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Technology · Asia Pacific

NCS launches AI centre as it targets more than 300 client-embedded engineers

NCS opened an AI Mission Centre in Singapore and plans to expand its client-embedded AI engineering team from 100 to more than 300 over two years. The centre is designed to help organisations move AI projects from trials into operational use, while NCS also announced three project partnerships.

AI-assisted synthesis · Based on 4 outlets' reporting · Article text read from 2 of 4 outletsHow it's made

View timeline · 8 entries
4 outletsLatest reporting 3 min read
Coverage: Too few ratedL 0 · C 2 · R 0 · 2 unrated
Updat3 graphic: NCS
Updat3 graphic

What happened

Key facts

  • The centre is intended to help organisations move AI projects from trials or proof of concept to production-scale use (per CNA, itbrief.asia).
  • Sam Liew said the engineers would work with customers to develop AI solutions that those customers could eventually own and operate (per CNA).
  • At the centre's launch, Minister for Digital Development and Information Josephine Teo urged Singapore to turn its AI foundations into practical action (per CNA).
  • NCS said more than 2,000 AI practitioners within its business are being trained in advanced skills to build and deploy production-ready agentic systems (per itbrief.asia).

The brief

NCS opened an AI Mission Centre in Singapore and said it plans to more than triple its client-embedded AI engineering team, from 100 to over 300, over two years. The company intends the centre to help organisations take artificial-intelligence projects beyond trials and proof of concept and into production-scale operations.

NCS chief executive Sam Liew said the team’s growth would combine reskilling and hiring. He said the engineers would work alongside customers to develop AI systems those customers could eventually own and operate. Liew also pointed to legacy technology and inconsistent data as obstacles that can complicate AI adoption by companies.

The launch was accompanied by three memorandums of understanding with Changi Airport Group, the Institute of Mental Health and Life3 Biotech. The partnerships are intended to develop and scale AI-driven solutions.

The sources identify the participating organisations but provide different levels of detail about the specific projects; itbrief.asia describes the Life3 Biotech agreement as focused on biomanufacturing. NCS’s plans come as the company sets out to build skills for deploying AI in operational settings.

Itbrief.asia reports that more than 2,000 AI practitioners within NCS are undergoing advanced training to build and deploy production-ready agentic systems. The report does not say how that training relates to the separate plan to expand the client-embedded engineering team.

At the centre’s launch, Minister for Digital Development and Information Josephine Teo said Singapore should build on its AI foundations and concentrate on turning plans into practical work. Her remarks framed the challenge as moving beyond capability-building toward implementation; NCS presented the centre and customer-facing engineers as part of that effort.

The announcements describe both a workforce expansion and a delivery model: engineers would work with clients, while the centre would support the move from early-stage projects to production.

The stated ambition for customers to own and operate the resulting systems places implementation and handover among the intended features of the work, although the sources do not describe how those arrangements would be structured. NCS is owned by Singtel and operates across Asia Pacific with a workforce of 15,000, according to itbrief.asia.

The company is an information technology and communications engineering firm. The sources do not give a schedule for the three partnership projects or specify when the expanded engineering headcount will be reached beyond the stated two-year growth period.

Why it matters

  • Organisations seeking to deploy AI face practical obstacles: NCS chief executive Sam Liew identified legacy systems and inconsistent data as barriers, while the centre is intended to help move projects into production.
  • The planned increase from 100 to more than 300 client-embedded engineers would expand the team NCS says will work with customers on solutions they can eventually own and operate.
  • Changi Airport Group, the Institute of Mental Health and Life3 Biotech are named partners in three AI memorandums of understanding; the Life3 Biotech agreement focuses on biomanufacturing.
  • NCS is training more than 2,000 AI practitioners in advanced skills for building and deploying production-ready agentic systems, alongside its planned engineering-team expansion.

What to watch next

  • Whether NCS grows its client-embedded AI engineering team from 100 to more than 300 over the stated two-year period.
  • How NCS and Changi Airport Group develop and scale their AI-driven solution.
  • How the Institute of Mental Health partnership develops its AI-driven solution.
  • Whether the Life3 Biotech agreement advances its stated biomanufacturing focus.

How it's being covered

Coverage analysisShow details
4 source articles · 4 unique outlets
Outlet political mix: Too few rated· 2 Center · 2 unrated
Where the outlets are based: Asia 50% · Unknown 50%
Outlet political mix
Too few rated
Left
Center
Right
0 outlets
2 outlets
0 outlets
The marker shows coverage balance: each unique outlet counts once. 2 unrated outlets are not included.
Geography
Where the outlets covering this story are based.
4 unique outletsDominant coverage: Asia
How we measure coverage

One source is from a wire service (AP, Reuters, AFP or Bloomberg), whose reporting other outlets often republish.

How outlets' accounts compare

1 framing difference · 2 uncorroborated claims · 1 information gap
The reports repeat the same account with different emphasis; its central claims are not independently confirmed in the reporting Updat3 read.Compared across 2 reports whose article text Updat3 read; 2 other outlets were checked by headline only.
Framing / emphasis differences
Sources emphasise different angles, actors or consequences of the same reporting.
  • CNA describes the planned roles as AI engineers embedded with clients and highlights the intention for customers to own and operate the resulting solutions; itbrief.asia uses NCS’s formal label, Intelligentisation Forward-Deployed Engineers, and adds detail about internal training.
Updat3: These are differences of emphasis, not disputes about what is reported. They do not show that the reported claims are true.
One-sided or uncorroborated claims
Claims that come from one party or one source family and are not independently corroborated.
  • Josephine Teo said Singapore should turn its AI foundations into practical action.
  • Sam Liew said legacy systems and inconsistent data can make AI adoption difficult for companies.
Updat3: Not independently corroborated yet — treat as a claim, not an established fact.
Not established by the reporting
Information the available reporting does not contain or confirm. This is a gap, not a disagreement.
  • The sources do not provide the projects’ schedules or detailed terms for the three memorandums of understanding.
Updat3: Updat3 cannot conclude anything about this from the current sources.

Timeline

Developments from this story's sources, dated background we compiled and fact-checked, and our earlier coverage. Each row says which.
  1. The National Computer Board established NCS as its in-house computer services bureau.
    Background · compiled and fact-checked by Updat3
  2. NCS became a commercial entity.
    Background · compiled and fact-checked by Updat3
  3. NCS became a Singtel subsidiary.
    Background · compiled and fact-checked by Updat3
  4. Those efforts followed the Smart Nation initiative, launched by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on 24 November 2014, which sought to use digital technology to improve services and daily life.
    Background · from our historical context
  5. The government had established AI Singapore in May 2017 as a national programme to support research, talent development and industry collaboration.
    Background · from our historical context
  6. That programme built on Singapore’s first National AI Strategy, launched in 2019, which identified areas including finance and transport for AI deployment.
    Background · from our historical context
  7. Singapore’s National AI Strategy 2.0, released on 4 December 2023, set out plans to expand the country’s AI capabilities and adoption, providing a national framework for moving beyond experimentation.
    Background · from our historical context
  8. In March 2024, the government announced a S$1 billion investment over five years in AI computing, talent and industry development.
    Background · from our historical context

How we got here

Singapore’s National AI Strategy 2.0, released on 4 December 2023, set out plans to expand the country’s AI capabilities and adoption, providing a national framework for moving beyond experimentation. In March 2024, the government announced a S$1 billion investment over five years in AI computing, talent and industry development.

That programme built on Singapore’s first National AI Strategy, launched in 2019, which identified areas including finance and transport for AI deployment. The government had established AI Singapore in May 2017 as a national programme to support research, talent development and industry collaboration.

Original sources

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