shares
A few weeks ago, we shared how the AI Success Blueprint helped heartland businesses at the Singapore Heartland Enterprise Summit (SHES) 2026 move past AI theory and into a real 90-day plan. That post answered the how. This time, we wanted to answer a different question: did it actually work, and what did people think of the workshop itself?
So instead of writing another recap ourselves, we asked the business owners directly. Where does AI genuinely help your business, and what was your honest take on the session? What follows are their answers, not ours.
Quick takeaways, if you’re short on time:
Key Takeaways
Faster Marketing
AI helps teams create and adapt marketing content more efficiently.
Smarter Operations
Automate customer updates, service reminders and recurring workflows.
Amplify Strengths
AI strengthens what businesses already do well instead of replacing it.
Move Early
Early experimentation helps businesses learn before competitors catch up.
Hands-On Learning
Practical sessions gave participants the confidence to test AI in real business workflows, with one clear request: more time to explore.
It matters more than it might seem. According to IMDA’s Singapore Digital Economy Report, AI adoption among SMEs more than tripled in a single year, from 4.2% to 14.5%. That is real momentum, but it also means the vast majority of heartland businesses still have not started. For them, the most convincing case is rarely another framework or another statistic. It is hearing from someone who runs a business like theirs.
The Hours Nobody Notices Going Missing
For most heartland businesses, the biggest AI win isn’t dramatic. It’s quiet, and it shows up in the hours that used to disappear into repetitive work.
A representative of Unidbox Hardware, described exactly this. His business had only recently started investing in marketing, which meant a growing backlog of content to produce every week. “AI saves a lot of time in terms of designing posts,” he shared. He also recalled a figure mentioned during the workshop itself, that businesses adopting AI could expect to reclaim at least seventy percent of the time they’d normally spend on tasks like this, a number that had the room picturing what that kind of time back could mean for their own operations.
The team at IT4U, represented by Alvin Yap, Head of Operations, pointed to a similar drain hiding in the back office. Customer records need constant updating, and renewal reminders can’t slip through the cracks, yet both tasks eat into hours that could go toward actual client work.
"What we feel AI can help with is more on the back-end workflow, to update customer information and remind them of the renewal of their services."
It’s unglamorous work, but it’s exactly the kind of task AI is built to absorb. And the fact that two very different businesses, one in retail and one in IT services, independently landed on “time” as their biggest win is not a coincidence. It’s the most common entry point into AI for a reason:
Key benefits
-
No Business Reinvention
-
No Dedicated IT Team
-
Results Within Weeks
-
More Time for Human Work
AI Doesn't Replace What You've Built. It Amplifies It
Not every insight from the room was about saving time. Some reframed what AI is even for.
"AI is actually an enabler for businesses. Whatever strengths the business has, AI actually magnifies them."
Rather than treating AI as a separate initiative bolted onto the business, this framing treats it as a way to scale what already works, whether that’s a strong customer relationship, a distinct teaching method, or an existing brand voice. Chee also pointed to something workshop participants don’t always expect going in: AI agents that can be customized to a company’s specific needs, rather than generic chatbots. That customisation is often the difference between a tool employees actually use and one that quietly gets abandoned after week one.
This distinction changes how a business should approach AI. The goal isn’t to become a different company. It’s to become a faster, more capable version of the one that already exists.
The Cost of Watching From the Sidelines
Perhaps the most direct message came from Daniel Li, who works in DBS’s Loans Department supporting SME businesses. His view carried extra weight, given how closely his role sits to the financial realities SMEs face every day.
“AI itself, or even the software itself, can really help businesses grow, especially in this challenging and competitive market,” he said. Then came the line that stayed with the room:
"If you are not on board with this AI wave, you might, in a way, lose out in the long run."
It wasn’t framed as a warning. It was framed as something he’s already seeing play out among the businesses DBS works with every day. Businesses that move early tend to compound small efficiency gains into real competitive distance, while businesses that wait often find themselves trying to catch up from a weaker starting position.
What They Thought of the Workshop Itself
Beyond the AI takeaways, we also asked attendees for their honest opinion of the workshop, what worked, and what they’d want to see more of.
The consensus on format was clear. A representative of Unidbox Hardware, called it “very informative,” pointing to the “step-by-step guidance” and the number of facilitators on hand to walk participants through each exercise. Chee Chin Young echoed this, noting that “something great about this workshop is that it allows you to try it yourself,” rather than just watching a demonstration. Daniel Li put it most succinctly, describing the session as “short, sweet, and also very interactive,” with real hands-on time rather than passive listening.
The most common piece of feedback wasn’t a complaint so much as a request for more: several attendees, including Chee and Daniel, said they simply wanted more time to go deeper into the tools they’d just tried. And in a smaller, more personal note, Alvin Yap shared a wish that stuck with us: “I hope that there could be a face to the AI, like the agent has a face.” It’s a reminder that for many business owners, trust in AI isn’t just about capability, it’s about feeling like there’s still something human on the other end.
What This Confirms About the AI Success Blueprint
None of these takeaways happened by accident. They map directly onto the same 3A framework, Align, Adopt, Accelerate, that shaped the SHES 2026 workshop.
- Businesses that align AI to a real, specific friction point, like Wong Hing Kong’s content backlog or Alvin Yap’s manual customer updates, see faster, more obvious wins.
- Businesses that adopt AI as an amplifier rather than a replacement, like Chee Chin Young described, build on strengths instead of starting from scratch.
- Businesses that accelerate by moving now, rather than waiting, are the ones Daniel Li is describing as staying ahead of the curve.
In other words, the framework isn’t just a workshop exercise. It’s already showing up in how these businesses talk about their own results, just weeks after the session.
Where Heartland Businesses Go From Here
Across every conversation at SHES 2026, a common thread emerged. None of these businesses were chasing AI for its own sake. They were looking for practical relief from specific, everyday friction, and once they saw where that relief could come from, the skepticism many walked in with started to shift into something closer to curiosity.
That shift matters more than any single feature or tool. It’s the difference between a business that tries AI once and quietly shelves it, and one that keeps building on it month after month.
Your First Step Starts Here!
A heartfelt thank you to SHES 2026, The Federation of Merchants’ Associations, Singapore, and our fellow partners BytePlus and DBS SME Banking for making this workshop, and these conversations, possible.
The most valuable takeaway wasn’t what VisionGroup said about the workshop. It was what the participants shared after experiencing it firsthand. Despite coming from different industries and facing different business challenges, they all reached the same conclusion: when leaders build AI themselves, they leave with the confidence to apply it in their own businesses.
If you couldn’t make it to SHES 2026, you haven’t missed your chance. Vision runs AI Success Blueprint Workshops regularly, and the same conversations that happened in this room can happen with your business too.
Start your AI success journey with Vision → Click here or reach us at hello@visiongroup.co
