Tessie Tan, Associate Director, Consulting & Design, Temus, with lessons from Singapore’s public sector in the adoption of strategic partnerships to embed an agile, AI-enabled culture.
In a world where GenAI is reshaping industries with astonishing speed, governments worldwide are grappling with how best to positively harness the technology. One such impact is the way GenAI can streamline operations and enhance decision making for enhanced efficiency. Similar to other industries, GenAI has the power to transform the public sector and its workforce.
In Singapore, digitalisation is a key means to serve citizens with greater value and positive impact. Technology, including emerging ones like GenAI, is embraced and harnessed to augment the public sector services, rather than overhaul it. This has accelerated the redefinition of how conventional professional services such as consulting are used for strategic planning and insights. Gone are the days when public agencies would outsource expertise to external parties for polished slide decks. Instead, three core pillars – digital culture, digital capabilities and digital teams – across whole-of-government enables more sustainable, agency-owned transformation.
This approach signals a broader shift in how governments might navigate the interplay between new technologies and traditional consulting models. The global public-sector spending on digital transformation could exceed $US 1 trillion by 2027 according to the World Bank. Much of this investment historically flowed into multi-year consulting contracts. However, as GenAI rapidly automates tasks once done by armies of junior consultants -think data analysis, report drafting and stakeholder surveys – public agencies across Asia, North America, and Europe are re-evaluating where they genuinely need external support.
Singapore’s Strategy: Three Pillars of In-House Empowerment
- Building a Digital Culture
A hallmark of Singapore’s approach is its emphasis on digital culture as a foundation for public-sector innovation. Rather than simply delegating tasks to consultants, government agencies increasingly focus on nurturing a mindset that values agility, experimentation and continuous learning.
In practice, this means that project teams within ministries are encouraged to view technology not as an end goal, but as an evolving toolkit for solving problems. The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), for instance, has championed the ‘regulatory sandbox’ concept-an initiative allowing financial institutions and fintech startups to test new solutions in a controlled environment. Such frameworks foster a culture where civil servants are comfortable taking calculated risks, iterating rapidly and drawing lessons from each experiment.
Similarly, consultants are no longer expected to simply swoop in to deliver one-off strategic blueprints; they now play the role of facilitators and catalysts – embedding agile methodologies, fostering cross-agency collaboration and helping public servants adjust to constant technological flux. Far from being ‘outsourced’ consultants help build learned competency that remains at the heart of the government’s day-to-day operations.
- Developing Digital Capabilities-AI-Powered Transformations in Finance
The second pillar of Singapore’s strategy is about digital capabilities, especially around AI-driven finance transformations. The city-state has long harboured ambitions to be a leading global financial hub and AI is increasingly critical to those plans.
According to a 2023 survey by the Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB), over 80% of local financial firms have begun integrating AI solutions into some aspect of their services – from automated fraud detection to robo-advisory platforms.
Singaporean authorities see consultancy as an accelerant for local capability-building. Rather than hiring consultants simply to recommend which AI tools to purchase, government agencies and statutory boards seek external partners who can guide them through the entire journey: from developing robust data governance frameworks to deploying AI algorithms ethically and effectively.
Crucially, though, these engagements are designed so that AI expertise is not just about adopting technology but more importantly, integration into current processes and strengthening overall digital capabilities. For instance, the Ministry of Finance (MOF) has championed a suite of AI-driven predictive analytics for budget planning. Consultants and technology vendors helped set up these systems, but the long-term objective has always been that in-house teams assume full control in the long run – writing new algorithms, refining use cases and training future cohorts of data scientists. As a result, the MOF retains intellectual ownership and operational mastery of the AI solutions embedded within its finance ecosystem.
- Forming Digital Teams
The final pillar is about building digital teams – the engine powering it all.
Tech talent partnership initiatives, such as Step IT Up Singapore, illustrate how an external digital services partner like Temus can be catalysts for digital team building rather than long-term crutches. One proof-of-concept is the hire-place-train collaboration with GovTech, Singapore’s lead agency for government digital services. Under this model, Temus works in lock-step with GovTech to design a tech role the enterprise needs, develop a curriculum, hire new talent together – often mid-career professionals looking to pivot into tech – and take care of the rigorous training in areas such as coding and agile methodologies. These individuals then work exclusively on GovTech projects, fully immersed in GovTech’s processes, culture and operational rhythms.
Over the course of a year, while still on Temus’ payroll, the participants gain hands-on experience collaborating with GovTech teams-effectively becoming seamless additions to the public-sector workforce. By the end of the programme, graduates are prepared to transition into full-time GovTech employees, having already formed relationships within the agency and honed skills specific to public-sector digital projects. This ensures that the competencies built during training stay in government, reinforcing a self-sustaining cycle of innovation and core capabilities.
The broader implication is one of ownership. In prior decades, consulting often involved outsized budgets to assemble large external teams tasked with delivering “transformation.”
Today, if a Singaporean ministry engages a consultant, it is typically to jump-start an internal process. The core objective is that, six or 12 months down the line, the newly formed digital team within the agency can manage and evolve the project with minimal outside intervention.
A Model for Rethinking Consultancy Worldwide
Singapore’s public sector offers a nuanced case study of positively harnessing AI and its benefits for increased and sustained efficiencies and outcomes.
By zeroing in on digital culture, digital capabilities and digital teams, the city-state demonstrates how consultancies can be reimagined not as perpetual solution providers but as mentors, facilitators and enablers. The monetary outlay for these engagements still flows from the public purse-yet it is directed toward building long-term resilience rather than generating endless reports or short-lived technology installations.
Such an approach also has global resonance. As generative AI matures, tasks like data analysis, workflow automation and knowledge management become quicker and more cost-effective. Crucially, the Singapore model underscores that AI is not a panacea to replace human ingenuity. Effective digital governance, especially in areas as consequential as finance or healthcare, requires a blend of technological firepower and deep human insight. The real measure of success lies in whether a government’s internal teams have the agility to adapt these tools responsibly, pivot swiftly in response to policy shifts, and keep pace with citizen needs.
As more nations turn to technology to modernise public services – especially under fiscal constraints-Singapore’s experience points to a compelling new role for consulting. It is not about dependency or an endless pipeline of outsourced projects. Rather, it is about embarking on strategic partnerships to empower the public sector to embed an agile, AI-enabled culture; invest in digital capabilities that evolve over time; and build teams with the confidence and expertise to forge the future. Ultimately, such an approach may define how consultancies worldwide remain relevant: not as mere purveyors of well-polished slide decks, but as trailblazers for sustainable, in-house digital transformation.
