Ex-AWS exec launches startup to power enterprise systems with AI

Bernard Leong, founder of Dorje AI / Photo credit: Bernard Leong’s website

Bernard Leong, a Singapore-based angel investor who was previously an AI executive at Amazon Web Services (AWS), has launched a startup. Called Dorje AI, the company aims to build a financial enterprise resource planning (ERP) system powered by AI.

The idea behind the company comes from Leong’s experiences of “dealing painfully with glorified ERP systems,” he said in a LinkedIn post.

An ERP system acts as a backbone for a business, helping companies run tasks in areas like human resources, accounting, and marketing. Some of the major operators in the space include SAP and Oracle.

While it can make operations more fluid, factors like buggy software, a lack of training for employees, and steep prices often make businesses turn away from ERP.

“The vision of Dorje AI is to create the next generation open business operating systems to enable companies to be optimally efficient, productive, and continuously adaptive.”

In addition, the venture aims to address how data gets locked in closed ERP systems, which often impedes medium-to-large companies from using AI. The name “Dorje” is a Buddhist term meaning “indestructible” and “powerful transformation,” Leong explained.

Aside from angel investing, Leong has a long corporate career that includes stints at companies like Singapore Post and Airbus. He spent over two years at AWS, serving as the head of machine learning and artificial intelligence for ASEAN.

Leong also runs the Analyse Asia podcast series and was co-founder of pioneering tech blog SGEntrepreneurs, which Tech in Asia acquired in 2013.

Dorje AI is in the product testing phase but is accepting waitlist signups on its website, Leong said on his LinkedIn post.

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