SMU is the first university in Singapore to integrate Databricks’ training and industry-recognised certifications into its undergraduate and postgraduate curricula. Databricks is a data and AI company that provides a platform organisations use to bring together their data and build, deploy and manage AI applications.
This is part of Databricks’ new AI programmes for startups and enterprises alongside an initiative to train 20,000 people in data and AI skills over the next three years, announced recently at the Databricks Data + AI World Tour Singapore, where Mrs Josephine Teo, Minister for Digital Development and Information, was Guest-of-Honour.
SMU students will develop skills in areas including data engineering, analytics, generative AI, AI agents, application development and AI governance using the Databricks Data + AI Platform. This includes capabilities such as Lakebase, Genie and Unity Gateway, which give enterprise AI agents the context, control, model choice and cost optimisation needed to operate reliably at scale.
This initiative sees Databricks joining many other technology companies that are partnering SMU to hone the technical skills of SMU School of Computing and Information Systems students. These include Accenture, AWS, Cybersecurity Agency of Singapore, Dell Technologies, Google, Salesforce and UBS.
Data as the ‘Oil’ Driving AI Forward
Databricks will also collaborate with SMU, Nanyang Technological University (NTU) and the National University of Singapore (NUS) on a nationwide, cross-university hackathon. Students will develop AI solutions to real-world challenges, receive mentorship from industry practitioners, and connect with prospective employers. In addition, participating startups and enterprises will have access to training and certification through Databricks Academy, supporting broader workforce upskilling and AI adoption.
This move to train 20,000 people builds on the 10,000 on track to be trained by 2027. All this is part of Databricks’ drive to help Singapore companies use AI at scale. While regional AI spending continues to grow, more than half of Southeast Asian companies remain stuck in the experimentation phase due to fragmented data infrastructure and talent shortages.
When interviewed by Channel News Asia, SMU Associate Professor of Computer Science (Education) Dai Bing Tian said: “SMU hopes to emphasise to the students that data is the oil and the key factor that drives AI forward, adding that all the development of large language models (LLM) are based on good data science and analytics. It is vital that data needs to be understood properly to build subsequent AI agents and optimisations.” Assoc Prof Dai is also the Director of the Master of IT in Business (Artificial Intelligence) programme.
Supported by the Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB) and the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA), Databricks will help companies address the challenges of how to deploy AI to grow.
“Singapore is focused on translating AI ambitions into real-world outcomes by enabling companies to deploy AI responsibly, and at scale. Achieving this requires deep technical capabilities, an AI-ready workforce, and partners committed to building and innovating here. Databricks' expanded investment reflects this shared commitment, and we look forward to working with them and our broader ecosystem partners to strengthen Singapore's position as a global hub for AI innovation and enterprise adoption,” said Beng Kong Pee, Executive Vice President, EDB.
"Singapore is entering the next phase of its AI transformation. As our Asia-Pacific Japan headquarters, it will play a central role in how we scale across the region. That means investing across the entire ecosystem: helping startups become AI-native from day one, enabling enterprises to move their most important AI use cases into production, and developing the workforce capability required to scale AI responsibly. It's why we believe Singapore is one of the world's leading markets for enterprise AI, not just where we operate but where we're building for the long term," said Simon Davies, SVP and GM, Databricks APJ.
Helping Singapore Startups and Raising Enterprises
Databricks also announced the Databricks Singapore Startup AI Accelerator to help high-potential early-stage companies build AI-ready businesses and accelerate their path to product-market fit. The programme will start with an initial cohort of 10 startups.
Databricks will also expand efforts to help Singapore-based enterprises to leverage AI. With EDB’s support, participating companies with a Databricks-sponsored Forward Deployed Engineer will receive assistance to scale future AI initiatives independently.