Salesforce has announced it will invest US$1 billion (A$1.589 billion) in Singapore, over the course of the next five years.
Fresh off of launching the latest version of its flagship AI, Agentforce, the company says that it can be used in Singapore to help "rapidly expand” its labour force across a range of sectors, a key issue for the nation as they face an aging population and declining birth rates.
Agentforce is touted as the first digital AI platform for enterprises, and has been reported to be able to handle sophisticated queries in Salesforce’s Slack communications app.
Jermaine Loy, managing director of the Singapore Economic Development Board, welcomed Salesforce’s investment, saying it will help to boost the country’s efforts “to build a vibrant hub for AI innovation”.
Over the next few years, the company will partner with Singapore Management University, Institute of Technical Education, and Ngee Ann Polytechnic to educate students with AI skills and help set up opportunities for employment.
“We are in an incredible new era of digital labour where every business will be transformed by autonomous agents that augment the work of humans, revolutionising productivity and enabling every company to scale without limits,” said Marc Benioff, CEO and chair of Salesforce.
“Singapore is at the forefront of this shift, and as the world’s largest provider of digital labour through our Agentforce platform,” he added.
At the time of writing, Salesforce (NYSE: CRM) stock was trading at US$277.05, up 1.5% from Monday's close of $272.90. The stock reached a day low of $270.72 and a day high of $278.35. Salesforce's market cap stands at $266.25 billion.
