DBS Launches Flagship Asia Future Forward Conference, PM Lawrence Wong to Headline AI-Focused Event

DBS announced on 2 October 2026 the launch of its new flagship Asia Future Forward Conference, set to bring roughly 700 senior business leaders, entrepreneurs, and investors to Singapore on 12 October for a day-long programme centred on artificial intelligence.

The inaugural edition’s headline event will be a one-on-one dialogue between Prime Minister Lawrence Wong and DBS CEO Tan Su Shan, underscoring the close links between Singapore’s government and its largest bank as both position the country as a regional hub for AI-driven growth.

Other sessions will feature a roster of global corporate names, including TikTok CEO Shou Chew, Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan, Broadcom President and CEO Hock Tan, and Franklin Templeton CEO Jenny Johnson, alongside DBS executives Shee Tse Koon, Derrick Goh, and Han Kwee Juan. Topics on the agenda range from AI’s effect on capital flows and corporate structures to its expansion into robotics and physical infrastructure.

DBS

Tan Su Shan said the conference is built around the idea of “intentional AI” — deploying the technology with clear purpose and measurable impact — arguing that Asia’s talent, capital, and ingenuity position it to lead in the sector if the right choices are made now.

DBS said it has invested in AI for more than a decade, and in 2025 alone deployed over 2,000 AI models across more than 430 use cases, generating approximately S$1 billion in economic value from data analytics and machine learning. The bank was named the inaugural World’s Best AI Bank by Global Finance in 2025 and Asia’s Best Digital Bank by Euromoney in 2026.

The conference adds to a growing calendar of high-profile Singapore business events this quarter and signals continued government-industry coordination as the city-state positions itself at the centre of Asia’s AI economy.

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