Transforming Indonesian MSMEs with AI: Innovations, Strategies, and Insights

Artificial Intelligence presents both opportunities and challenges for Indonesian MSMEs. On the one hand, AI can significantly enhance productivity, optimize operations, and open new avenues for innovation across sectors. By enabling MSMEs to compete globally and improve their business models, AI can drive economic growth and support entrepreneurship. On the other hand, the rapid adoption of AI technologies requires addressing skill gaps, potential job displacement, and resource constraints, particularly in rural areas. Importantly also, barriers in access to AI such as financial constraints, knowledge gaps or infrastructure limitations may lead to productivity losses, eventually undermining MSMEs capacity to compete nationally or internationally.

The event will explore the overarching theme of the AI's role in driving economic growth and innovation within MSMEs, enabling them to compete on a national and global scale. Specifically, the panel discussion will deep dive into the issues of:

• Identify the potential of AI to stimulate economic growth and innovation across MSME sectors, specifically exporing its role to scale operations, improve competitiveness, and access new markets.
• Assess how AI can facilitate rapid development and the emergence of new entrepreneurs in the MSME landscape and whether existing barriers may, conversely, hinder such process and stifle competion.
• Assess at the company level the impact of AI on net job creation, skills development and requirements, and employment (qualified, less qualified) patterns within MSMEs.