CONVERGE LIVE updates: Saleforce’s Benioff talks tariffs; Alibaba’s Tsai says AI not a competition between China and US

Employees may have to "pivot" several times in their careers, according to Singapore's Minister for Digital Development and Information Josephine Teo.

"If we think that what they left school with is going to last them their entire working lives, I think that's not realistic," she told Arjun Kharpal at CNBC's CONVERGE LIVE. "In their 40, 50, years active in the workforce, they might well have to pivot three, four, five, six times, maybe even more."

Singapore has a scheme supporting workers over 40 who want to gain new qualifications, Teo said, providing a monthly allowance of up to 3,000 Singapore dollars ($2,250) for workers to take time off work to pursue eligible full-time courses.

"We think not just of the younger generation. We think of every generation," Teo said.

— Lim Hui Jie; Lucy Handley

Companies that have pledged to support ESG and DEI initiatives should stick to their commitments and not be swayed by political developments, the incoming CEO of Singapore's DBS Group said.

"Don't chop and change just because you're trying to ingratiate yourself with a new administration," Deputy CEO Tan Su Shan said during a session on corporate leadership at CNBC's CONVERGE LIVE event in Singapore on Wednesday.

ESG refers to environmental, social and governance factors, while DEI stands for diversity, equity and inclusion. U.S. President Donald Trump ordered federal DEI employees be put on paid leave in January, with some companies updating their policies as a result.

Tan will become the bank's CEO from March 28, replacing Piyush Gupta who has led DBS Group — Southeast Asia's biggest lender — since 2009.

— Kevin Lim; Lucy Handley

The chairman of French power-equipment maker Schneider Electric says China's so-called "DeepSeek moment" is likely to be a positive development in the race to adopt sophisticated artificial intelligence models.

"I actually think its good news. We need AI at every level," Tricoire told CNBC's Steve Sedgwick on Wednesday.

"We need AI to optimize your whole enterprise at all levels, so that you can buy better, consume better, decide better, source better. To do all of this, we need models to operate on a smaller scale," he added.

Read the full story here.

— Sam Meredith

The trade war sparked by U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs emerged as a key topic at CONVERGE LIVE, with speakers highlighting the risks to the global economy.

Alibaba Chairman Joe Tsai warned of the disruption to trade, noting that U.S. and Chinese companies bought and sold billions of dollars' worth of products from one another. "I think the Trump administration will want to have more American companies doing business in China and making money there," he said.

He added that while Trump's broad-based tariffs may be a negotiating ploy, Chinese electric vehicles will most likely be subjected to tax to protect the U.S. automobile industry.

Marc Benioff, Salesforce's CEO, said demanding reciprocity in tariffs can be a good thing, but stressed the "what" and "how" needed to be put together in a consistent, clear and meaningful way to reduce volatility and conflict.

— Kevin Lim

Ant International, the global arm of China's Ant Group, is embracing blockchain technology to help ease the flow of cross-border money transfers — but it's not touching crypto, according to President Douglas Feagin.

Speaking with CNBC's Sara Eisen, Feagin said that Ant International is working with partners like JPMorgan, Standard Chartered, Citibank and HSBC to tokenize deposit claims against banks. However, as a company, it's not doing anything with cryptocurrencies specifically, he added.

"We continue to monitor [crypto] very closely," Feagin said. "We see the things akin to crypto, like blockchain-based finance and also tokenized deposits, as becoming a very big factor in terms of global money transfer."

"We see these kind of solutions, largely kind of blockchain-based solutions, as improving the efficiency of money transfer, and we'll see how crypto evolves that in the long run," he added.

Ant International was spun off from its parent company Ant Group in March 2024 and now operates as an independent subsidiary with its own board.

— Ryan Browne

Tariffs have increased the likelihood of a U.S. recession in 2025, according to Alec Kersman, managing director and head of Asia-Pacific at investment management firm Pimco.

There is a "maybe 35% probability" of a recession, Kersman told CNBC's Martin Soong, speaking at CNBC's CONVERGE LIVE event in Singapore on Wednesday. That's up from the approximately 15% chance that Pimco estimated in December 2024 as the repercussions of U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs take effect.

— Lucy Handley, Yeo Boon Ping

There needs to be less focus on AI models and more on how the technology can be used to help users do their jobs better, a Microsoft executive said.

This was one of the points made by Dean Carignan, AI innovation lead at Microsoft's Office of the Chief Scientist, during a panel discussion at CONVERGE LIVE. Carignan downplayed the risks of AI eliminating jobs, noting that machines cannot replicate the human-to-human interactions needed to manage and motivate staff.

Guy Diedrich, senior vice president and global innovation officer at Cisco, said that job descriptions are "passe," and the firm is focusing on workflows instead.

"When you talk about workflows, then the worker actually has a role in whatever job is coming up. So you may have workflows where a part of that job is performed by human, then another part of the workflow is AI. Another part of the workflow is by a robot," Diedrich said during the panel discussion.

— Kevin Lim, Lucy Handley

Amid concerns about trade wars and falling stock prices, two speakers at CNBC's CONVERGE LIVE urged companies to think long term and focus on doing good.

Rajeev Peshawaria, CEO of Stewardship Asia Centre, said there was a clear link between longevity and steward leadership, which is the desire to create a collective better future for society and future generations. He cited companies such as India's Tata Group and Germany's Faber-Castell.

Harald Link, chairman of Thailand's B Grimm Group, said companies performed better if staff liked each other rather than viewed one another as competitors, and shared a common vision about what they could do together for society.

— Kevin Lim

Global investors have begun moving funds out of the United States to Asia and Europe, according to Daniel Koh, CFO of the Singapore Exchange.

Speaking at a panel discussion titled "Managing Volatility: Capital Flows in 2025," Koh said SGX's widely traded China A50 Index Futures, which offers investors access to 50 major Chinese A-shares, have seen flows rise by 20% on year since the start of 2025.

There is also increased activity in the Singapore bourse operator's Asian FX futures, with over one-third of trades taking place during the Western time zone, he added.

— Kevin Lim

Nuclear power may see a revival in Europe as countries strive to achieve energy independence.

Speaking at a panel discussion on "Exploring Global Investing Trends in 2025 and Beyond," Kamal Bhatia, president and CEO of Principal Asset Management, said Europe could be the "epicenter of nuclear energy" as the EU works to reduce its dependence on imported oil and gas.

He added that the safety of nuclear energy has increased by leaps and bounds over the last 20 to 30 years.

— Kevin Lim

Chinese President Xi Jinping's meeting with entrepreneurs last month gave businesses confidence to make investments, Alibaba Group Chairman Joe Tsai said.

"People underestimate the importance of that meeting," he said at CONVERGE LIVE. "What that meeting did to the entire entrepreneur sector, or ... the private business sector, is it gave private business people confidence to make investments in their business."

Last month, Xi held a closed-door symposium with some of the country's most prominent business leaders, including Alibaba founder Jack Ma, in a rare show of support for the sector.

Read more here.

— Anniek Bao

Alibaba Chairman Joe Tsai warns that research analysts "can be completely replaced by AI."

His comments came during a discussion about developments in AI and the likely disruption to labor markets.

Rather than compete with AI, analysts can let AI systems retrieve and process the information and use their human judgement to enhance the quality of research.

— Kevin Lim

Alibaba Chairman Joe Tsai said the value of major sports franchises like the NBA and NFL will continue to grow as teams increase the size of their global fanbase.

As long as teams can grow their fanbase, there are "lots of upside," he said.

Tsai added, however, that he would not invest in European soccer, despite its popularity, due to the lack of a salary cap and competition with sovereign wealth funds for investments.

Tsai owns several sports teams, including the Brooklyn Nets, and he has a minority stake in the Miami Dolphins.

— Kevin Lim

Famed hedge fund manager Ray Dalio said that while the U.S. remains ahead of China in designing and producing the best semiconductors, China is ahead in the application and usage of AI.

"China is behind, but not by a lot, in the best chips," he said during a panel discussion. But the Chinese were better at making them working together.

— Kevin Lim

Bridgewater founder Ray Dalio on Wednesday warned that a "very severe" U.S. supply-demand problem regarding debt could lead to "shocking developments."

"The first thing is the debt issue, we have a very severe supply-demand problem," Dalio told CNBC's Sara Eisen at CONVERGE LIVE in Singapore.

Dalio said the U.S. deficit needs to go from a projected level of 7.2% of gross domestic product to about 3% of GDP.

"That's a big deal. You are going to see shocking developments in terms of how that's going to be dealt with," he added.

His comments come amid a tariff roller-coaster ride for markets in recent days. Trade policy uncertainty has added to a sense of unease on Wall Street, with investors concerned about the impact of a brewing trade war on the global economy.

Read the full story here.

— Sam Meredith

Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff described the data centers that companies are rushing to build as "commodity centers," noting that the cost of using such centers has never been so low.

Salesforce will take advantage of the low costs to hyperscale its AI applications, he added, during a panel discussion at the CONVERGE LIVE forum taking place at Singapore's Changi Airport.

— Kevin Lim

Singapore Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong said many in Asia are "watching with anxiety" U.S. President Donald Trump's trade policies, citing the tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China, the country's three largest trading partners.

He added that countries in Southeast Asia remain committed to free trade, citing agreements such as the ASEAN Trade in Goods Agreement (ATIGA) and the ASEAN Digital Economy Framework Agreement (DEFA) to reduce trade and technical barriers between member countries.

— Kevin Lim

Salesforce on Wednesday announced plans to invest $1 billion in Singapore over the next five years.

The company said the investment is designed to accelerate the country's digital transformation and the adoption of Salesforce's flagship AI offering Agentforce.

Alongside Bridgewater founder Ray Dalio, Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff is scheduled to speak at CNBC's CONVERGE LIVE at around 9:25 a.m. Singapore time (9:25 p.m. ET) on Wednesday.

"Salesforce's initiatives in AI research and workforce development will strengthen our ecosystem by catalysing innovation for key industries and corporates based in Singapore," Jermaine Loy, managing director of the Singapore Economic Development Board, said in a statement.

Read the full story here.

— Sam Meredith

Themes expected to dominate discussions on the first day of CONVERGE LIVE include artificial intelligence, a wide-ranging trade war and heightened fears of a U.S. recession.

AI — a talking point for every major corporate leader in recent years — has been in sharp focus as the race to develop sophisticated AI systems heats up. Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba recently unveiled a new AI model, which it says "rivals" other reasoning models, such as DeepSeek-R1. CNBC is not able to verify these claims.

Meanwhile, U.S. stocks fell sharply at the start of the week amid deepening fears U.S. President Donald Trump's tariff policy could result in a U.S. recession.

An escalating trade war has seen several tariff announcements from the U.S., China, Canada and Mexico in recent months.

— Sam Meredith

High-profile business leaders, policymakers and investors will take part in several panel sessions and firesides at CONVERGE LIVE on Wednesday.

Singapore's Deputy Prime Minister Kim Yong Gan kicks off the event with a keynote speech at around 9:10 a.m. Singapore time (9:10 p.m. ET). Gan also serves as the country's trade and industry minister.

A fireside chat with Bridgewater founder Ray Dalio and Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff will follow after. It marks the first time the two titans of industry will join each other on stage.

Alibaba Chairman Joe Tsai, Singapore's Digital and Information Minister Josephine Teo and Schneider Electric Chairman Jean-Pascal Tricoire are also among the speakers scheduled to take part in Wednesday's sessions.

— Sam Meredith