Surviving the ‘AI winter’: Startups need to know ‘when to go into hibernation’ if they want to thrive

Singapore isn’t interested in having the most data centers, or the most sovereign foundational large language models. Instead, “Singapore is more interested in being the most AI-powered economy in the world,” Jacqueline Poh, managing director of the Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB), said at the Fortune Brainstorm AI Singapore conference on Wednesday (31 July).

The focus on AI builds on Singapore’s long track record of focusing on technological advancement, such as the country’s decision to build a digital economy. “That journey has taken more than 10 to 15 years now, and we’re seeing the fruits of that happen,” she explained.
 

The digital economy contributes up to 20 per cent of Singapore’s GDP. AI could eventually contribute that much, too, yet “84 per cent of Singapore companies say they can’t really implement AI as effectively as they would like,” owing to siloed data, a lack of talent, and fast-evolving technology, Poh explained.

One company trying to encourage tens of thousands of employees to use AI is DBS, Southeast Asia’s largest bank by assets.

The “number one” task is getting “everyone to drink the Kool-Aid,” Su Shan Tan, group head of institutional banking at DBS Group, said on Wednesday. Then the next step is to encourage employees to be responsible for implementing the new technology.

“Let them own the model. Let them own the feedback loop. Let them own the outcomes,” she said.
 

Surviving an ‘AI winter’

Despite the energy surrounding the new technology today, what’s key to the AI industry is its ability to survive an “AI winter,” Poh said. “It is important to know when to go out and get funding, when to go into hibernation, and when to preserve fundamental capabilities.”

AI has emerged from hype cycles before and emerged stronger, but this is now “a singular moment of hyperinflated expectations for AI,” she said. She estimated that it could take as long as 15 years for AI to become deeply embedded in the economy. 

But DBS’s Tan is already seeing tangible benefits from AI. “You can measure the outcomes, at least for our industry,” she said. “There are a lot of quantifiable metrics … You can measure them and then refine the models to make them more efficient.”

For AI startups (rather than corporate giants like DBS), Poh pitched Singapore as “the venture capital funding hub of Southeast Asia”.

“The money is looking for real implementations, real business models, and AI companies that can help other companies solve their problems,” she said.
 

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