AI and Grants, Ready for SMEs: Support Your Workforce, Fund Your Next Step
AI and Grants, Ready for SMEs: Support Your Workforce, Fund Your Next Step
From Masters research on SME AI adoption to Forward Deployed Engineer.
AI is ready for SMEs, but the best place to start isn't the tool. It's your people. Workflow starts with people, and AI wraps around the work: the chasing, the copying, the reconciling. That frees your team to be more human, serving customers, solving problems and making judgment calls.
In this session, Abel Tan traces his journey from a Masters thesis on how SMEs can better adopt AI, to real workflows in practice, to his work today as a Forward Deployed Engineer helping companies understand and automate painful, repetitive processes. You'll also get a view of Singapore's government support for SMEs, including the grants that can help support your people and your AI adoption.
What you'll hear
From research to practice: what the Masters research showed about how SMEs adopt AI, and what changed in real businesses
People first: why every workflow starts with the people doing the work
What to automate first: spotting the chasing, copying and reconciling worth handing to an AI worker
How to fund it: Singapore's government support for SMEs and the grants that can actually help
What you'll leave with
A sense of what an FDE does inside a real SME
A clearer picture of which grants fit your team
Your next step, not just another AI demo
Who it's for
SME owners, founders, operators, HR and people leads, consultants and aspiring FDEs. You don't need a technical background, and every idea is tied to real work.
About Abel Tan
Abel is a Forward Deployed Engineer whose Masters research looked at how SMEs can better adopt AI. Today he helps companies understand their workflows and automate painful, repetitive processes, so their people can focus on the work that needs a human.
Part of Hasky's Forward Deployment Academy. Bring a workflow, a team problem or a grants question. Leave knowing your next step.
SQ Collective is a co-working space in Singapore for founders and builders working with AI. Fridays are open co-working days, with a short shared session called The Stage at 1.30pm. People come to work, learn something practical, and go back to building.
Proudly supported by Singapore Global Network
Supported by Singapore Global Network (SGN), a division under Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB). Join SGN to become a member of our global network of professionals and friends with Singapore at its heart. Learn more at www.singaporeglobalnetwork.gov.sg.