NCS launches AI Mission Centre, commits to building a workforce of more than 300 Forward-Deployed Engineers in the next two years

• Commits to growing the current pool of 100 Intelligentisation Forward-Deployed Engineers (iFDEs) to over 300 in the next two years through internal reskilling and external hiring.
• NCS AI Mission Centre supports the acceleration of AI adoption across key industries in Singapore.
• Announces three strategic AI deployment MOUs with Changi Airport Group (CAG), the Institute of Mental Health (IMH), and Life3 Biotech.  

SINGAPORE, Oct. 29, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- NCS today launched the NCS AI Mission Centre, a dedicated innovation and execution hub to help public and private organisations move from AI experimentation to full-scale enterprise deployment. To drive this initiative, NCS is committed to building a workforce of more than 300 Intelligentisation Forward-Deployed Engineers (iFDEs) within the next two years, comprising reskilled internal talent and new hires. iFDEs are domain-expert, vendor-agnostic AI specialists embedded directly within client teams to deliver real-world deployment across key sectors.

NCS also announced three strategic Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) with key industry partners, Changi Airport Group (CAG), the Institute of Mental Health (IMH), and Life3 Biotech to jointly develop and scale innovative AI-driven solutions.

Officiated by Guest-of-Honour Mrs. Josephine Teo, Minister for Digital Development and Information, the AI Mission Centre anchors NCS' commitment to supporting the acceleration of AI adoption across key sectors in Singapore.

NCS CEO Sam Liew said, "We want Singapore to be a place where the world comes to see AI working at scale - strengthening industries, improving public services, and opening new possibilities for our people. The NCS AI Mission Centre is our commitment to that ambition. By growing our current team of 100 iFDEs to more than 300, we are investing in our greatest asset - our people - who can turn technological breakthroughs into everyday progress. Our goal is to build AI capabilities that serve Singapore, and solutions that can make an impact around the world."

Bringing together industry specialists, iFDEs, and AI platform teams, and drawing on NCS' Sunshine.AI suite of products and platforms, the AI Mission Centre will help clients define priority problems, redesign workflows, and test and deploy AI solutions securely in live operations. It will also turn successful deployments into reusable products and capabilities, enabling proven solutions to scale across organisations and markets.

For instance, NCS' Sunshine.core provides a sovereign-ready foundation for building, operating, and governing enterprise AI agents, while Sunshine.commanderAI enables robots from different manufacturers to work together on real-world tasks. Alongside the iFDEs, teams of NCS AI Natives, referred to as "speedboats", support client missions by moving fast and experimenting boldly to deliver innovation at speed. Together, these platforms and teams support the secure integration of AI into clients' digital workflows and physical operations.

Accelerating enterprise AI adoption through strategic MOUs
To mark the launch, NCS also signed three strategic MOUs aimed at translating AI concepts into operational outcomes across the Transport, Healthcare, and Advanced Manufacturing industries. While anchored in these initial use cases, the collaborations reflect a broader commitment to accelerating AI adoption and diffusion across the wider economy:

• Changi Airport Group (CAG): A partnership to enhance and scale iFerret™, a co-developed intelligent runway surveillance system that monitors for Foreign Object Debris (FOD), with advanced AI technologies. The unique co-innovation model allows operational requirements to be developed and tested in real-world airport environments before global deployment.  
• Institute of Mental Health (IMH): A partnership that combines IMH's clinical expertise and NCS' technology capabilities to explore and co-develop digital solutions that enhance patient care and support healthcare workers in care delivery. One of the first initiatives under this collaboration is Bio-ID, an AI-powered facial recognition solution to strengthen patient identification and support timely awareness of safety considerations in inpatient care settings. IMH will validate the solution in its wards and provide insights in refining the technology for broader deployment across other healthcare and care environments.
• Life3 Biotech: A partnership to co-develop AI-driven biomanufacturing optimisation capabilities, integrating AI and advanced bioprocessing technologies. The collaboration aims to enhance production efficiency, scalability, and sustainability of micro-organisms while laying the foundation for next-generation intelligent biomanufacturing infrastructure.

Supporting the development of Singapore's AI talent pipeline
NCS is driving extensive people initiatives to build its own iFDE workforce and to help advance the national AI workforce development:

• Workforce-wide upskilling: AI fluency training is provided to all NCS employees, including courses on prompt engineering, responsible AI, and collaborating with AI agents to boost productivity. Additionally, over 2,000 AI practitioners are continuously upskilled with advanced AI skills in building and deploying production-ready agentic solutions.
• Job redesign initiatives: NCS is redesigning software engineering roles to bring together business analysis, software development, and testing capabilities within more versatile, AI-enabled teams to accelerate time-to-value for clients.
• Developing early-career talent: Hands-on work-study programmes, namely Nucleus, Fusion, and Ignite – include bond-free pathways for university, polytechnic, and ITE graduates respectively, to build practical AI fluency from day one.

About NCS 

NCS is a leading AI technology services company. With a 15,000-strong team across the Asia Pacific, NCS scales its platforms and capabilities to provide clients with greater agility and AI expertise across a range of Industries. Embracing a strong ecosystem of global partners, NCS transforms technology services delivery combining AI with digital resilience to drive real business impact. NCS is a subsidiary of the Singtel Group. For more information, visit ncs.co.   

Media Contacts  

NCS 
Adeline Sim
adeline.sim@ncs.com.sg

Burson  
For NCS 
BursonforNCS@bursonglobal.com

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NCS launches AI Mission Centre, commits to building a workforce of more than 300 Forward-Deployed Engineers in the next two years

SHENZHEN, China, Oct. 29, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- A report from Chinadailyhk.com

A photo exhibition on cultural and people-to-people exchanges in Asia opened in South China's Shenzhen on Monday, ahead of the 33rd APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting, which the city is hosting next month.

Co-organized by China Daily and the Asia News Network, the Changing Asia exhibition runs through Friday at the Shenzhen Research Institute of the Chinese University of Hong Kong under the theme "Moments of Connection: Smiles and Hands Across Asia-Pacific".

In her welcoming remarks, Liu Weiling, deputy editor-in-chief of China Daily, said the exhibition is an important cultural exchange event during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation's "China Year" and aligns with this year's theme, "Building an Asia-Pacific Community to Prosper Together".

"We look forward to using the lens as a medium to capture the warm moments of Asia-Pacific people working hand-in-hand and civilizations integrating with each other, vividly showcasing the moving picture of Asia-Pacific peoples united in solidarity and embracing inclusiveness and shared prosperity," Liu said.

Warner Cheuk Wing-hing, Hong Kong's deputy chief secretary for administration, said at the opening that the photographs document the Asia-Pacific's cultural landscape and development stories without relying on words.

The exhibition highlights the core spirit of this year's APEC and offers visitors a glimpse of the region's growing mutual understanding and connection, as well as achievements in inclusive, shared development, he said.

The edition received more than 2,200 entries from 330 photographers worldwide. After a rigorous selection process, 97 works by 54 photographers from 17 countries and regions were chosen to capture the "smiles" and "hands" of Asia-Pacific people and portray a shared future of inclusive prosperity.

"Photography has the extraordinary ability to bring seemingly distant worlds closer together, creating a silent dialogue between the people portrayed and those viewing the images," Emanuele Giacomini, a documentary photographer based in Italy, told China Daily.

A set of photos Giacomini took at the 2025 Maha Kumbh Mela in Prayagraj, India, was selected for the exhibition. The festival was inscribed on UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage list in 2017.

Giacomini said the exhibition's theme reflects his approach to documentary photography: seeking human connections, spontaneous gestures and emotions that transcend cultural and religious differences.

At the exhibition's launch, Bill Condon, an adviser to think tank Our Hong Kong Foundation, praised the quality and diversity of the photos. "It is really important to show and utilize the soft power of culture and art," he said. "The exhibition's Asian focus makes it so much more relevant and creates an opportunity for dialogue outside the formal meetings."

Nay Min Thu, a Myanmar student at Prince of Songkla University in Thailand, said he was impressed by the stories behind the photographs, particularly Shirkoo Mamagha's images capturing peaceful moments of nomadic communities in Iran. "I have learned that we should take photos that contain stories," said Thu, an amateur photographer.

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Changing Asia expo opens in Shenzhen