On the evening of December 4th, over 40 alumni of Singapore Management University (SMU) School of Accountancy gathered in the city of Beijing for an evening of networking and meaningful discussion. The alumni attendees, which included both young professionals and seasoned industry leaders, came from various sectors such as the finance, technology, and energy sectors.
The atmosphere of the reunion was a stark contrast to the chill of the Beijing night air, as participants reconnected with old friends, met new ones, and engaged in a lively roundtable discussion on the opportunities and challenges in an AI-prevalent era.
Keynote Address by Dean of School of Accountancy (SOA)
Professor Zhang Liandong, Dean of the School of Accountancy, opened the session by sharing SoA’s strategic direction in the coming years.
“Over the past year, AI has advanced at an unimaginable pace. Education must not only keep up but also anticipate change,” he emphasized.
He then outlined the following strategic priorities for SOA:
- Driving Research Impact – by strengthening collaborations with the industry and relevant institutions, the School aims to translate academic research into practical solutions, for greater societal impact.
- Enhancement of Education and Curriculum – to address the challenges of AI, SOA will offer more courses on foundational AI applications in accounting starting next year. At the same time, our teaching pedagogy will reinforce critical thinking and imbue strong ethical standards to build core competencies in our students.
- Growing SOA’s Alumni Network and Collaboration – by establishing more platforms for alumni engagement and resource sharing, our alumni will have a stronger support network to achieve long-term career development goals and make meaningful contributions to society.
Roundtable Forum: “AI Agents: Practical Insights on their Applications and Challenges”
The evening’s theme, “AI Agents: Practical Insights on their Applications and Challenges” came to life during a dynamic roundtable moderated by Professor Wang Jiwei, Associate Dean (Postgraduate Professional Programmes). Four alumni experts from leading organizations – Yonyou, Microsoft, Beyond Space Technology and State Power Investment Corporation – shared their perspectives and experiences in applying AI agents across their respective industries.
Discussions centred on three types of AI agents:
- Prompt-based conversational agents for simple interactions.
- Workflow automation agents capable of executing multi-step processes.
- Autonomous decision-making agents with independent reasoning and multi-task coordination.
The speakers shared real-world examples of how AI agents are reshaping business practices in finance, auditing, and supply chain management, which drew much interest and questions from the audience. The roundtable session soon progressed into a platform for a lively exchange of ideas and best practices among the attendees and speakers alike.
Consolidating Knowledge to Shape the Future
The event concluded on a high note, affirming SOA’s commitment to organising future opportunities for our alumni to connect with the school as well as with other alumni.
Through consolidation of our alumni resources, SOA aims to create more opportunities for continuous learning and collaboration, to foster mutual growth with our alumni community.
Prior to the Beijing gathering, SOA had also hosted a small-scale alumni meet-up in Chengdu, graced by His Excellency Joel Tan, Singapore’s Consul-General in Chengdu, and his spouse. The session featured candid discussions on Singapore-China relations, regional development, and alumni partnerships.
In conclusion, alumni gatherings serve a greater purpose than reunion. SOA is committed to building on this momentum to provide more platforms in future for alumni overseas to connect, collaborate, and thrive in a rapidly evolving world.