On the 12th, the inaugural DBS Asia Forward Summit 2026 was held.
DBS Group Holdings Ltd (D05.SI) Chief Executive Officer Tan Su Shan stated at the event that AI is reshaping industries, business models, and ways of working at an unprecedented pace. Asia possesses the talent, capital, and innovative wisdom to lead in this new era. However, translating these advantages into lasting competitiveness depends on the strategic choices made today. If "trust" creates the precondition for AI's scaled application, then "intent" will determine the ultimate direction of this capability, how value is realized, and who truly benefits.
Approximately 700 DBS corporate and wealth management clients attended the summit, including numerous senior business leaders, entrepreneurs, and investors. Facing the wave of AI development, attendees jointly explored how artificial intelligence is profoundly impacting their industry landscapes, corporate operations, and future investment decisions.
It is reported that in 2025, DBS Group Holdings Ltd (D05.SI) has deployed over 2,000 digital models across more than 430 real-world scenarios, creating approximately S$1 billion in economic value through data analytics and intelligent technologies. These digital tools are deeply restructuring customer experience and office processes, while the bank's top-level design across the entire organization revolves around "human-machine collaboration," reorganizing complex business flows. All initiatives operate under a rigorous and comprehensive compliance and risk governance framework to ensure the safety and responsibility of technology application.
Tan Su Shan stated that Asia's growth story is one of the most exciting stories in today's world. "We have supply chains, with both hardware and software. We have technology, from chips, storage, connectors, data centers, and software, to biotechnology, consumer goods, and energy. We have a talent advantage—Asia has a large number of young talents. We have the world's fastest GDP growth rates, and capital markets are continuously growing."
She pointed out that China possesses highly favorable conditions for leveraging AI to drive growth, enhance productivity, carry out high-quality innovation, and contribute to global development. AI and embodied AI can create substantial value, and China is currently at the forefront of this field. Technology is accelerating at an unprecedented pace.
Tan Su Shan believes that simply "+AI" is not enough—what she calls "AI painting." What is truly needed is to rethink our workflows and ways of working to genuinely unlock human potential. She pointed out that the urgent task is for humanity to apply good judgment, wisdom, and creativity to ensure that the AI journey we all embark on together is on the right path. "While building robots and AI, we must ensure our agents are 'grounded.' They must be rooted in internal controls, governance, policies, and processes, so that our agents do not spiral out of control."
Tan Su Shan stated that DBS Group Holdings Ltd (D05.SI) is deepening its AI strategy to drive resilient growth, encompassing four major transformation pillars—processes, tools, people, and organizational structure—ultimately creating new capacity through large-scale "human + AI" collaboration. At the same time, she also stated, "As we advance toward becoming an AI-driven bank, we need to learn by doing. We also need to learn from the technology leaders in the industry, and how to build a controllable and compliant framework."
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