Innovative Hub Wins the SME Adoption Excellence Award at the SME AI Impact Awards 2026

By Innovative Hub (IMDA Pre-Approved Vendor under SMEs Go Digital) · Published 20 October 2026

Award details and results from IMDA's SME AI Impact Awards 2026 communications and infographic, October 2026.

We are proud to share that Innovative Hub has won the SME Adoption Excellence Award at the SME AI Impact Awards 2026. The award recognises how we use AI in our everyday work, not as an experiment, but as part of how our team plans, writes, translates and serves clients across Singapore, Malaysia and Vietnam. Here is what we won, what changed in our business, and what we have learned that other SMEs can use.

What are the SME AI Impact Awards 2026?

The SME AI Impact Awards 2026 recognise Singapore SMEs that use AI to drive meaningful business impact. The awards are run by the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) with the Singapore Business Federation (SBF). Winners received their awards from Minister Josephine Teo at the Awards Ceremony on 13 October 2026.

Innovative Hub won in the Adoption Excellence category, which recognises SMEs that have put AI to work across their operations and can show real results.

What results has AI delivered for Innovative Hub?

IMDA's award infographic highlights three results from our AI adoption: 2X higher employee productivity, 75% faster customer response times and 80% faster proposal creation.

• 2X higher employee productivity: routine tasks are automated, so each team member can handle more client work.
• 75% faster customer response times: replies no longer depend on one specialist being available, or on time zones.
• 80% faster proposal creation: proposal turnaround went from a full day to just a few hours.

How does Innovative Hub use AI every day?

We use AI tools like Claude, ChatGPT and OpenMax across our daily workflows to automate routine tasks, find information and respond to clients quickly. Our people stay in charge of strategy, creativity and final checks.

1. Faster proposal creation: first drafts of proposals in hours, not a full day.
2. Multilingual support: content localisation and translation completed within the same day, for example English and Chinese content for Xiaohongshu.
3. Automated compliance: audits, checklists and sensitive-word checks before content goes out.
4. Cross-platform task support: multi-step tasks completed across messaging platforms, spreadsheets and internal databases.
5. Broader workflow automation: prospecting, HR triage, morning briefings, reporting, client monitoring and other routine tasks.

What problems did AI solve for us?

Before AI, we faced the same problems many growing SMEs face:

• Manual, time-intensive work: proposal drafting and compliance checks took a lot of manual effort.
• Slow response and content delivery: customer replies and translations depended on specialist availability and were limited by time zones.
• Limited scalability: growth depended on hiring more staff to handle more work.

AI did not replace our team. It took the repetitive work off their plate, so the same team can serve more clients, faster.

What can other SMEs learn from our AI journey?

• Start with routine tasks: drafts, translations, reports and checklists are the easiest wins.
• Keep people in the loop: AI drafts, your team reviews and decides.
• Measure the change: track time saved and response speed, so you know what is working.

Thank you

Thank you to IMDA and SBF for the recognition, to our clients for trusting us, and to our team for embracing new ways of working. The award was presented on the same day as SMEs Go Digital Day 2026, where we also met many business owners at booth #32. Read our SMEs Go Digital Day 2026 recap.

FAQs about Innovative Hub's SME AI Impact Award