The central challenge NCS aims to address is the “pilot purgatory” many enterprises face. While numerous companies have tested AI tools, few have successfully integrated them into daily workflows. The AI Mission Centre is designed to bridge this gap. According to NCS Chief Executive Sam Liew, the hub will help clients define priority problems, redesign workflows, and securely test and deploy AI solutions. The goal is not merely to install software, but to turn successful deployments into reusable products and capabilities that can scale across different organizations and markets.
At the heart of this strategy is a significant expansion of human capital. NCS currently employs 100 Intelligentisation Forward-Deployed Engineers (iFDEs). These specialists are embedded within client teams across sectors such as transport, healthcare, and manufacturing. They are described as vendor-agnostic experts who possess deep domain knowledge, allowing them to navigate the complexities of specific industries. Liew announced that the company plans to more than triple this workforce to over 300 within the next two years. This growth will be achieved through a combination of external recruitment and the internal reskilling of existing employees, although NCS has not specified the exact ratio of new hires to upskilled staff.
The necessity of this workforce expansion is driven by the technical friction of integrating AI into established businesses. Liew noted that legacy systems and inconsistent data remain significant hurdles. The iFDEs are tasked with immersing themselves in the specifics of a company’s operations to identify these bottlenecks, create tailored AI solutions, and update core business processes. The end goal is autonomy: clients should be able to operate the solutions independently after the joint development phase.
To demonstrate this capability, NCS announced three strategic Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) with key industry partners, each highlighting a different application of this deployment model.
The first partnership is with Changi Airport Group (CAG) to enhance and scale iFerret, an intelligent runway surveillance system. The system uses AI to monitor runways for Foreign Object Debris (FOD), a critical safety concern in aviation. NCS Chief AI Officer Edward Chen specified that the system can detect objects as small as 4 cm on a runway approximately 4 km long. The collaboration utilizes a co-innovation model where operational requirements are tested in real-world airport environments before global deployment. Chen noted that the technology is already in use in the Middle East and Hong Kong, suggesting a trajectory toward wider international adoption.
In the healthcare sector, NCS has partnered with the Institute of Mental Health (IMH) to develop digital tools that support both patient care and healthcare workers. A primary focus is Bio-ID, an AI-powered facial recognition solution designed to improve patient identification and alert staff to safety considerations in inpatient settings. Unlike immediate commercial rollouts, this project follows a validation-first approach. The IMH is expected to test the system in its wards and provide feedback for refinement before any broader use in other care settings. This cautious methodology underscores the high stakes of deploying biometric AI in sensitive medical environments.
The third agreement is with Life3 Biotech, focusing on biomanufacturing. The two entities plan to co-develop AI-driven optimization tools that combine artificial intelligence with bioprocessing technologies. The objective is to improve the efficiency, scalability, and sustainability of micro-organism cultivation, applying computational power to biological production processes.
Minister Josephine Teo emphasized that the success of such initiatives depends on more than just software. She stressed the importance of underlying infrastructure, including data centers, data transmission channels, mobile networks, and computing capacity. She also highlighted the role of specialist training and government support programs, noting that the Singaporean government has committed to using AI and agents in the delivery of public services. This regulatory and infrastructural context is crucial for NCS’s strategy, as it positions the company within a national ecosystem that is actively preparing for AI integration.
To support this expansion, NCS is implementing a comprehensive talent development effort. The company is providing AI fluency training to all employees, covering prompt engineering, responsible use, and working with AI agents. Additionally, more than 2,000 practitioners are being upskilled in developing and deploying production-ready agentic solutions. The company is also redesigning software engineering roles to merge business analysis, development, and testing capabilities. For early-career professionals, new pathways for university, polytechnic, and Institute of Technical Education graduates offer practical AI skill development, some without employment bonds, aiming to widen the talent pipeline.
While the launch signals ambition, the journey from mission center to widespread operational success remains pending. The iFDEs must prove that their embedded model can consistently overcome the data and legacy system challenges Liew identified. The next confirmed development will be the validation results from the IMH’s Bio-ID trials and the scaling of iFerret beyond its current test sites, which will serve as the first real-world benchmarks for the center’s effectiveness.
