTMs), to guide enterprises in job transformation and point workers towards the avenues of training to be equipped in AI. Out of the 17 JTMs released, 13 of them have been updated to outline the impact of AI in their sectors, including Accounting and Human Resources.

Digital transformation is not a solo effort. It is built on shared knowledge, resources, partnerships and community resilience. It is crucial that we take a holistic and comprehensive approach to enhancing our digital capabilities.

We want to move beyond simply learning and exploring AI, to thriving with AI. As a society, we have already made much progress in digitalisation over the past decades. My encouragement to you is to view AI as a multi-functional tool within your toolkit. AI is here to support your business, and to bring benefits across your operations and teams.

In today’s rapidly evolving business landscape, I urge all of us to embody the attitude of tangkas membaca peluang, bijak menyusu langkah. Be quick to recognise opportunities, and wise in leveraging available resources at every stage.

As we look ahead, I encourage everyone here today to keep an open mind, and continue pushing boundaries in the digital realm. Let us be bold in reimagining how AI can serve the F&B industry. Together, we will build a vibrant business ecosystem that fosters innovation, enhances productivity and unlocks new opportunities for all.

Thank you.