We were on the ground for day one of the second edition of GITEX AI ASIA in Singapore, and the difference from last year was staggering. We attended the event in its inaugural year when it had a much smaller crowd, but the recent explosion of interest in artificial intelligence has drawn massive numbers of people to the exhibition this year.
The event took place at Marina Bay Sands from 9 to 10 April, 2026. It brought together a gathering of industry leaders from more than 110 countries.
The venue was packed with attendees exploring offerings from over 550 global technology enterprises and startups, listening to more than 175 speakers, and networking with influential investors who manage upwards of US$350 billion in assets.
The opening day set a serious tone regarding the new phase of Asia rising in the global innovation economy.
Regional integration was a major talking point, especially with ASEAN moving towards a landmark pact designed to harmonise trade rules, cybersecurity standards, data flows, and digital payments. Experts at the summit noted that this new regional digital architecture is set to unlock a US
The opening day set a serious tone regarding the new phase of Asia rising in the global innovation economy.
Regional integration was a major talking point, especially with ASEAN moving towards a landmark pact designed to harmonise trade rules, cybersecurity standards, data flows, and digital payments. Experts at the summit noted that this new regional digital architecture is set to unlock a US$2 trillion digital economy by 2030. The discussions heavily focused on converting artificial intelligence into deployable industrial advantage and defining the necessary frameworks for policy and governance.
On the show floor, the attention was focused on operationalising artificial intelligence at scale across enterprise systems, networks, and data infrastructure. H3C, a digital solutions company that has emerged as a leading player in the hyperconverged infrastructure market in China, presented its solutions designed to accelerate digital transformation. Their showcase spanned full stack digital infrastructure capabilities including computing, storage, networking, security, and edge computing alongside an integrated platform for cloud connectivity.
Another Chinese technology giant, iFLYTEK, offered an exclusive preview of its new artificial intelligence glasses ahead of their official launch in May. The lightweight wearable device is designed to provide real time translation and intelligent assistance. A representative from iFLYTEK noted that the industry is shifting away from mere technical competition in computing power and algorithms, moving towards the deep integration of artificial intelligence into daily work and life to reshape service experiences.
Data infrastructure was also a prominent theme drawing strong attention. Global data centre specialist Datalec Precision Installations unveiled its integrated AI Ready Data Centre.
Cybersecurity emerged as an urgent priority and a principal condition for digital growth across the entire region. The cybersecurity market in ASEAN was valued at US$5.5 billion in 2025 and is projected to nearly triple to reach US$14 billion by 2031. This massive growth comes as governments and businesses confront compounding risks created by cloud adoption, the Internet of Things, and increasingly connected economies.
David Koh, the Commissioner of Cybersecurity and Chief Executive of the Cyber Security Agency of Singapore, opened the conference by framing cybersecurity as a shared strategic responsibility between government, industry, and academia. He pointed to a fourfold increase in advanced threat attacks between 2021 and 2024, stressing the urgency of driving collaborative efforts through platforms like this event. Dr Megat Zuhairy, Chief Executive of the National Cyber Security Agency in Malaysia, discussed the paradox of building advanced yet vulnerable digital economies, noting that digital growth across ASEAN is currently outpacing cyber resilience.
The corporate perspective added incredible depth to these security conversations.
Alvaro Garrido, who serves as COO and CIO of Information Security at Standard Chartered, examined the concept of secure by design artificial intelligence in banking. He shared insights on shifting the focus toward a people centric approach, placing training, trust, and ethics at the core of transformation in tightly regulated sectors. Furthermore, Magnus Ewerbring, the CTO for APAC at Ericsson, widened the discussion by asking whether Southeast Asia can sustain its pace of digital progress while balancing citizen trust and data protection.
Looking toward future connectivity, Dian Siswarini, President Director of PT Telkom Indonesia, positioned the race to 6G technology as central to architecting a unified, coherent roadmap for nationwide digitalisation. She stated that artificial intelligence is transforming how networks are designed, from massively scaled data centers to computing at the edge, and urged leaders to treat digital infrastructure as a strategic asset for national competitiveness. Shih Guan Chua, Managing Director at DBS, outlined how Singapore and the wider region are evolving into command centres for globally scalable companies, pointing to political stability, strong infrastructure, and access to capital as key enabling factors.
The momentum from the first day carried directly into day two, which turned the spotlight on global startups, scientists, and venture capitalists riding the next big inflection point in Southeast Asia.
Investment in artificial intelligence within Southeast Asia is projected to grow at a compound annual rate of 25 percent and surpass US$110 billion by 2028. This massive surge of capital was evident at the North Star Asia startup showcase. More than 300 startups from over 50 countries met with investors to facilitate deep tech matchmaking, startup discovery, and commercial scrutiny.
The geography of startup scale is clearly expanding. Alongside tech pavilions from Hong Kong, India, Japan, the Netherlands, Pakistan, and South Korea, the event welcomed new first time country pavilions from Belgium and the Philippines. Hub.Brussels brought European companies operating at the intersection of enterprise software and regulated industries. Among them was Artech, which focused on digital product passports, compliance, and secure data exchange aligned with European frameworks. AW Labs, another Belgian company, applied intelligent sensing and analytics to monitor indoor air quality and airborne risk management. The Philippines pavilion introduced startups spanning agriculture technology, smart cities, and software as a service. Cerebro showcased a unified school operating system for enrolment and grading, while GreenVisionsPh featured precision sustainable farming tools designed to restore soil health and improve productivity.
As intelligent systems begin to make decisions and sit deeper inside industrial ecosystems, governance has become a central question. Demetris Skourides, the Chief Scientist for Research, Innovation and Technology for the Republic of Cyprus, examined the governance angle of Industry 5.0. He argued that sovereign artificial intelligence is about far more than just running a model in your own country. It is about controlling the data, the decisions, and the algorithms, warning that treating artificial intelligence as just an application layer creates systemic risks such as bias in training data and over reliance on specific vendors. Another urgent theme was the environmental footprint of the industry itself.
With manufacturing accounting for one fifth of global emissions and more than 54 percent of global energy use, greener production is fast becoming a matter of pure competitiveness. Dr Arvind Bodhankar, Chief Sustainability Officer at Arcelor Mittal Nippon Steel, set out how robotics and next generation materials are pivotal to building greener circular factories. He detailed a three pronged approach to reduce, recycle, and repurpose materials back into the steel making process or into road building construction.
Investors from more than 30 countries arrived not simply to scout the next generation of companies, but to offer a clearer reading of the evolving funding climate and the twin challenge of commercialisation and persistent growth. Saemin Ahn, Managing Partner at Rakuten Capital, suggested that capital is concentrating around startups in durable themes that solve mission critical problems for customers, proving themselves as indispensable business enablers rather than just side experiments. Yinghui Kuang, a Partner at Granite Asia, discussed the difficult end of the startup spectrum regarding commercialising hard science. He revealed that his firm has looked at more than 100 humanoid startups in the last 12 months alone, often only writing a cheque after knowing a company for three to five years to see how it executes on its vision.
The event culminated in the Supernova Challenge, which tested the technical merit, commercial clarity, market fit, and scalability of high potential founders.
Ailytics was crowned the Supernova Champion for its groundbreaking workplace safety platform that can convert standard CCTV into intelligent monitoring tools. The Singapore based winner received SG$30,000 in equity free prize money. Tan Wei Zhuang, the CEO at Ailytics, expressed happiness at seeing the event come to Singapore last year and noted that the quality of footfall and the return on investment has been extremely strong. Japan based health technology pioneer Lifescapes secured the first runner up prize of SG$20,000, while South Korea based talent upskilling platform Codespresso took the second runner up spot, receiving SG$10,000.
On the show floor, the attention was focused on operationalising artificial intelligence at scale across enterprise systems, networks, and data infrastructure. H3C, a digital solutions company that has emerged as a leading player in the hyperconverged infrastructure market in China, presented its solutions designed to accelerate digital transformation. Their showcase spanned full stack digital infrastructure capabilities including computing, storage, networking, security, and edge computing alongside an integrated platform for cloud connectivity.
Another Chinese technology giant, iFLYTEK, offered an exclusive preview of its new artificial intelligence glasses ahead of their official launch in May. The lightweight wearable device is designed to provide real time translation and intelligent assistance. A representative from iFLYTEK noted that the industry is shifting away from mere technical competition in computing power and algorithms, moving towards the deep integration of artificial intelligence into daily work and life to reshape service experiences.
Data infrastructure was also a prominent theme drawing strong attention. Global data centre specialist Datalec Precision Installations unveiled its integrated AI Ready Data Centre.
Cybersecurity emerged as an urgent priority and a principal condition for digital growth across the entire region. The cybersecurity market in ASEAN was valued at US.5 billion in 2025 and is projected to nearly triple to reach US billion by 2031. This massive growth comes as governments and businesses confront compounding risks created by cloud adoption, the Internet of Things, and increasingly connected economies.
David Koh, the Commissioner of Cybersecurity and Chief Executive of the Cyber Security Agency of Singapore, opened the conference by framing cybersecurity as a shared strategic responsibility between government, industry, and academia. He pointed to a fourfold increase in advanced threat attacks between 2021 and 2024, stressing the urgency of driving collaborative efforts through platforms like this event. Dr Megat Zuhairy, Chief Executive of the National Cyber Security Agency in Malaysia, discussed the paradox of building advanced yet vulnerable digital economies, noting that digital growth across ASEAN is currently outpacing cyber resilience.
The corporate perspective added incredible depth to these security conversations.
Alvaro Garrido, who serves as COO and CIO of Information Security at Standard Chartered, examined the concept of secure by design artificial intelligence in banking. He shared insights on shifting the focus toward a people centric approach, placing training, trust, and ethics at the core of transformation in tightly regulated sectors. Furthermore, Magnus Ewerbring, the CTO for APAC at Ericsson, widened the discussion by asking whether Southeast Asia can sustain its pace of digital progress while balancing citizen trust and data protection.
Looking toward future connectivity, Dian Siswarini, President Director of PT Telkom Indonesia, positioned the race to 6G technology as central to architecting a unified, coherent roadmap for nationwide digitalisation. She stated that artificial intelligence is transforming how networks are designed, from massively scaled data centers to computing at the edge, and urged leaders to treat digital infrastructure as a strategic asset for national competitiveness. Shih Guan Chua, Managing Director at DBS, outlined how Singapore and the wider region are evolving into command centres for globally scalable companies, pointing to political stability, strong infrastructure, and access to capital as key enabling factors.
The momentum from the first day carried directly into day two, which turned the spotlight on global startups, scientists, and venture capitalists riding the next big inflection point in Southeast Asia.
Investment in artificial intelligence within Southeast Asia is projected to grow at a compound annual rate of 25 percent and surpass US0 billion by 2028. This massive surge of capital was evident at the North Star Asia startup showcase. More than 300 startups from over 50 countries met with investors to facilitate deep tech matchmaking, startup discovery, and commercial scrutiny.
The geography of startup scale is clearly expanding. Alongside tech pavilions from Hong Kong, India, Japan, the Netherlands, Pakistan, and South Korea, the event welcomed new first time country pavilions from Belgium and the Philippines. Hub.Brussels brought European companies operating at the intersection of enterprise software and regulated industries. Among them was Artech, which focused on digital product passports, compliance, and secure data exchange aligned with European frameworks. AW Labs, another Belgian company, applied intelligent sensing and analytics to monitor indoor air quality and airborne risk management. The Philippines pavilion introduced startups spanning agriculture technology, smart cities, and software as a service. Cerebro showcased a unified school operating system for enrolment and grading, while GreenVisionsPh featured precision sustainable farming tools designed to restore soil health and improve productivity.
As intelligent systems begin to make decisions and sit deeper inside industrial ecosystems, governance has become a central question. Demetris Skourides, the Chief Scientist for Research, Innovation and Technology for the Republic of Cyprus, examined the governance angle of Industry 5.0. He argued that sovereign artificial intelligence is about far more than just running a model in your own country. It is about controlling the data, the decisions, and the algorithms, warning that treating artificial intelligence as just an application layer creates systemic risks such as bias in training data and over reliance on specific vendors. Another urgent theme was the environmental footprint of the industry itself.
With manufacturing accounting for one fifth of global emissions and more than 54 percent of global energy use, greener production is fast becoming a matter of pure competitiveness. Dr Arvind Bodhankar, Chief Sustainability Officer at Arcelor Mittal Nippon Steel, set out how robotics and next generation materials are pivotal to building greener circular factories. He detailed a three pronged approach to reduce, recycle, and repurpose materials back into the steel making process or into road building construction.
Investors from more than 30 countries arrived not simply to scout the next generation of companies, but to offer a clearer reading of the evolving funding climate and the twin challenge of commercialisation and persistent growth. Saemin Ahn, Managing Partner at Rakuten Capital, suggested that capital is concentrating around startups in durable themes that solve mission critical problems for customers, proving themselves as indispensable business enablers rather than just side experiments. Yinghui Kuang, a Partner at Granite Asia, discussed the difficult end of the startup spectrum regarding commercialising hard science. He revealed that his firm has looked at more than 100 humanoid startups in the last 12 months alone, often only writing a cheque after knowing a company for three to five years to see how it executes on its vision.
The event culminated in the Supernova Challenge, which tested the technical merit, commercial clarity, market fit, and scalability of high potential founders.
Ailytics was crowned the Supernova Champion for its groundbreaking workplace safety platform that can convert standard CCTV into intelligent monitoring tools. The Singapore based winner received SG,000 in equity free prize money. Tan Wei Zhuang, the CEO at Ailytics, expressed happiness at seeing the event come to Singapore last year and noted that the quality of footfall and the return on investment has been extremely strong. Japan based health technology pioneer Lifescapes secured the first runner up prize of SG,000, while South Korea based talent upskilling platform Codespresso took the second runner up spot, receiving SG,000.
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