While many technology companies have initiatives with Singapore universities to train students in AI, HCLTech has chosen to tap an alternate talent pool.
The India-based global technology leader will train Singapore Polytechnic and Nanyang Polytechnic students as well as mid-career individuals in the latest AI technologies in a new AI/Cloud Native Lab which it will set up in 2025.
To this effect, HCLTech signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the two polytechnics in Singapore yesterday.
Tan Kiat How, Senior Minister of State for Ministry of Digital Development and Information, said Singapore’s polytechnic students have slightly different strengths “in terms of technical skills, coding and solving real world problems” and that they were just as good and some even better than their university counterparts.
Singapore with no oil, rare minerals other resources has to rely on its talent and resilience to forge ahead, he noted, at the signing.
Talent is important for Singapore to roll out its National AI 2.0 blueprint which is a “living” document as AI is continually evolving. The MOU is significant as it readies polytechnic students to take on AI-powered careers, he added.
He noted that over the next three years, the Singapore facility will hire 50 students and mid-career individuals from the two polytechnics.
Vijay Guntur, HCLTech’s chief technology officer, said the new AI Lab will be a conduit for technology transfer, enabling the polytechnic students to learn and work with the latest AI technologies developed by the company’s AI labs.
After the training, the students will be involved in developing and validating new enterprise AI products for Asia businesses, he added.
The new Singapore AI Lab is set up in partnership with the Economic Development Board. The Lab is the fifth, joining its global network of AI labs in the United States, England, Germany and India.
HCLTech’s effort to tap alternate talent pools began in India where it rolled out an initiative to train high school students, typically between 16 and 18 years old, for entry-level IT services and digital support roles. This initiative, which has expanded to other countries including Sri Lanka, the Americas, Australia and Canada, has trained 10,000 students.
“Two years ago, we started a cohort to train them on AI skills and the results have been amazing,” said Guntur.
He cited an example where a high school student trained in AI solved a problem overnight. The student was part of a team developing a video recognition system to identify players to help football commentators.
However, there was a technical glitch – the system could not distinguish the number 11 from the stripes on the players’ football jerseys. Using AI, he worked overnight and fixed the glitch in time for a demonstration for customers.
