Leading technology services firm NCS has launched a suite of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and digital resilience (DR) solutions for organisations looking to re-invent themselves in the AI era. These include frameworks, solutions and accelerators that governments and enterprises in Asia Pacific (APAC) can easily tap to use AI securely and at scale to drive sustainable game-changing innovation.

The launch took place at its annual Impact forum yesterday where NCS CEO, Ng Kuo Pin, addressed over 1,000 leaders and technology practitioners from the region, and shared NCS’ AI-led plans for changing the game. He highlighted two key success factors for organisations – AI adoption and digital resilience – to fully harness the benefits of technology in a world redefined by economic uncertainty, geopolitical tensions and technological challenges.

Ng Kuo Pin, CEO, NCS said, “Across the world, AI is top of mind now, but organisations must not overlook the importance of digital resilience as they embrace AI’s transformational potential. To build a safer and more sustainable future, it is crucial that organisations invest to build a foundation in cybersecurity, data governance and technology that will allow AI to flourish. We believe organisations that master both AI and digital resilience will be the ones that will thrive in this increasingly complex global environment.”

Navigating the AI Journey

NCS’ new suite of solutions include the AI-Digital Resilience (AI+DR) Matrix which enables organisations to build a strategic roadmap that enhances both AI and digital resilience concurrently. Serving as an essential starting point for any organisation embarking on its AI journey, the innovative framework categorises organisations into four quadrants of AI Dust, Missed Opportunity, House of Cards, and Game Changer (see Figure 1), based on their maturity levels of AI adoption and digital resilience. This allows organisations to assess their AI and digital resilience readiness and calibrate key developmental steps as they move down the AI pathway.

Kuo Pin added, “AI will be a game changer and companies must learn the new game – the earlier, the better. Given the speed at which AI evolves and the implications of AI for businesses, working with the right technology partners to help navigate the AI landscape and plug into the right ecosystem is fundamental. Having primed our workforce for the intelligence revolution, NCS is AI-ready and well-positioned to help organisations avoid the pitfalls of AI adoption while unlocking its game-changing value. We will lead with AI inside and outside.”

Figure 1. AI-Digital Resilience Matrix

AI and Digital Resilience Solutions and Accelerators

NCS also introduced Polaris DR, a solution for organisations to assess their digital resilience across five key areas – cybersecurity, data governance, infrastructure scalability, application robustness and operational responsiveness. Leveraging NCS’ expertise in large-scale implementations and operations, Polaris DR will enable them to lay the strong foundation needed for enterprise-wide growth and AI adoption by providing a customised improvement plan to address vulnerabilities in systems, technology infrastructure and IT operations.

To empower clients to deploy AI more securely and efficiently, NCS announced five innovative and repeatable Industry Business Solutions (IBS) embedded with NCS AI Accelerators. The solutions are both standardised and customisable, enabling organisations to accelerate AI deployments in three key areas – customer / citizen experience, workforce productivity, and software engineering – while ensuring consistency and scalability. The solutions not only leverage NCS’ track record in partnering governments and enterprises on their technology journeys, it also taps NCS’ deep industry knowledge and methodologies honed over time, regional AI talent pool, and extensive partnerships with global players in AI technology.

Strategic Partnerships with Global Players

NCS announced several strategic partnerships with industry leaders to further facilitate AI adoption and digital resilience. NCS is partnering Amazon Web Services (AWS) to launch its inaugural Generative AI Centre of Excellence (CoE) for Public Good with AWS’s Generative AI Innovation Centre (GAIIC)[1]. Customised for the APAC public sector, the CoE will leverage AWS’s team of strategists, applied scientists, engineers, and solutions architects through the GAIIC’s Partner Innovation Alliance programme to envision, scope, and accelerate public sector solutions using AWS. The collaboration combines NCS’ end-to-end capabilities and industry experience with AWS’s Generative AI services and global expertise.

Elsie Tan, Country Manager, Worldwide Public Sector, Singapore, AWS said, “We’re excited to collaborate with NCS to establish its inaugural CoE for Public Good that will accelerate the delivery of innovative citizen services. At AWS, we help customers move Generative AI from theory into practice by providing purpose-built services and expert guidance. Through this collaboration, we’ll empower NCS to bring Generative AI workloads to life and help public sector agencies drive impactful outcomes for the people they serve.”

NCS is collaborating with Dell Technologies to leverage Dell AI Factory with NVIDIA, as an early adopter in APAC and Japan to further accelerate adoption of Generative AI solutions by enterprises in the region. With their combined expertise in Generative AI and breadth of industry experience, NCS and Dell are committed to simplifying clients’ AI adoption journeys and enhancing proof of concept efforts. This collaboration allows clients to explore customised and pre-validated solutions to turbocharge their Generative AI projects in a modular manner.

Building the AI Talent Pipeline

As NCS becomes intelligence-led, the company has been infusing AI across the organisation and building a pipeline of future AI talent. It has equipped its 13,000-strong workforce located across APAC with AI-powered services and solutions to enhance productivity and transform how NCS operates and delivers its services. NCS will also create a 3,000-strong AI-certified practitioner base to accelerate implementation and deployment of clients’ AI projects. Over 300 of them will serve as AI experts with deep AI expertise to lead cutting-edge AI innovations.

For more information about NCS Impact 2024, please visit ncsimpact.co.

[1] https://aws.amazon.com/ai/generative-ai/innovation-center/