Singapore – HEINEKEN, a multinational brewing company, has recently announced the inauguration of its first Global Generative AI Lab in Singapore, marking a significant step toward leveraging AI. This strategic initiative aims to drive growth, boost productivity, and enhance customer engagement across its global operations and is established in partnership with AI Singapore.
By establishing the Global GenAI Lab, HEINEKEN further reaffirms its commitment to digital transformation, highlighting the critical role of advanced GenAI technologies in accelerating growth, enhancing efficiency, and fostering innovation.
Ronald den Elzen, chief digital and technology officer at HEINEKEN, said, “We are pleased to announce our Global GenAI Lab in partnership with AI Singapore. This Lab will serve as a global centre of expertise, driving AI innovation at a local level while enhancing our operations on a global scale.”
“By taking this significant step, HEINEKEN is strategically positioning ourselves for a resilient and thriving future, reaffirming our commitment to Singapore and the Asia Pacific region. By harnessing Singapore’s exceptional AI ecosystem, skilled talent, and supportive government policies, we are excited to drive the development of innovative solutions that will transform the beverage industry for years to come,” he added.
Kenneth Choo, managing director of APAC at HEINEKEN, also commented, “The Lab will lead the development of advanced, scalable GenAI solutions across critical business areas, including sophisticated agentic systems that can autonomously solve complex problems—from automated marketing content creation to intelligent financial reporting and next-generation customer support and knowledge management systems.
“HEINEKEN’s approach combines human expertise with AI capabilities to ensure our practices are responsible while creating standardised solutions for global implementation,” he further shared.
As a new hub, HEINEKEN’s GenAI lab will harness continuous knowledge transfer and talent sharing. It further plans to build a highly specialised full-time team of experts by the end of 2025. The said team will tap into AI Singapore’s broader talent pool, fostering connections with leading AI professionals and adopting cutting-edge innovations.
Speaking about the partnership, Laurence Liew, Director, AI Innovation at AI Singapore, said, “We are excited to partner with HEINEKEN on this long-term strategic collaboration, marking them as the first organisation to work with AI Singapore in building an AI lab and centre of expertise for AI innovation.”
“By combining HEINEKEN’s industry expertise with AI Singapore’s cutting-edge AI capabilities and talent, we are creating a powerful model for how private and public sector collaboration can drive innovative solutions with real-world impact,” concluded Liew.
HEINEKEN’s GenAI Lab builds upon the company’s legacy of successful AI-powered solutions, including its financial insights platform and its cutting-edge system that redefines how marketing teams leverage consumer and market insights.
These innovations reinforce HEINEKEN’s commitment to GenAI-led progress and chart the course for the Lab’s ambitious research endeavours.
