Singtel’s NCS to triple embedded AI engineers to over 300
- NCS will grow its embedded AI engineers from 100 to over 300 in two years.
- NCS opened its AI Mission Centre in Ang Mo Kio on Oct. 29.
- NCS signed MOUs with Changi Airport Group, the Institute of Mental Health and Life3 Biotech.
- An IMH facial recognition trial with 180 patients will scale up to all 50 wards.
SINGAPORE, SINGAPORE — NCS will grow its pool of artificial intelligence engineers embedded with clients from 100 to more than 300 over two years. The Singtel-owned firm set out the plan as it opened an AI Mission Centre in Ang Mo Kio on Oct. 29.
The center is designed to help organizations take AI projects from proof of concept to production-scale deployment. NCS also signed three memorandums of understanding with Changi Airport Group, the Institute of Mental Health and Life3 Biotech to develop and scale up AI-driven solutions.
Reskilling and hiring
NCS, an information technology and communications engineering firm, currently has 100 forward-deployed engineers, Channel NewsAsia (CNA) reported on Oct. 29. These AI specialists work directly within client teams to provide guidance and expertise.
Chief executive Sam Liew said the increase will come from reskilling existing employees and hiring new staff. The embedded engineers will work with customers to co-create solutions that the customers can eventually own and operate themselves, he said.
Liew said some companies face challenges in adopting AI, such as legacy systems or inconsistent data. “They will go deep into the customers’ domain and understand the problem, develop solutions around AI, and actually revamp all the core processes within the business,” he said.
Runway and hospital projects
With Changi Airport Group, NCS will enhance and scale up iFerret, a runway surveillance system that uses AI to monitor for foreign object debris. Chief AI officer Edward Chen said the system can detect debris as small as 4cm along a runway of about 4km. The technology has also been deployed in the Middle East and Hong Kong, he said.
At the Institute of Mental Health, one initiative being trialled is an AI-powered facial recognition system to strengthen patient identification in inpatient care settings. Chen said the trial has involved 180 patients across four wards. It will be scaled up to all 50 wards and to psychiatric wards in other hospitals.
A ‘bias for action’
Speaking at the launch, Minister for Digital Development and Information Josephine Teo said Singapore must build upon its foundations in AI. Any country or city can produce a national or municipal AI strategy with little difficulty, she said. “ChatGPT can do it for you.”
The harder task, Teo said, is to have “a real bias for action” and to build what is real, from infrastructure and enterprises to skilled people and supporting policies.
What it means for buyers
NCS’s plan puts more of its engineers inside client teams to move AI projects into production, using a mix of reskilled staff and new hires.
Companies planning artificial intelligence (AI) or wider digital transformation programs can compare delivery partners on OA’s top AI outsourcing companies list.
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