Keppel chief executive Loh Chin Hua says the company aims to become “AI-native” by 2040, embedding AI across its business while continuing to build and operate infrastructure that supports it. The plan links a long-term corporate shift to Keppel’s existing interests in data centres, power and digital networks.
Watch Desk analysis
What happened
In an interview with The Straits Times, Loh described a two-part strategy: Keppel will provide infrastructure used by AI, including data centres and low-carbon energy, and work towards using AI across its own business functions. He set 2040 as the target for becoming AI-native.
Loh said Keppel is focused on power-constrained markets and is agnostic about which language model ultimately wins. The company’s third-quarter business update also said it added $19.5 billion in funds under management in 2026 and earned $354 million in asset-management fees in the first nine months, up 18% year on year.
Why it matters
Keppel’s target reaches beyond buying AI tools: it would make the technology part of how the company operates, while its data centres and power plants help supply the infrastructure AI depends on. That combination gives the company a stake both in AI adoption and in the resources needed to run it.
The 2040 date is a direction, not a delivery plan. Loh’s account does not set out milestones, name the systems Keppel intends to adopt or explain how it will measure whether the transformation is working. Those details will matter more than the neatness of the deadline.
Our read
Keppel is making a meaningful long-range bet, not claiming that it has already remade its operations. The interesting tension is in its stated indifference to which model wins: infrastructure may benefit from broad demand, but making a company genuinely AI-native will depend on specific uses and results. Keep an eye on what changes inside the business, not only what it builds for others.
What to watch
- Whether Keppel publishes milestones towards its 2040 AI-native target.
- Which business functions adopt AI, and what outcomes the company reports.
- How Keppel balances investment in AI infrastructure with the power constraints it says shape its markets.
- Whether its next business updates provide concrete evidence of AI-related operational change.
Discussion spark: Should a company call itself AI-native only after it can show measurable changes across its operations, or is a long-term target like Keppel’s a useful first commitment?
Sources and evidence
- Source update (29 October 2026, 12:45 UTC)
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