The inaugural DBS Asia Future Forward Conference 2026 opened today in Singapore, with the agenda centered on AI and exploring in depth the technology's impact on industrial structure, business models and the nature of work, how it is changing the logic of global value creation and the direction of capital flows, and the strategic choices facing leaders across Asia amid this technological wave.
DBS Group Holdings (DBS) CEO Tan Su Shan said: "AI is reshaping industries, business models and ways of working at unprecedented speed. Asia has the talent, capital and innovative wisdom to lead in this new era. However, turning these advantages into lasting competitiveness depends on the strategic choices we make today. If 'trust' creates the precondition for AI's scaled application, then 'intent' will determine where this capability ultimately goes, how value is translated, and who the true beneficiaries are. At the DBS Asia Future Forward Conference 2026, we bring together elites from all sectors to break free from established thinking, broaden frontier perspectives, and jointly guide Asia toward a clearer and more visionary future amid the AI wave."
As AI rapidly moves from experimentation to scale, the focus is shifting. People are no longer concerned only with "what technology can do," but with "how technology should be applied, and what value it should deliver." The conference agenda revolves around "Intentional AI," advocating that AI deployment be driven by clear, specific goals so that the technology can be translated into efficient, measurable real-world impact. The conference gathers industry elites influencing every link of the AI economic value chain — from the underlying platforms, semiconductors and hardware infrastructure that drive AI development, to enterprise-grade applications across industries, and to the capital investing in future AI development.
The full-day agenda revolves around the core propositions of AI's next phase of implementation, focusing on the following areas: a high-level dialogue between Singapore Prime Minister Lawrence Wong and DBS Group Holdings (DBS) CEO Tan Su Shan; a conversation between TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew and DBS Group Holdings (DBS) Head of Retail Banking and Wealth Management Lim Chee Koon, exploring how to unlock human potential in the AI era; TNE.ai CEO and co-founder Dong Jiajun, Adaption CEO and co-founder Dr. Sara Hooker and MiniMax General Manager of International Business Sheng Jingyuan sharing the stage with DBS Group Holdings (DBS) Chief Operating Officer Ng Soon Hee to discuss how to define leadership in AI as technology continues to evolve; a live demonstration by Hesai Technology and Sharpa co-founder Li Yifan, showing what becomes possible when AI transcends software and gains physical form through robots and intelligent machines; OpenExO Chairman Salim Ismail sharing how AI will transform corporate organizational structures; Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan and Broadcom President and CEO Hock Tan joining DBS Group Holdings (DBS) CEO Tan Su Shan to look ahead at where the next trillion dollars of AI value will be born; and Indonesia's sovereign wealth fund Danantara Chief Investment Officer Pandu Patria Sjahrir, Franklin Templeton CEO Jenny Johnson, Granite Asia Senior Managing Partner Jenny Lee and Institute of International Finance President and CEO Timothy Adams jointly analyzing the evolution of capital flows in the AI era. That session is moderated by DBS Group Holdings (DBS) Global Head of Corporate Banking Han Kwee Juan.