GITEX AI Asia 2026 Lands in Singapore Next Week With 23,000 Attendees and $78 Billion at Stake

GITEX AI Asia 2026 Lands in Singapore Next Week With 23,000 Attendees and $78 Billion at Stake

Asia's largest technology and AI event is five days away. GITEX AI Asia 2026 returns to Marina Bay Sands in Singapore on 9-10 April, bringing together more than 23,000 tech executives, 750 enterprises and startups, and 250 investors from over 110 countries for two days of keynotes, exhibitions, and deal-making focused on the continent's AI future.

The event arrives at a pivotal moment. AI spending across Asia-Pacific is projected to reach $78 billion by 2026, and the region is wrestling with fundamental questions about governance, trust, and how to scale innovation without sacrificing safety. For professionals, founders, and policymakers trying to stay current, GITEX AI Asia offers a concentrated crash course in where the industry is heading.

What to Expect on the Floor

The event spans six co-located platforms, each targeting a different slice of the AI and technology stack:

• AI Everything Singapore: Generative AI^✦, large language models, MLOps, computer vision^✦, NLP^✦, and AI governance^✦
• Startups North Star^✦ Asia: Early-stage companies, pitch competitions including the Supernova Challenge, and founder networking
• GITEX DigiHealth and Biotech: AI applications in healthcare, diagnostics, drug discovery, and medical imaging
• Global Data Centres Asia: Infrastructure build-out, cooling technology, energy efficiency, and hyperscaler^✦ strategy
• GISEC Asia: Cybersecurity, threat intelligence, zero-trust architecture, and AI-powered^✦ defence systems
• GITEX Quantum Expo Asia: Quantum computing, post-quantum cryptography, and quantum-AI convergence

The programming runs from 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM SGT on both days, with admission free for professionals, students, entrepreneurs, investors, government officials, and media.

The Speakers and Sessions

Over 500 speakers across 220 sessions will address topics ranging from agentic^✦ AI deployment to quantum computing governance. The line-up includes policymakers who are actively shaping AI regulation in their home markets alongside enterprise leaders deploying AI at scale^✦.

Notable confirmed speakers include Er. Bikash Gurung, Adviser to Nepal's National IT and AI Committee, who will address regional coordination in AI development. Pedro Uria-Recio, a Chief Data and AI Officer, will discuss how enterprises are moving from AI pilots to production systems. Dr Adam Chee, a founding lead in Singapore's AI ecosystem^✦, will present on building trust in AI-powered public services.

GITEX ASIA has become an important gathering point for technology leaders from around the world. By bringing together startups and investors from across the region and beyond, it can enable the exchange of ideas across markets with different regulatory environments, unlocking new possibilities for all.

Why This Year Matters More Than Last

GITEX AI Asia's inaugural Singapore edition in 2025 drew strong attendance, but the 2026 event lands in a fundamentally different landscape. The past 12 months have seen record-breaking global AI venture funding of $300 billion in Q1 2026 alone, two Chinese AI companies listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange with valuations above $6 billion each, and Microsoft committing $5.5 billion to Singapore's AI infrastructure.

The event's theme, "Building Trust and Scaling Innovation in Asia," reflects the tension between speed and safety that defines the current moment. ASEAN nations are moving from AI guidelines to legislation, smaller states are crafting strategic standards, and enterprises across the region are racing to deploy agentic AI systems before their competitors do.

The Investor Angle

For Asia's AI startup ecosystem, the investor presence at GITEX AI Asia could be as important as the sessions. With 250 investors managing a combined $350 billion in assets, the event offers a concentrated deal-making environment. The timing is especially relevant given that Asian AI startup funding hit $12.5 billion in Q1 2026, with Singapore-based startups like Diaflow raising seed rounds from firms such as Insignia Ventures Partners.

The DBS and Granite Asia AI IPO fund, a $110 million vehicle targeting AI-driven^✦ companies preparing for public listings, is one example of the capital infrastructure being built around the region's AI sector. For founders attending GITEX, understanding these capital flows is as important as the technology itself.

We had the incredible honour of being awarded the Women in Tech Prize with our healthcare-grade AI platform that's powering real outcomes across hospital networks.

What Professionals Should Prioritise

For attendees trying to extract maximum value from a two-day event, the key is matching sessions to specific professional needs. AI engineers should focus on the AI Everything Summit's technical tracks covering MLOps, model fine-tuning^✦, and deployment architecture. Business leaders should prioritise sessions on AI upskilling strategies and enterprise ROI measurement. Policymakers should attend the governance sessions and the cross-border regulatory panels that explore how different ASEAN markets are approaching AI legislation.

The Supernova Challenge startup pitch competition offers a window into what early-stage investors are actually funding in 2026. NTU Singapore's recent launch of eight AI training programmes for mid-career professionals reflects the same skills urgency that GITEX sessions will address, making it worth attending both the startup pitches and the workforce development panels.