At the ISAS India-Singapore Futures Forum, technology experts from India and Singapore came together to reflect on how artificial intelligence is shaping the next chapter of collaboration between the two countries. The discussion, held in an open and forward-looking spirit, focused on the opportunities and challenges in building an AI-driven future that is innovative, inclusive, and responsible.
Singapore’s experience with AI development has been anchored by a deliberate strategy that blends research excellence with practical industry engagement. Government support through structured initiatives has allowed the country to invest steadily in fundamental research, while also encouraging the development of real-world AI solutions. Training and talent programs have been designed to nurture not only traditionally qualified engineers but also individuals from diverse backgrounds, reinforcing the belief that AI expertise must be broad-based. A strong emphasis on AI governance has helped Singapore address trust and safety concerns early, giving both public and private sectors a foundation for responsible deployment.
India’s approach to AI is shaped by its scale, diversity, and youthful talent pool. The country’s AI mission, with targeted investments across hardware, research, and data infrastructure, aims to build capacity across multiple dimensions. While India already produces a significant portion of the world’s AI engineering talent, there is a growing recognition of the need to cultivate higher-end research capabilities domestically. Efforts are underway to create multilingual datasets that reflect India’s linguistic richness, although organizing and making effective use of this data remains a work in progress. India’s focus has been especially strong at the application level, prioritizing sectors such as agriculture, healthcare, and education where AI has the potential to deliver tangible improvements in people’s lives.
Across both countries, the need to build trust in AI systems has emerged as a critical theme. As AI technologies are increasingly embedded into services like healthcare diagnostics, banking, and public administration, questions of reliability, transparency, and fairness are becoming central. Initiatives aimed at fostering safe AI adoption, particularly at the application layer, are gaining importance. Ensuring that AI tools are tested, validated, and explainable will be essential to realizing their benefits at scale.
As the forum discussion made clear, there are several promising avenues for India-Singapore cooperation. Joint work on multilingual AI models offers the possibility of creating technologies better suited for diverse populations across Asia. Shared efforts to build high-quality data ecosystems, with careful attention to provenance and governance, could strengthen both countries’ capacities. Applied AI innovation, particularly in social sectors, offers another strong area where collaboration could bring practical results.
India and Singapore bring complementary strengths to the table. By combining India’s scale, talent, and innovation drive with Singapore’s structured approach to research, industry engagement, and governance, the two countries are well positioned to support each other’s AI ambitions. The relationship is likely to evolve not through isolated breakthroughs, but through steady collaboration built on shared goals of responsible innovation and societal benefit.
Source – IN Diplomacy Reporters
