Heineken has launched its first global GenAI laboratory in Singapore in a move designed to improve “growth, productivity and customer engagement”.
The responsibilities of the artificial intelligence initiative will range from automated marketing content creation to “intelligent financial reporting” and “next-generation customer support and knowledge management systems”. The Netherlands-headquartered brewer has collaborated with AI Singapore, a collective of Singapore-based AI research institutions, for the opening.
By the end of this year, according to the group, the lab’s team will integrate Heineken’s digital and technology executives with talent recruited from AI Singapore. In the other direction, the team will also have access to AI Singapore’s talent pool.
“GenAI will play an increasingly important role in understanding consumer needs, enhancing customer engagement and improving productivity throughout the company,” said Heineken’s chief digital & technology officer, Ronald den Elzen.
“The establishment of the Global GenAI Lab marks a significant milestone in Heineken’s digital transformation journey, highlighting our strategic focus on advanced GenAI technologies as essential drivers for growth, efficiency and innovation.”
Earlier this month, Heineken partnered with malting company Soufflet Malt to build a new facility in South Africa. The arrangement saw Soufflet spend EUR100m (US$108m) on a malting plant situated next to the brewer’s Sedibeng brewery on the outskirts of Johannesburg.
