India's HCLTech to open AI lab in S'pore, signs pacts with polys

HCL Technologies (HCLTech), one of India's top software and IT services firms, said it will open an artificial intelligence laboratory here in 2025.

- Ovais Subhani

It will offer the company's latest generative AI products to help accelerate AI initiatives of its clients across South-east Asia.

It also signed memorandum of understanding pacts with Nanyang Polytechnic and Singapore Polytechnic to teach young talent and mid-career individuals skills in AI.

The AI Lab was announced by HCLTech chairwoman Roshni Nadar Malhotra on Oct 4 at Manulife Tower in Singapore, the company's regional headquarters.

The lab here, supported by Singapore's Economic Development Board, will be HCLTech's fifth in its global network of such facilities, which the company currently has in the US, Britain, India and Germany.

Its establishment in Singapore will need 20 to 25 experienced engineers and technicians, Ms Malhotra told The Straits Times in an interview after the ceremony. But the company will hire more people later on, and the MOUs with the polytechnics will come in handy in that regard, she added.

"Technology moves fast, and you are always playing catch-up with the kind of talent and skills you need," she said.