- I attended the ExploreAI Summit on January 29, which marked the successful conclusion of the AI Trailblazers initiative.
- The Trailblazers initiative has helped Singaporean organizations create their own generative AI solutions.
- Minister Josephine unveiled AI Trailblazers 2.0 to advance Singapore’s national AI 2.0 strategy and deepen the use of AI across Singapore.
- This article is part of our “Business for good” series highlighting business leaders and companies driving meaningful change from Singapore.
By Kris LeBoutillier, journalist and content creator who has worked across Asia for 25 years. Currently based in Singapore, he is our trusted resource for innovative projects taking place in one of the world’s most advanced and progressive business hubs.
On January 29, I had the opportunity to attend ExploreAI, a summit organized at the Google Asia Pacific campus in Singapore. The event marked the successful conclusion of the AI Trailblazers initiative, an effort to help Singapore-based organizations develop 100 Generative AI (GenAI) solutions over 100 days.
Participating organizations ran the gamut from government to healthcare to higher education. After speaking to them at ExploreAI, I am convinced that virtually every industry can benefit from deploying GenAI.
Since the initiative’s launch, 84 organizations have addressed more than 100 GenAI use cases. These examples have been supported largely by public and private entities, including the Ministry of Communications and Information (MCI) Singapore, Digital Industry Singapore (DISG), Smart Nation Group (SNG), Enterprise Singapore (EnterpriseSG) and Google Cloud.
Participating organizations gain free access to Singapore’s first-ever AI innovation sandboxes, as well as resources such as Google Cloud’s Unified AI Stack to accelerate the production of their own GenAI solutions. Mark Micallef, general manager of Southeast Asia for Google Cloud, highlighted the initiative’s role in promoting Singapore’s economic growth.
The ExploreAI Summit highlighted 43 institutions and their world-changing solutions – and I got a first-hand look at a few of them.
1. AI that speeds up recruitment processes
The first person I spoke with was John Ang, Associate Director, Data and AI, at Temus, a company that provides digital transformation solutions to private and public sector agencies. In 2023, Temus experienced rapid growth, doubling its workforce to reach 400 employees. This change exposed inefficiencies in its talent acquisition and management processes.
To solve this problem, Temus developed two AI platforms using Google tools. First, the company introduced a talent acquisition platform that allows hiring managers to evaluate candidate resumes with a chatbot, reducing profile evaluation time by 80-90%. Temus also launched a talent development platform to aggregate data to assess internal skills, offer feedback and recommend training for professional growth.
“AI helps our HR team identify the needle in the haystack,” Ang said.
2. AI that creates programs for educators
Singapore’s universities and trade schools are also using GenAI to solve problems in higher education. I learned from Tan Soon Keow, director of the School of Information Technology at Nanyang Polytechnic (NYP), that developing and designing courses takes a lot of instructors’ time – and sometimes takes months.
Tan introduced me to NYP’s solution – NYP Course Autobot – which guides academic staff through the course content generation process, reducing tedious preparation time so instructors can focus their attention on teaching . She said the solution is expected to be implemented in New York and could eventually reach academic staff at other higher education institutes in Singapore.
Additionally, in response to the growing demand for GenAI skills, Google Cloud will partner with Nanyang Polytechnic (NYP) to enhance the school’s cloud computing and AI curriculum. This collaboration includes the integration of Google Cloud’s Computing Foundations program and introductory AI microlearning courses.
3. AI that trains new hires in call centers
Long Yin, global director of data science and solutions at TDCX, a business process outsourcing service provider, showed me the TDCX Fast Track platform. This AI-powered help desk tool streamlines the training process for new call center hires by converting customer audio recordings to text, analyzing agent-customer interactions, and generating improvement strategies on measure. Additionally, the platform provides valuable insights for management, such as top customer concerns, coaching suggestions, and weekly performance reviews.
4. An AI that reserves badminton courts
I was also impressed by how the Singapore government is adopting AI to meet the needs of its citizens. The People’s Association (PA), which runs a network of community clubs across the island, has sought to improve the booking process for badminton courts, a popular activity here in Singapore. The AP addressed a common frustration among members trying to schedule games by developing the onePA Facilities Booking Recommender, a conversational AI agent that can identify and book open courts without hassle.
What’s next for AI in Singapore
As a participant, I was also delighted to hear the opening speech by Minister Guest of Honor Josephine Teo of the Ministry of Communications and Information (MCI), who unveiled a new phase for the AI in Singapore.
Google Cloud
“Today’s major milestone for the Trailblazers ticks all the boxes I’ve outlined,” she said. “The power of good governance; bringing together infrastructure, public services and tools; building the capacity of businesses and people; trying to understand how we can be inclusive and yet, at the same time, responsible in the way we Let’s implement AI.”
Minister Teo announced plans to build on the success of the first AI Trailblazers program with AI Trailblazers 2.0. This broader initiative will support Singapore’s commitment to advancing its National AI 2.0 Strategy (NAIS 2.0) – a goal to improve the use of AI across the country and boost the economy by supporting a strong community of AI startups and talent.
“Beyond the monetary value, there is the idea that we are developing this capability very quickly in Singapore, and the imagination and interest in using generative AI tools to improve and transform in ways significant in the way business is done,” Minister Teo said.
This collaboration between AI Trailblazers and Google illustrates Singapore’s commitment to using AI for the benefit of everyone, from residents to businesses. As someone who has lived in Singapore for some time, I find it incredibly reassuring to see generative AI being put to good use in the community. I look forward to seeing what other remarkable innovations emerge from this program in the coming year.
Find out why so many people are joining forces in Singapore to drive meaningful change.
This post was created by Insider Studios with the Singapore Economic Development Board.
