Past event | Apertus beyond Alps: supporting a sovereign digital transformation
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As part of SwissCham Singapore's AI Leadership Series, our fifth event explored the role of open and sovereign Large Language Models in the next phase of AI adoption.

Ambassador of Switzerland to Singapore Alexandra Baumann delivered the keynote address, setting the stage for a discussion that brought together perspectives from Switzerland, Singapore and the industry. Looking beyond the AI models themselves, participants explored what businesses, governments and research institutions need to support responsible AI adoption, including transparency, control, deployment flexibility and the underlying infrastructure.
Some key takeaways from the discussion:
- Open and commercial models offer different approaches to AI adoption, with organisations needing to consider their specific use cases, requirements and priorities.
- AI sovereignty goes beyond the model itself. Compute infrastructure, data, deployment, compliance and control all play an important role.
- International collaboration will remain essential as AI capabilities develop across research, industry, models and infrastructure.
- Open models such as Switzerland's Apertus and AI Singapore's SEA-LION demonstrate how regional expertise and collaboration can contribute to the development of AI ecosystems.
A big thank you to our moderator and speakers for sharing their perspectives and expertise:
- Dr. Felix Kottmann, Postdoctoral Researcher at Singapore-ETH Centre and SwissCham Science & Technology Co-Chair
- Prof. Dr. Manu Kapur, Director of Singapore-ETH Centre
- Prof. Dr. Thomas Schulthess, Director of CSCS
- Dr. Daniel Dahlmeier, Chief Data Scientist at SAP Asia
- Dr. Leslie Teo, Senior Director of AI Products at AI Singapore
Thank you to Singapore-ETH Centre for hosting us and to everyone who joined us for this insightful evening.
In the meantime, registrations are still open for the remaining events of the AI Leadership Series taking place over the next two weeks. Check out the programme and sign up now!


