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28 Nov 2023
NUS Lifelong Learning (L3) L&D Success Stories - NEC
Building a smarter future with GenAI: NEC Asia Pacific taps on NUS’ expertise to take on new technologies
Attendees of NEC Asia Pacific's customised GenAI programme held at the National University of Singapore (NUS) which included its partners from Microsoft, IBM and Amazon Web Services.
As generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) continues to embed itself into our professional and personal lives, organisations are taking note. Many are pondering how to leverage these new technologies to improve business, and some – like technology leader NEC Asia Pacific – are already taking action. NEC Asia Pacific’s Managing Director (Singapore), Teh Chong Mien, explains, “We are constantly modernising our portfolio of business solutions and services. To accelerate this change, we need to take advantage of GenAI."
Designing a GenAI-focused learning and development (L&D) programme
With this in mind, NEC Asia Pacific searched for a learning programme to suit their strategic learning goals – a course that was concise, focused on cutting-edge technologies (like GenAI), and ideal for aligning senior management level decision-making. Finding no suitable out-of-the-box training solutions, NEC Asia Pacific approached NUS to customise a learning programme for them.
Programme participants listening to case studies shared.
Chong Mien details the purpose of the programme, saying, “We embarked on this with two things in mind. Internally, we wanted to learn how to use GenAI to improve our processes and transform the way we do business. Externally, we wanted to better understand how we can engage clients in meaningful conversations about AI and help them to shape their businesses with these new technologies."
Understanding these objectives, NUS’ School of Computing curated a bootcamp with case studies and workgroup discussions. The course focused on three key topics, specifically ‘how to leverage AI’, ‘risks and mitigation methods’, and ‘planning with key partners’. This third topic especially, would help leaders from NEC Asia Pacific’s various business units understand how they can adopt GenAI to build efficiencies within NEC Asia Pacific, measure its impact, and effectively work with technology partners to create GenAI-enhanced solutions for their clients.
What made this programme unique was NEC Asia Pacific’s decision to invite several key technology partners – including Microsoft, IBM and Amazon Web Services – to join them in the session. Their rationale was simple, as Chong Mien tells us, “To create value for our clients, we need our partners to work with us and engage in conversations with our clients. The programme allowed us to be in sync with one another, so moving forward, we can more easily co-create solutions that will benefit clients.”
Real-world implementation: Practical applications for GenAI across NEC Asia Pacific
Following the programme, NEC Asia Pacific’s leaders have embraced GenAI with open minds – with several leaders already envisioning its use in their business units, as Kenice Tay, NEC Asia Pacific’s Head of Marketing & Communications, explains. “GenAI can be very useful with its applications in how we can engage customers and do external marketing. For instance, leveraging these technologies to generate templates, visuals, videos, and other types of content.”
“I am sold!” Melvin Tham, Head of Human Resources, exclaims as he talks about how the bootcamp shed a light on the ways GenAI can improve employee engagement across the organisation. He elaborates, “We can leverage AI tools to take pulse on where employees’ interests lay, and thereafter curate more engaging activities and programmes. Also, we could improve internal communications with chatbots facilitating questions on HR policies, and much more”.
NEC Asia Pacific's management team present at the programme.
To create value for our clients, we need our partners to work with us and engage in conversations with our clients. The programme allowed us to be in sync with one another, so moving forward, we can more easily co-create solutions that will benefit clients.
NUS as an L&D partner
While embarking on a future-ready L&D programme appears to be a straightforward decision for many organisations, it isn’t always simple, as Dr. Paul Wang, NEC Asia Pacific’s Head of Country Business Development & NEC Future Academy, details.
“The key question is, how can we create courses in a timely manner? For instance, just a short while ago, AI was the hot topic that everyone wanted to learn. But in the time needed to get funding and approvals, the world has already moved on to GenAI. I believe the answer is working with a reputable university like NUS and utilising stackable components – that is, slotting in additional content on top of an established framework.”
Chong Mien agrees and talks about his positive experiences with the NUS team. “We chose NUS because they have been very open with us. Their professors are highly qualified and down-to-earth, and understand that we want more than classroom learning – we’re looking for outcome-based objectives. The NUS team really listened to us and curated the programme’s content to drive us towards our business outcomes.”
Looking ahead, Chong Mien adds, “As we transition into this new era of technology, job roles – and the tasks performed in each role – are increasingly overlapping. A curated programme like this (NUS course) allows us to bring different business units and corporate function leaders together in one place, examine the tasks we’re doing, and synergise our work.
“With senior leaders aligned and setting examples, we can then trickle this synergy across the rest of the organisation.”
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NUS Lifelong Learning (L3) L&D Success Stories - NEC
