AI development is accelerating at an unprecedented pace, and its applications are reshaping the world. From music, movies and shopping to defence and financial services, no industry will be left untouched by this technology. This is a tremendous opportunity for businesses. The IMF predicts that AI will transform almost 40% of jobs around the world.

When considering how to approach AI adoption in an organisation, it is important to keep in mind that AI is not just a productivity tool – it is a driver of value creation. The greatest value accrual will come from its applications to transform business.

Six years ago, in 2019, Temasek set up the AI pod: a small multidisciplinary team dedicated to realising value uplift from the application of AI within the Temasek portfolio. The AI pod does this by sharing expert insights, foresight into emerging technologies, and strategies to help scale AI adoption and applications effectively. The team also invests with the goal of seeing around the curve and facilitates partnerships to accelerate AI adoption at Temasek and its portfolio companies. Read on to learn about some of the real-world applications of AI at our portfolio companies.

Overcoming the barriers to AI adoption

Temasek is committed to helping its portfolio companies overcome obstacles and seize the opportunities of AI: unlocking efficiencies with business impact, driving innovation, and helping transform their workforces.

Our network and expertise put us in an ideal position to act as a knowledge base for our portfolio companies. “We saw that a number of our key portfolio companies had the data, domain expertise and relevant use cases, but could benefit from an acceleration in the scaled deployment of AI,” says Ren Yeong, Managing Director, Artificial Intelligence Strategy & Solutions, who leads Temasek’s AI pod. “To address this, we built up a team of AI practitioners to work with selected portfolio companies to create value through the application of AI.”

Temasek has set up several AI-focused ventures and companies, including minden.ai, which is behind the AI-powered consumer rewards programme, yuu and Resaro, an AI assurance firm that develops independent, third-party testing of mission-critical AI systems.

In 2021, Temasek founded Aicadium to co-innovate and scale AI products in partnership with portfolio companies. Today, Aicadium comprises a team of more than 60 technologists, engineers, and researchers across Singapore and the US. The aim is to develop and scale up AI applications that help our portfolio companies solve real-world challenges, such as improving productivity and throughput in aircraft maintenance to achieve better business outcomes. 

Powering AI at our portfolio companies

Since its inception, Aicadium has partnered with a wide variety of industry-focused portfolio companies, helping them scale up AI applications.

For instance, it partnered with SIA Engineering Company (SIAEC), to develop AI-driven solutions that enhance quality and productivity in maintenance operations. 
 
This collaboration combines Aicadium’s expertise in computer vision AI with SIAEC’s deep industry knowledge. By leveraging advanced AI solutions, the partnership supports SIAEC’s strategic focus on innovative operational technology and transforming aircraft maintenance processes.

In another collaboration, Aicadium teamed up with Element, a global leader in industrial testing, inspection, and certification. Aicadium worked with Element on the development of their new RegNav tool, which combines Element’s expert insights with generative AI to advise medical device companies navigating the FDA approval process. This helped to enhance the likelihood of earlier regulatory approval, thereby reducing the time-time-to-market and minimising unnecessary costs. 

Ensuring successful AI adoption

We have worked with companies across our portfolio and beyond to empower them to adopt AI applications. In doing so, we have identified some of the factors likely to drive successful adoption. These include cultivating a visionary senior leadership team, structuring organisations to encourage innovation, while building up the right capabilities. 

AI adoption is most likely to succeed when it is championed at the highest levels of leadership. That is why Temasek actively engages CEOs and board members, ensuring that they see AI as a strategic priority for their organisation. According to Ren Yeong: “Successful AI adoption requires change management. CEO focus is key.  Once this is elevated to the senior management’s agenda, we enable successful implementation at Temasek portfolio companies.”

As an organisation, we also share our AI expertise through a range of forums, including networks, councils, roundtables and workshops. For instance, our 2023 and 2024 Temasek Tripartite Conversations – annual dialogues to foster relationships between key stakeholders shaping Singapore’s workforce – were focused on AI. Discussions included upskilling and ensuring a successful transition to a future-ready AI-enabled workforce.

The importance of strategic partnerships

With the field of AI developing at such a dizzying pace, it can be challenging to know where to start with implementing AI. 

Temasek is helping its portfolio companies scale AI adoption: through its robust ecosystem; through support for change management; through targeted partnerships; and through dedicated initiatives like the AI pod and Aicadium. We provide companies with access to links across industry – from leading AI practitioners to academic institutions – to fill knowledge gaps and accelerate adoption.

AI is a revolutionary technology, and we want to ensure that our portfolio companies remain agile and adaptable to build new capabilities and embrace new opportunities.