Artificial intelligence is moving into a new phase where infrastructure is becoming more critical than model development. This shift was clearly visible at GITEX Asia 2026, held at Marina Bay Sands in Singapore from April 9–10.
The event brought together participants from over 110 countries, including 550+ enterprises and startups, along with 250 global investors managing nearly US$350 billion in assets. It stands as one of the region’s largest AI gatherings.
Across the event, companies highlighted a clear transition—from building AI models to deploying them at scale. Industry players pointed to growing constraints around compute capacity, energy usage, and hardware supply as key challenges.
These limitations are now influencing how AI systems are commercialized. Organisations are focusing more on efficiency and scalable deployment models that can work across both edge environments and data centers, especially for enterprise and industrial use cases.
Executives noted that infrastructure is emerging as a major bottleneck. Rising demand for AI computing is driving rapid expansion of data centers in Singapore and nearby markets.
“The challenge now is less about building models and more about whether infrastructure can support deployment at scale,” said Chris McCuin, managing director for Southeast Asia at Kuan International.
He added that constraints in power, cooling, and hardware availability are shaping decisions on where and how AI systems can be deployed.
The ongoing infrastructure buildout is enabling more advanced setups, including hybrid AI models that combine edge inference with centralized processing. However, many of these deployments are still in early or validation stages.
Companies like Blaize, in partnership with Nokia, are showcasing integrated solutions developed in Singapore to improve latency and energy efficiency in real-world environments.
Energy management and cloud capacity are becoming key priorities as enterprises try to scale AI while controlling costs and meeting sustainability goals.
Singapore is strengthening its position as a regional hub connecting Asia’s tech ecosystem with global markets. The city ranked 4th in the 2025 Global Startup Ecosystem Index, reflecting its role in enterprise and deep-tech innovation.
Southeast Asia is also gaining traction as companies localize infrastructure and adapt to changing supply chain conditions, especially with ongoing constraints in advanced hardware access.
The presence of both Chinese and global firms highlights a broader shift in the AI industry. Efficiency, deployment, and infrastructure are now taking priority over simply scaling models.
This signals a new phase where access to compute, energy, and deployment capabilities will define competitive advantage.
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