AIxADB 2025: Harnessing AI for Public Sector Innovation and Fiscal Resilience
9 to 12 September 2025

Singapore

 

AIxADB is ADB’s flagship platform for advancing AI readiness, adoption, and capacity building in its developing member countries (DMCs). Now in its second year, the 2025 edition will focus on how AI can be responsibly applied to address public sector challenges—improving service delivery, enhancing fiscal resilience, modernizing governance, and fostering regional cooperation.

 

The four-day program will feature a mix of keynotes, interactive panels, sector-specific use cases, and immersion sessions hosted by technology partners Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft. Participants will explore AI’s role in areas such as tax administration, public financial management, citizen services, and trade facilitation, while also examining regulatory, ethical, and legal considerations for responsible adoption.

 

This year’s event will also highlight opportunities for collaboration between governments, development partners, and industry to pilot and scale AI solutions through ADB projects. With over 60 participants expected—including senior officials from 22 DMCs and ADB staff from the Public Sector Management Governance sector, Information Technology Department, and others—the program is designed to combine learning with operational relevance, creating a pathway for joint action and innovation.

Program and Learning Materials
Session / Activity Title Speaker(s)
Venue: AWS Singapore Office & Innovation Hub IOI Central Boulevard Towers, Central Business District FOCUS: Cloud & AI foundations for government; Innovation Hub exposure; security; external policy/regulatory landscape; responsible AI at the ecosystem level. You can join the session through this zoom link (password: AIxADB2025)
08:30 – 09:00 Arrival, Registration & Networking Coffee - AWS & ADB teams
Emcee/Facilitator - Carolyn Dedolph Cabrera Principal IT Specialist (Digital Adoption and Outreach) ITD, ADB
09:00 – 09:10 Welcome Remarks Julian Lau, Head of ASEAN Emerging Markets, AWS
09:10 – 09:20 Opening Remarks Fatima Yasmin, Vice President - Sectors and Themes, Asian Development Bank
09:20 – 10:30 Plenary: AI for the Public Good – Trends, Use Cases & Impact Richard Goh, Head of Business Development and Cloud Innovation Centre, AWS
10:30 – 11:30 Panel: AI and Infrastructure in DMCs Launch
“Leveraging artificial intelligence and cloud computing to accelerate growth in Asia and the Pacific" 		- Natasha Beschorner, Public Sector Policy Lead, AWS
- ByeongJo Kong, Digital Technology Specialist, ADB
- Yoonee Jeong, Senior Digital Technology Specialist, ADB
- Alex Tan, AWS Innovation Hub host, APJ Growth Initiatives Lead, AWS
- Julian Lau, Regional Head of Emerging Markets, WWPS, AWS
11:30 – 12:30 Rotations Block 1 (Cohorts A & B)
A: Innovation Hub Tour
B: AI & Cloud Foundations
12:30 – 13:30 Lunch & Networking hosted by AWS
13:30 – 14:30 Rotations Block 2 (Cohorts switch)
14:30 – 14:45 Break
14:45 – 15:30 AI/Cloud Regulation & Data Governance (external policy landscape) Frederico Costa, AI and Data Policy Lead – APAC, AWS
15:30 – 16:30 Panel: Scaling AI in Government Moderator: - Monique Viengkhou, AWS
Panel:
- Ms. Oksanna Abrahamyan, Deputy Minister, Ministry of Justice, Armenia
• Dr. Taing Nguonly, Director General, General Department of Digital Economy, Ministry of Economy and Finance, Cambodia
- Shri K.S. Gopinath Narayan, Principal Secretary, Information Technology Department, Government of Assam, India
- Tariq Niazi, Senior Sector Director, Public Sector Management & Governance/Finance
16:30 – 16:45 Reflections & Takeaways; Preview of Day 2 ADB Facilitator
16:45 – 17:00 Group photo
17:30 – 19:30 Networking Reception Singapore Fintech Association (SFA), 80 Robinson Road
Session / Activity Title Speaker(s)
Venue: Singapore Fintech Association 80 Robinson Road FOCUS: Vision-setting, ADB’s Responsible AI approach, ADB tools, practical skills (extended ‘Awakening & Tips’), and real-world sparks. You can join the session through this link .
08:15 – 08:30 Arrival and Registration
08:30 – 08:40 Recap day 1 by ADB ADB Facilitator
08:40 – 09:10 Fireside Chat: Lessons from ADB’s AI Journey - Carolyn Dedolph Cabrera Principal IT Specialist (Digital Adoption and Outreach) ITD, ADB
- Stephanie KC Hung Director General & Chief Information Officer ITD, ADB
09:10 – 09:30 ADB Responsible AI Framework - Kadra J. Saeed Director, Digital for Development Operations Division (ITOP), ITD, ADB
- Carolyn Dedolph Cabrera Principal IT Specialist (Digital Adoption and Outreach) ITD, ADB
09:45 – 10:30 Spotlight: ADB AI Tools (Genie, Navigator, CLARA) Kadra J. Saeed Director, Digital for Development Operations Division (ITOP), ITD, ADB
10:30 – 12:00 Awakening & Tips: Using AI Tools
₋ Choosing the right LLM for your task
₋ Prompting structure, tips and best practices
₋ AI exercises, demonstration Key learnings and next steps 		Rob van Alphen
12:00 – 13:00 Lunch
13:00 – 14:30 Trend Safari: Real‑World Sparks - Mike Tan, Senior Partner & Strategy Lead, Gov+, NCS
- Ying Shao Wei, Senior Partner & Chief Scientist, NCS
- Teh Khai Pin, Senior Director, Gov+, Strategy & Innovation, NCS
14:30 – 15:00 Break
15:00 – 17:00 Trend Safari: Real‑World Sparks ST Engineering is a leading global technology group headquartered in Singapore. Established in 1997 from the merger of ST Aerospace, Electronics, Kinetics, and Marine, it traces its origins to Singapore’s earlier national technology initiatives. With a workforce of over 27,000 and multibillion dollar revenues, ST Engineering excels in aerospace, smart cities, defence, and public security sectors, leveraging advanced innovation to deliver high-quality engineering and technology solutions worldwide. It stands out for its pioneering technologies and comprehensive capabilities in areas like aerospace maintenance, land systems, marine engineering, and digital transformation.
17:00 Wrap-up
Session / Activity Title Speaker(s)
Venue: Microsoft Experience Center Frasers Tower, 182 Cecil St. FOCUS: Hands‑on platforms, applied demos, and implementation guardrails: prompt‑a‑thon, solution showcases, and tool‑level Responsible AI controls.
08:45 – 09:00 Arrival and Registration Microsoft & ADB
09:00 – 09:30 Welcome Paul Carvouni GM Enterprise, Microsoft
09:30 – 10:00 Art of the Possible Marcus Loh Regional Business Leader -Asia, Worldwide Public Sector, Microsoft
10:00 – 11:00 Modern Analytics, AI, and Governance at Scale Suma Manohar Senior Specialist GBB, Microsoft
11:00 – 12:00 Promptathon Toshiki Matsui Senior Specialist GBB and Rika Kahmil Patawaran Senior Solution Engineer
12:00 – 13:00 Lunch & Networking
13:00 – 14:00 Copilot Studio – Government Use Cases Demo (Internal and Agents for Constituents)
Batch 1: Interactive Tour of Microsoft Experience Center 		Luis Santos Senior Specialist
15:00 – 16:00 Agentic AI landing zone Rita Abdellatifi Strategic Technical Lead, Asia
16:00 – 16:30 Reflections and Takeaways Emma Gooley ASEAN Public Sector Lead
Session / Activity Title Speaker(s)
Venue: Singapore Fintech Association 80 Robinson Road FOCUS: Country-led sharing, regional cooperation, and clinics to refine roadmaps and agree on post‑event prototyping and pilots via the ADB AI Lab. Country participant preevent survey is being conducted to help inform the preparations.
09:00 – 09:30 Welcome, Objectives & Expected Outcomes of Workshop KPMG Team, Country Representatives, ADB Team
09:30 – 10:00 SHARING: Human-Centered Design in the age of GenAI
10:00 – 10:30 ACTIVITY: Revisiting Our Pre-Workshop “How Might We” Statements
10:30 – 10:45 Break
10:45 – 11:15 SHARING: The Art of the Possible with Agentic AI (selected guest speakers)
11:15 – 12:00 ACTIVITY: Ideation
12:00 – 13:00 Lunch
13:00 – 13:45 ACTIVITY: Agent Concept Canvas Part 1 – Desirability
13:45 – 14:30 ACTIVITY: Agent Concept Canvas Part 2 – Feasibility
14:30 – 14:45 Break
14:45 – 15:30 ACTIVITY: Agent Concept Canvas Part 3 – Viability
15:30 – 16:00 Prepare for Final Playback
16:45 – 17:00 Wrap up & Q&A

Disclaimer

The views expressed on this website are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) or its Board of Governors or the governments they represent. ADB does not guarantee the accuracy of the data included in this publication and accepts no responsibility for any consequence of their use. By making any designation of or reference to a particular territory or geographic area, or by using the term “country” in this document, ADB does not intend to make any judgments as to the legal or other status of any territory or area.

Event Coordinator/s

  • Saad Paracha

Related

ADB Organizer/s

  • Public Sector Management and Governance Sector Office

Partner Organization/s

Topics

  • Governance and Public Sector Management
  • ICT