Guide library
Getting started (3)
What is AI readiness?What does an AI readiness assessment involve?AI readiness glossaryBuilding the foundations (5)
Process mapping before automationWhen has an SME outgrown spreadsheets?How to choose business software that fitsHow to prepare your data for AIDo SMEs need a data warehouse?By market (5)
AI readiness for Singapore SMEsAI readiness for Malaysian SMEsAI readiness for Indonesian SMEse-Invoicing in Malaysia: a guide for SMEsAplikasi stok barang untuk UMKM (Bahasa Indonesia)The framework
SEL Foundation IndexResources
Guides for SMEs on processes, systems, data and AI.
Plain-English guides for SMEs on what AI readiness means, how to assess it, and how to build the process, system and data foundations that make AI possible. Each guide takes a few minutes to read, and is written to be returned to whenever the question comes up again.
Guides
Start with the question you have.
Getting started
What is AI readiness, and how do you know if you have it?
What AI readiness means, the areas it covers, where SMEs most often fall short, and ten questions to check where your business stands.
Read the guide→AssessmentWhat does an AI readiness assessment involve?
What a good assessment examines, how the evidence is gathered, the outputs you should expect, and five questions to ask any assessor.
Read the guide→GlossaryAI readiness glossary: plain-English definitions
Short definitions of the AI, process, systems and data terms that SME leaders meet most often, from AI agent to single source of truth.
Read the glossary→Building the foundations
Process mapping before automation: where SMEs should start
What a process map is, how to map a process in five steps, and how to decide which steps to automate.
Read the guide→SystemsWhen has an SME outgrown spreadsheets?
Eight signs that spreadsheets are holding your business back, what to use instead, and how to switch safely.
Read the guide→SystemsHow to choose business software that fits: ERP, CRM and POS
What the main types of business system do, a six-step method for choosing one, and the mistakes to avoid.
Read the guide→DataHow to prepare your data for AI: a checklist for SMEs
What AI-ready data means, ten checks to run on your data, and the order in which to fix what you find.
Read the guide→DataDo SMEs need a data warehouse? The single source of truth explained
What a single source of truth and a data warehouse are, four ways to reach one, and the signs that a data warehouse is worth the cost.
Read the guide→By market
AI readiness for Singapore SMEs: a practical guide
Where adoption stands among Singapore SMEs, six practical steps from experimenting with AI to relying on it, and where government support fits in.
Read the guide→MalaysiaAI readiness for Malaysian SMEs: a practical guide
Where Malaysian SMEs stand, what e-Invoicing showed about business foundations, six practical steps towards using AI, and where support fits in.
Read the guide→IndonesiaAI readiness for Indonesian SMEs: a practical guide
Where UMKM stand, why scattered stock and order records hold back AI, six practical steps towards using AI, and where support fits in.
Read the guide→MalaysiaE-Invoicing in Malaysia: a guide for SMEs
Who is still in scope after LHDN's RM3 million e-Invoice threshold, what the relaxation period allows until the end of 2027, and five steps to replace manual workarounds.
Read the guide→IndonesiaBahasa IndonesiaAplikasi stok barang untuk UMKM: cara memilih
A guide in Bahasa Indonesia on when an SME needs a stock app, the three types available, five steps to choose one, and when to move to ERP software.
Read the guide→The framework
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