Databricks unveils US$350m Singapore AI investment, plans larger HQ and workforce expansion

Data and artificial intelligence platform Databricks announced a US$350 million (RM1.4 billion) investment in Singapore over the next three years to support AI acceleration. — AFP pic

First Published: Wednesday, 16 Sep 2026 7:55 PM MYT

SINGAPORE, Sept 16 — Data and artificial intelligence (AI) platform Databricks announced a US$350 million (RM1.4 billion) investment in Singapore over the next three years to support AI acceleration.

In a statement, the company said it will also quadruple the size of its Singapore office with a new 32,000-square-foot headquarters and double its local workforce to more than 500 people.

“The investment reinforces Singapore’s role as Databricks’ regional hub for Asia Pacific and Japan and supports the ambitions of the country’s National AI Strategy.

“This enables Databricks to work more closely with customers, partners and government agencies as organisations transition from AI experimentation to deploying governed AI systems at scale,” it said on Wednesday.

In addition, Databricks also announced new AI programmes for startups and enterprises alongside an initiative to train 20,000 people in Singapore with data and AI skills over the next three years.

Through the initiative, supported by the Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB) and the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA), Databricks will address challenges in developing AI-ready talent, helping startups build AI-native businesses, and enabling more enterprises to move AI into production.

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, the company said.

Databricks Senior Vice President and General Manager of Asia Pacific and Japan Simon Davies said Singapore, as the regional headquarters, will play a central role in how the company scales 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 is 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,” he said. — Bernama