Databricks to invest over US$350m, double Singapore workforce

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US-based AI and data company Datab Bricks is investing more than $350 million US in Singapore over the next three years. It is also partnering institutes of higher learning to equip 20,000 people with data and AI skills. The firm says the investment reinforces Singapore's role as its regional hub and supports the country's national AI strategy ambitions. Ivy Chalk has the details. Data Bricks will quadruple its Singapore headquarter space to 32,000 square ft by year end. It will also double its workforce in Singapore to more than 500 employees. The firm is also launching a new program to help early stage startups gain access to its tools and training, build AI products, and speed up their path to market.

Tools include a database for faster workflows and AI agents that can make sense of data, >> promising early stage companies access to technology as well as being able to participate in industry. We'll be launching this in November with an initial cohort of 10 startups and we expect to extend that to a further 100 over the next 3 years and we'll be investing 200,000 credits dollars worth of credits per company in providing platforms and access to data bricks technology. >> The partnership with schools to equip 20,000 people with AI and data skills over the next 3 years builds on the 10,000 on track to be trained by next year. In the first its training and certifications will be added into curriculara at one institute. >> We hope that uh we can emphasize more to the students that uh data is the oil.

Data is everything that drives AI forward. All right. And uh all the findings all the agents all these uh large language model they started with data. So we have to understand data properly in order to build the subsequent AI agents and also optimizations. >> These were announced at an industry event. The digital development and information ministry says Singapore is now at the acceleration stage of its journey as an AI hub. >> You are seeing that many organizations are seeking to go beyond experimentation. And if you look at the kinds of organizations that are attempting to go deeper, it's also very broad.

We started out thinking that um in order for this AI hub to be truly vibrant, you have to look at the opportunities both in terms of the kinds of enterprises that would need to be touched by AI and also the industries as well as the sectors that potentially can be transformed. >> Mrs. to identifies three main obstacles. Skills gaps, integration with existing enterprise workflows, and access to good quality data. Another AI firm sinking more investment in Singapore is Applaud. It will be doubling its commitment to at least $20 million to expand engineering, product development, and regional operations. It has also opened its Asia-Pacific headquarters at Marina Bay Financial Center as it seeks to develop AI across diverse markets. The Singapore government says this allows more locals to develop valuable skills at the frontier of AI.

>> For the people doing this work, it is a chance to work on global products, learn from colleagues from around the world, engage with diverse markets, and solve problems at the frontier of AI. Because ultimately what matters most to us is what the growth of AI, our AI ecosystem means for our people. Whether they have the opportunity to do meaningful work, develop valuable skills, and participate in building technologies that will shape the future. >> Most of Plaude's new investment will go towards hiring and research. The note-taking company has already grown its Singapore workforce 10fold in 9 months and plans to hire 50 more employees by the end of the year. Singaporeans and permanent residents make up 65% of its current team [music] and it will continue hiring across engineering, product and business roles.

>> Why did we choose Singapore as our home for this region? For me, the answer was simple. The talent is here. Singapore is home to the best engineering and product people as well as data science, business operations, and a lot of talents in Asia are here in this city. >> AI firm Anthropic will open a Singapore office next month, its fifth in the Asia-Pacific region. It says this expansion is driven by strong enterprise demand for its clawed AI model. The firm's own study ranks Singapore second out of 121 countries in the model's usage relative to population. It says demand has been strong in regulated sectors such as financial services and government. In Singapore, it will work with organizations of every size from startups and digital natives to large enterprises and the public sector.

It is also hiring for a range of roles in the country. And for more analysis, we're joined by Manik Bandari who is EY ASEAN data and artificial intelligence leader. Manik, good to have you with us. Now, we know that more global AI companies are deepening investment in Singapore, uh, especially at a time when there are also calls to introduce more safeguards to keep pace with the tech. So, how will this pan out for Singapore? And what's the potential impact? >> Thanks, Angela, for having me.

I think it's it's actually great timing because you know when global companies talk about pausing investment it is on developing the new models the new foundational models which are at the cutting edge which may not have been fully tested but when we look at enterprises in Singapore they have generated a lot of value by investing in maybe the early stage of the models which have been you know very sufficiently tested and are delivering value in supply chain in risk management customer experience. So I think when we invest in the proper infrastructure, the proper governance uh and the talent, I think there is a lot of value to be created. So I don't think we have to pause but we have to do it in a more sensible and an ROI based uh approach.

>> While there's a lot of potential for value creation as you see what would too much AI investment look like for a small economy like Singapore and what are some warning signs that policy makers can watch out for? I think you know we have chosen four you know national missions uh in the four sectors and if we make good investment there and we see the ROI and there is an impact on GDP that's a sign of you know good investment but anecdotally you know I can give you an example you know if a company who only gets a 100 calls a day in a call center and then ends up spending multi-million dollars to build a voice agent platform that clearly a sign of you know overinvestment Now the authorities say that Singapore is now at the acceleration stage of its journey as an AI hub.

But there are also three main obstacles namely the skills gaps uh integration with existing enterprise workflows and also the access to good quality data. How do we address these concerns? >> I think the government is already doing quite a bit. Um when we I mean I'll take the talent question uh up front. I think on the supply side a lot of the curricula in the higher um education institutes is already being updated constantly. We are also making a bet on people with functional and industry expertise.

So you know people who may have been in the supply chain or in the risk area you know earlier now they're getting reskilled on the AI skills as as well which means that in addition to just having data scientists or AI engineers which is also good but I think the challenge when it comes to integrating AI into workflows it can only be overcome when we have people who understand the business who understand the workflows and then also understand AI. So I think that's how these gaps can be addressed, >> right? And and using AI across industries can also be very resource uh intensive for a small country with real resource constraints. How will Singapore need to decide how much infrastructure uh is worth putting up?

>> So I think it is similar to you know what we advise our clients at EY which is keep a laser sharp focus on the return on investment. You know we know that you know talent is limited, land is limited, energy is limited. So if we have to really double down and make investment in specific sectors, these sectors should be the ones which contribute a lot to the GDP. So if you look at the financial services sector, the healthcare sector, transportation and logistics, advanced manufacturing, these are areas where we have significant intellectual property already.

And if we work with some of these global AI companies and combine our industry expertise with the AI cap capabilities and then create you know significantly new IP that we have that will that that will be the way in which we can kind of have a very good multiplier effect on the investments that we make in Singapore. >> Right now Manik you mentioned ROI. How will Singapore know if its bet on AI has paid off apart from ROI? What kind of metrics can we look at?

uh in my mind there are always you know two measures one is of course you know how many people are using it and how often they're using it and on those kind of parameters Singapore is already you know one of the world's u uh chart toppers in that sense in terms of adoption and how many of our Singaporeans use AI day-to-day I think the second measure is obviously focused on the business outcomes and this is around either you know what's the impact to the bottom line whether the profitability has improved or you know we are able to do more with less. So if in the few chosen sectors we are able to improve uh the productivity and improve the revenue which then again have like at least a four 5% impact on GDP contribution that will be a great measure of you know whether we have succeeded on the AI race or not.

Manik, thank you so much for sharing your views with us. That was Amanik Bandari who is Eyan data and artificial intelligence leader.