Ignite, Inspire, Innovate: NUS-ISS spotlights possibilities and impact for the next phase of AI transformation while strengthening support for SMEs at its Annual Luncheon
The event celebrates partnership milestones, learners' journeys and highlights NUS-ISS' industry-wide focus on AI transformation, alongside initiatives such as the Show Me Your Agents Hackathon and ALPS programme to help SMEs address real business challenges.
SINGAPORE , Oct. 20, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- NUS-ISS is strengthening its efforts to support industries and organisations as they navigate the next phase of AI transformation, while expanding practical support for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to turn business challenges into actionable solutions.
from left - Team Interns (SME Category 1st prize); Questbond (Public Category 1st Prize); Mr Khoong Chan Meng, CEO, NUS-ISS; Dr Syed Harun Alhabsyi, Senior Parliamentary Secretary, Ministry of Education & Ministry of National Development; Ms Janet Ang, Chairman, NUS-ISS; Ms Elsie Tan, Country Manager, World Wide Public Sector, Singapore at Amazon Web Services; Team Questbond; Team Moss (SME Ready Award), and Mr Lee Yee Fung, Chief Smart Technologies Officer, Singapore Business Federation
These efforts were spotlighted at the NUS-ISS Annual Luncheon 2026, themed " IGNITE. INSPIRE. INNOVATE. " held at Conrad Singapore Orchard and graced by Guest-of-Honour Dr Syed Harun Alhabsyi, Senior Parliamentary Secretary, Ministry of Education & Ministry of National Development. The event brought together industry partners, alumni, learners, and staff to reflect on the institute's milestones and look ahead to a world where AI is reshaping both work and leadership.
Turning business challenges into AI solutions
A key highlight was the prize presentation for the NUS-ISS Show Me Your Agents Hackathon. Powered by AWS and supported by the Singapore Business Federation (SBF), the hackathon challenged SMEs, students, professionals, start-ups and technology enthusiasts to develop AI agent-powered solutions to real business problems. A total of 440 participants across 114 teams took part, with 10 finalist teams pitching their solutions at the Finale Demo Day on 10 October 2026.
The winners are:
SME category
Public category
1st prize
Team Name: Team Interns Mr Sim Yong En Ivan Ms Caroline Goh Qian Hui Ms Chee Lexi Ms Tan Jianzhen
Team Name: Questbond Ms Fang Xinyi Ms T. Keerthi Reddy Mr Pavan Nagur Ms Wu Yushan
Special awards sponsored by SBF went to Team: MOSS (SME Ready Award), Team: AI've Got This (Best Agents Use Award) and Team: Binary Beast (Social Impact Award).
More information on the hackathon is available in the accompanying media factsheet.
NUS-ISS is also piloting the Active Learning for Problem Solving (ALPS) programme with SBF member companies to help businesses move from recognising the need for transformation to identifying what they can do next. Working with their own organisational challenges, business leaders are guided to rethink existing approaches, develop potential solutions and move promising ideas towards pilot-ready implementation.
Together, the Show Me Your Agents Hackathon and ALPS provide complementary pathways for SMEs to experiment with new technologies and apply them to real business needs. They form part of NUS-ISS' broader work with industry to build the capabilities organisations need as AI becomes increasingly embedded in operations, decision-making and value creation.
Building AI-ready capabilities through industry partnerships
Long-standing industry partnerships are also translating learning into workplace capabilities.
Through its partnership with NUS-ISS, which began in 2019, NCS employees have completed 1,706 Graduate Certificates, enabling them to progressively build new capabilities while applying their learning on the job. In 2026, 68 NCS employees were conferred the Master of Technology in Software Engineering or Enterprise Business Analytics.
Since 2025, ST Engineering has trained more than 800 employees through its partnership with NUS-ISS, contributing to its goal of expanding its pool of AI engineers and developers from 2,000 to 5,000 over the next two years. The NUS-ISS programme equips ST Engineering engineers with AI capabilities to augment their deep domain expertise so as to scale innovation and solutions that address real-world customer needs. It remains fully subscribed each month, reflecting sustained demand for these capabilities.
NUS-ISS is also expanding its learning pathways as technology reshapes professional roles. Its new part-time Master of Science in Enterprise Digital Technology Management will welcome its first intake in 2027. The programme is a fully stackable pathway for technology management professionals to bridge business strategy and technical implementation.
"The question for organisations is no longer whether to adopt AI, but how to make it work for their people and their business," said Mr Khoong Chan Meng, Chief Executive Officer of NUS-ISS. "As AI continues to evolve, organisations will need both the technology capabilities and the people capabilities to use it meaningfully. At the same time, we recognise that SMEs may face different challenges in making transformation happen. Through initiatives such as the Hackathon and ALPS, alongside our continued partnerships with the industry and new learning pathways, we want to provide practical opportunities for businesses to experiment, solve real problems and translate ideas into meaningful outcomes".
About National University of Singapore (NUS)
The National University of Singapore (NUS) is Singapore's flagship university, which offers a global approach to education, research and entrepreneurship, with a focus on Asian perspectives and expertise. We have 15 colleges, faculties and schools across three campuses in Singapore, with more than 40,000 students from 100 countries enriching our vibrant and diverse campus community. We have also established about 15 NUS Overseas Colleges entrepreneurial hubs around the world.
Our multidisciplinary and real-world approach to education, research and entrepreneurship enables us to work closely with industry, governments and academia to address crucial and complex issues relevant to Asia and the world. Researchers in our faculties, research centres of excellence, corporate labs and more than 30 university-level research institutes focus on themes that include energy; environmental and urban sustainability; treatment and prevention of diseases; active ageing; advanced materials; risk management and resilience of financial systems; Asian studies; and Smart Nation capabilities such as artificial intelligence, data science, operations research and cybersecurity.
For more information on NUS, please visit nus.edu.sg .
About NUS-ISS
Established in 1981, NUS-ISS nurtures digital talent for the industry through graduate education, executive education programmes, consultancy, applied research, and career services. NUS-ISS guides individuals and organisations to bridge future opportunities through a unique portfolio of multiple learning pathways such as blended learning and stackable programmes, leading the way in shaping the next curve of digital excellence. It offers a wide spectrum of programmes in critical industry disciplines, such as digital leadership, software development, data science, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, product management, smart health and digital innovation. To date, close to 216,000 digital leaders and professionals from across 8,854 corporate client organisations, and 10,059 graduate programmes alumni have benefitted from NUS-ISS' suite of services. Its programmes are delivered by NUS-ISS staff with an average of more than 20 years of industry experience and supported by a strong network of partners. NUS-ISS also works with industry partners and associations locally and globally to co-create a digital learning ecosystem that inspires and shapes solutions for the digital economy.
For more information visit, www.iss.nus.edu.sg
Show Me Your Agents Hackathon – Media Fact Sheet
The NUS-ISS Show Me Your Agents Hackathon is an open innovation competition that aims to bridge the gap between agentic AI and small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Singapore. It is organised by NUS-ISS, powered by AWS, and supported by the Singapore Business Federation (SBF).
The hackathon runs in two categories: SME and Public. Ten finalist teams – five per category – pitched at Finale Demo Day on Saturday, 10 October 2026. Winners will be announced at the NUS-ISS Annual Luncheon on 19 October 2026.
The objectives
Encourage the practical application of agentic AI to address real SME business challenges.
Empower Singapore SMEs to explore AI-driven productivity and business transformation opportunities
Develop pilot-ready prototypes that can be adopted, adapted, and built upon beyond the hackathon
The challenge
Teams will design, build and pitch AI agent-powered solutions to six categories of SME business problem statements curated in advance and revealed at the kickoff briefing.
The six categories are:
Administrative automation
Customer service
Sales and marketing
Supply chain and operations
Knowledge management
AI assistants
The solutions developed will be judged based on seven categories:
Relevance to SME needs
Feasibility to deploy or pilot
Secure and responsible design
Sound technical architecture
Effective use of agentic AI
Measurable business impact
Clear, structured and compelling presentation
Who can join
Category
SME
Public
Who
SME owners, employees or official representatives solving their own business challenge
Students, researchers, startups, professionals and tech enthusiasts not representing an SME
Team size
2 to 4 members, at least one with technical skills
4 members
Problem
Their own SME's business challenge
Official SME problem statements shared at kickoff
Conditions
Annual turnover of S$100 million or less; proof of SME affiliation may be required
-
The timeline
5 September: Kickoff session
7-25 September: Build phase
28 September: Final submission, with five teams per category being shortlisted
10 October: Finale Demo Day, with 10 finalist teams pitching to judges
19 October: Prize presentation and showcase at the NUS-ISS Annual Luncheon 2026
Judges Qualifying Round
Name
Designation
Organisation
Mr Calvin Chu
Partner, Strategy & Transactions
EY-Parthenon
Mr Kenneth Zhu
Managing Director and Head of Data Science
OCBC Bank
Ms Neha Kumar Saraf
Senior Director
Visa
Mr Wilson Wan
Delivery Lead
NTT
Dr Wang Yunlong
Senior Scientist and Group Manager
A*STAR
Finale Round
Name
Designation
Organisation
Ms Amy Huang
Director, Executive Education Programmes and Chief, Digital Products & Platforms Practice
NUS-ISS
Mr Vishesh Kumar
Head of Modernization & AI Transformation
AWS
Mr Lee Yee Fung
Chief Smart Technologies Officer
Singapore Business Federation
Mr Brandon Lee
Chief Futures Management Board
SWDA NUS-ISS
Mr Luis Carlos Cruz Huertas
Executive Director & Head of AI and Data Platforms, Group Transformation & Data
DBS Bank
Mr Shamir Rahim
Founder Management Board
VersaFleet NUS-ISS
Participation Figures
Public Teams
SME Teams
Total participation
Kickoff – 5 Sep
90
24
440
Final Submission – 28 Sep
54
10
64 teams 216 participants
The Prizes
Each category (SME and Public) crowns its own top three.
Placing (per category)
Prize
1st
US$3,000 in AWS cloud credits
2nd
US$2,000 in AWS cloud credits
3rd
US$1,000 in AWS cloud credits
Special awards sponsored by SBF (cash prize of $1,000 each)
SME Ready Award: the most deployment-ready solution in an SME context
Best Agents Use Award: the most innovative and effective use of agentic AI
Social Impact Award: the greatest potential benefit to community or society
The Results
SME category
Public category
1st prize
Team Name: Team Interns Mr Sim Yong En Ivan Ms Caroline Goh Qian Hui Ms Chee Lexi Ms Tan Jianzhen
Team Name: Questbond Ms Fang Xinyi Ms T. Keerthi Reddy Mr Pavan Nagur Ms Wu Yushan
2nd prize
Team Name: MOSS Ms Jiang Zining Mr Chen Kaiwen Ms Ma Yuchen
Team Name: AI've Got This Mr Deen Al Eusuf Mr Ng Yao Zhen Eugene Mr Khant Phone Sett Mr Lim Zhen Eu Damon
3rd prize
Team Name: Mintang Mr Cui Zixuan Ms Dong Yufei Mr Liu Jingxuan Mr Luo Wenjie
Team Name: Binary Beasts Mr Deniz Balakrishnan Mr Ries Joos Mr Lucas Chen Mr Christopher Chen
Special Awards
SME Ready Award Team Name: MOSS Ms Jiang Zining Mr Chen Kaiwen Ms Ma Yuchen
Best Agents Use Award Team Name: AI've Got This Mr Deen Al Eusuf Mr Ng Yao Zhen Eugene Mr Khant Phone Sett Mr Lim Zhen Eu Damon
Social Impact Award Team Name: Binary Beasts Mr Deniz Balakrishnan Mr Ries Joos Mr Lucas Chen Mr Christopher Chen