NTUC and IBF Target 100,000 Finance Professionals for AI Upskilling
Source: The Edge Singapore
Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong has announced a major AI upskilling initiative targeting 100,000 finance professionals in Singapore over the next three years. The partnership between NTUC and IBF, delivered through NTUC LearningHub's IBF-accredited programmes, represents one of the largest sector-specific AI training commitments in Asia. The announcement was made at the Association of Banks in Singapore Annual Dinner, backed by up to 70 per cent IBF funding support for eligible professionals.
Singapore is placing a landmark bet on workforce readiness: Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong has announced a partnership between the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) and the Institute of Banking and Finance (IBF) that targets upskilling 100,000 finance professionals in artificial intelligence over the next three years. The initiative, unveiled at the Association of Banks in Singapore Annual Dinner, is among the largest sector-specific AI training commitments in Asia and signals a deliberate shift from general AI literacy to deep, role-specific competency across Singapore's financial sector.
The programme centres on an IBF-accredited 'AI Foundation for Finance Professionals' course delivered by NTUC LearningHub. Built as asynchronous e-learning on the Learning eXperience Platform (LXP), the curriculum focuses on practical applications of generative AI contextualised for banking, insurance, and asset management roles. Key themes include human judgement, accountability, ethical decision-making, and responsible AI use. Eligible finance professionals can access up to 70 per cent funding support through IBF, making the training broadly accessible across income levels and career stages.
The initiative builds on NTUC's AI-Ready SG initiative launched in February 2026 and advances a 2024 Memorandum of Understanding between NTUC, IBF, and seven key financial industry associations to coordinate sector-wide skills development. Beyond the core course, the partnership includes career advisory services through NTUC's Employment and Employability Institute (e2i) and IBF Careers Connect, as well as youth outreach and mentoring programmes to grow the pipeline of future finance talent. Patrick Tay, NTUC Assistant Secretary-General, framed the effort as a catalyst: 'We hope this will catalyse more employers and sectors to come forward and do the same, so that even more PMEs can benefit.'
Why it matters for Singapore: The financial sector employs over 200,000 people in Singapore and contributes roughly 14 per cent of GDP. As AI reshapes everything from credit scoring to compliance to wealth management, the gap between the tools available and the workforce capable of using them is the single biggest bottleneck to AI-driven productivity gains. DPM Gan framed the challenge succinctly: 'We cannot scale AI in finance by building tools alone. We need people who know how to use them, question them, govern them and improve them.' Singapore is positioning its workforce readiness as a competitive advantage — if 100,000 finance professionals emerge with practical AI skills over the next three years, the city-state will have built a talent moat that few global financial hubs can match.