Tech services firm Kyndryl opens Asean AI lab in S’pore, to fill AI jobs with local workers

SINGAPORE – About 50 jobs in artificial intelligence (AI) are being created at technology services firm Kyndryl, and they are open only to Singapore citizens and permanent residents.

The New York City-based company announced on June 24 its intention to base its Asean AI Innovation Lab in Singapore, following two similar hubs it opened in the UK and France, and will hire data scientists, data engineers and AI full-stack developers.

Dr Vishnu Nanduri, Kyndryl Asean’s head of AI and innovation, said the firm has onboarded 22 hires, including fresh graduates from computer science and AI disciplines, as well as candidates from start-ups and other tech companies. “We anticipate further hires as we generate additional demand,” he said. 

Kyndryl’s lab at Changi Business Park will offer customised enterprise AI solutions to clients across South-east Asia in industries ranging from hospitality and logistics to employment services. The firm is touting advanced security features with its solutions.

Its managing director for Asean and Korea, Mr Andrew Lim, said the investment underscores the New York Stock Exchange-listed firm’s long-term commitment to the region.

A spin-off of IBM’s infrastructure services business in 2021, Kyndryl is one of seven firms working with Google Cloud and Digital Industry Singapore (DISG) to help 300 local companies scale up their use of AI.

The programme, called AI Cloud Takeoff, is part of the Government’s $150 million Enterprise Compute Initiative to speed up the adoption of AI and cloud technologies among local businesses.

Mr Philbert Gomez, senior vice-president at DISG, said Kyndryl’s new lab will bolster Singapore’s ambition to be the centre of AI innovation by tying industry, academia and government in collaboration.

Singapore also wants to triple the number of AI professionals here to 15,000 by 2028.

Google Cloud’s managing director for South-east Asia, Mr Mark Micallef, said Kyndryl’s consultancy expertise will unlock tangible results from AI deployment for organisations.

“Enterprises across South-east Asia are moving quickly to harness generative AI and agentic AI, and they need trusted partners to do it responsibly and at scale,” he said.

Dr Vishnu hopes to fill the remaining 28 positions by September. He is optimistic about finding suitable local candidates.

“One of the key goals is to build local talent. I think this is the idea behind the lab,” he said. “Given our good success rate over the last few months, we hope to continue to hire and be able to fulfil what we set out to do.”

Job seekers can apply for the positions via Kyndryl’s website, LinkedIn or job portals.

Data scientist roles involve leading client initiatives, conducting ideation workshops, maturity assessments, and developing AI proof-of-concepts and minimum viable products. Candidates would preferably have AI consulting experience and knowledge of gen AI technologies, including large language models from major cloud providers.

Data engineers would be tasked to build scalable data solutions and pipelines across cloud platforms, while bridging data engineering with AI and gen AI by working closely with data scientists and architects. Candidates should know streaming technologies, cloud certifications and robust data architecture design.

Full-stack developers would need to build and deploy end-to-end AI solutions, assess customer tech stack maturity, recommend tools and frameworks, and collaborate with architects and data scientists.

All roles emphasise client collaboration, technical leadership, and the ability to drive AI transformation in enterprises.