Media OutReach
ISCA Academy Launches Hands-On AI Programme Across ASEAN to Close Finance Skills Gap
New initiative equips finance, audit and accounting professionals with immediately applicable AI skill from Excel automation to AI agents as demand for practical AI capability accelerates across the region
SINGAPORE – Media OutReach Newswire – 9 April 2026 – As artificial intelligence (AI) rapidly shifts from experimentation to everyday business use, the Institute of Singapore Chartered Accountants (ISCA) Academy has launched a hands-on AI training programme across ASEAN to address the region’s growing skills gap in finance and accounting.
Designed for immediate workplace application, the new programme equips finance, audit, and accounting professionals with practical AI capabilities, from automating Excel workflows and extracting data from documents to building dashboards, generating presentations, and deploying AI agents to support complex processes.
Developed in partnership with Singapore-based AI training specialist Skybots, the programme focuses on real-world tasks using widely accessible tools such as Microsoft Copilot, enabling participants to deliver tangible productivity gains from day one.
Leveraging ISCA’s network of overseas offices, the initiative will be rolled out across key ASEAN markets including Malaysia, Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines, with an initial target to train 2,500 finance professionals in the first phase, positioning Singapore as a regional hub for applied AI capability in finance.
Ms Cyndi Pei, Chairperson of ISCA Academy, said the programme represents a strategic response to a rapidly evolving profession: “The window for treating AI as a theoretical topic is closing. Finance professionals across ASEAN are now expected to apply AI in their daily work — safely, effectively, and immediately. ISCA Academy is stepping up to lead this transformation regionally, ensuring professionals across Southeast Asia have access to practical training that delivers real outcomes, not just awareness.”
Immediate Impact in the Workplace
Unlike traditional AI programmes that focus on concepts, ISCA Academy’s approach is fully task-based. Participants work on real scenarios such as financial analysis, document review, reporting, and workflow automation, producing outputs they can directly replicate in their roles. Across pilot sessions, participants have reported completing tasks in minutes that previously took hours, a shift that compounds quickly across teams and reporting cycles.
A key differentiator is its emphasis on responsible AI use, embedding considerations of confidentiality, ethics, compliance, and governance into every module, which are critical for regulated professions.
Early pilot sessions have demonstrated measurable impact. Dr Jenny Tan, Head of Group Internal Audit at CapitaLand, noted: “What stood out about the Practical AI programme was how hands-on and relevant it was. Rather than focusing on theory, our staff came away with techniques they could use from day one and we have observed a real shift in how our team approaches their daily work.”
Built for Mainstream Professionals
The programme is designed for broad accessibility, requiring no coding knowledge or significant technology investment. Participants learn to leverage free and low-cost AI tools to enhance productivity and output quality.
Mr Daryl Aw, Founder and Director of Skybots, who brings a unique background as both a Chartered Accountant and three-time UiPath Most Valuable Professional (MVP), said the programme demystifies AI for finance professionals: “There is a common misconception that AI requires technical expertise or large budgets. In reality, the tools are already available. What professionals need is the confidence and practical know-how to apply them effectively and responsibly. This programme is built to deliver exactly that.”
Regional Rollout and Expansion
The first phase of the programme launches in mid-April, focusing on audit, accounting and finance professionals across the private sector, public sector and charities. A second phase in the third quarter will expand coverage to additional sectors including tax, corporate secretarial, human resources, banking and finance, and legal.
Through its regional network, ISCA Academy aims to train finance professionals across ASEAN and support broader efforts to accelerate digital upskilling and strengthen workforce competitiveness.
A Broader Shift Across Industries
The initiative reflects a wider transformation across ASEAN, where AI adoption is expanding beyond technology teams into core business functions. Finance, public sector, and corporate professionals are increasingly using AI for practical applications such as extracting insights from unstructured data, streamlining compliance workflows including KYC and AML checks, and automating reporting processes.
The message from ISCA Academy and Skybots is consistent: meaningful AI adoption does not require large budgets or deep technical expertise. With the right training, professionals across ASEAN can begin generating real value from AI from day one.
Hashtag: #ISCA #DifferenceMakers #Accounting #Accountancy #CharteredAccountants #ChooseAccountancy #AI #ArtificialIntelligence
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
Institute of Singapore Chartered Accountants (ISCA) Academy
The Institute of Singapore Chartered Accountants (ISCA) is the national accountancy body of Singapore. Established in 1963, ISCA administers the Singapore Chartered Accountant Qualification programme and is the designated entity by the Singapore Ministry of Finance to confer the Chartered Accountant of Singapore [CA (Singapore)] designation.
ISCA supports over 43,000 members across industries in Singapore and globally, with members in more than 40 countries. With a growing international presence, ISCA has 12 overseas chapters, 7 offices across 10 countries and a network of over 150 strategic partners, strengthening professional connections and opportunities across borders. ISCA is also a member of Chartered Accountants Worldwide, a global network representing more than 1.8 million Chartered Accountants and students across over 190 countries.
ISCA advances professional development and lifelong learning through ISCA Academy, its training arm and drives community impact through ISCA Cares, its charity arm.
ISCA Academy, the leading business school of ISCA, delivers immersive, industry-informed learning across accountancy, finance, technology, governance, and leadership. We equip learners to reskill, reconnect, and reinvent – empowering them to stay relevant and ahead by choice.
For more information, visit www.iscacademy.sg.
Skybots Pte Ltd
Skybots is a Singapore-based specialist in practical AI training and automation solutions, serving organisations across the public and private sectors. The firm has a particularly strong presence in the finance and accounting community, working closely with finance, accounting, audit, tax and corporate secretarial professionals to apply AI to real workplace tasks. Founded by Daryl Aw, a Chartered Accountant (CA) under ISCA and three-time UiPath Most Valuable Professional (MVP), Skybots designs and delivers hands-on programmes that equip professionals with immediately applicable skills — without requiring technical backgrounds or large technology budgets.
Skybots serves clients across Singapore and internationally, with training delivered in Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia, Indonesia and Bhutan. It is a recognised training partner of ISCA and sits on ISCA’s AI Solutions Sub-Committee.
For more information, visit www.skybotssg.com.
Hashtag: #Expereo #EcoVadis
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
About Expereo
Expereo is a world-leading Managed Network as a Service provider that connects people, places, and things anywhere. Solutions include Global Internet, SD-WAN/SASE, and Enhanced Internet. With an extensive global reach, Expereo is the trusted partner of 60% of Fortune 500 companies. It powers enterprise and government sites in more than 190 countries, with the ability to connect to any location worldwide, working with over 2,300 partners to help customers improve productivity and empowering their networks and cloud services with the agility, flexibility, and value of the Internet, with optimal network performance.
Media OutReach
TP deepens AI data services capabilities across APAC markets – showcased live at Asia Tech x Singapore 2026
As enterprises accelerate AI deployment across Asia, success will increasingly depend on the quality, localization and governance of the underlying data powering these systems. At Asia Tech x Singapore 2026 this week, TP is present on the ground and is delivering two sessions to cover the insights of TP’s Future Forward strategy of scaling AI-led services.
Assaf Tarnopolsky, TP’s Chief Business Development & Customer Officer, APAC is joining the panel “The Enterprise AI Execution Challenge” to discuss the advantages of Asia-based enterprises in investing in robust data preparation before constructing AI tools. Michael Costevec, Head of Value Creation Office, TP APAC and Jonathan Phang, CTO, TP APAC are also delivering a keynote on “AI Orchestration in the World’s Most Complex Markets”, which covers the principles behind the shift from AI operations to AI orchestration.
TP.ai Data Services, an end-to-end AI data services solution, enables enterprises to build, train and scale AI systems that are locally relevant, operationally resilient and deployment-ready across Asia’s diverse markets. With specialized AI practitioners distributed across Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, China, Japan, South Korea and Vietnam, TP delivers end-to-end AI/ML and GenAI support services, including data collection, validation, annotation, labeling, model evaluation, analytics operations and human-in-the-loop governance.
“The companies seeing real operational impact from AI in Asia are the ones investing in scalable data foundations, in-country execution and human expertise alongside the technology itself,” said Dave Rizzo, APAC President, TP. TP.ai Data Services has a proven track record in supporting customer live deployment. Within three weeks, it successfully created customized warehouse video streams, annotated with detailed object labels and dimensional data, enabling physical AI model training to support a client with real-time worker-safety-risk detection.
TP has been recognized globally for helping organizations move beyond fragmented data operations and reporting toward an analytics-led operating model that improves performance, governance, and AI outcomes. The 2026 Data Breakthrough Awards named TP’s data analytics services Overall Data Analytics Platform of the Year, citing measurable business results, including:
- Up to 31% improvement in customer experience quality scores
- Up to 30% lift in sales conversions
- Up to 20% improvement in resource forecasting accuracy
- Up to 15% gains in workforce efficiency
Beyond technology delivery, TP also places strong emphasis on preparing its own workforce for an AI-led operating environment. Across APAC, TP continues to invest in AI upskilling programs that equip employees with capabilities in model evaluation, synthetic data, human-in-the-loop and human-on-the-loop orchestration and AI governance. By combining advanced AI systems with locally trained human expertise, TP enables enterprises to scale AI responsibly across diverse Asian markets, ensuring that innovation remains grounded in cultural understanding, operational oversight and real-world business outcomes.
Hashtag: #TP
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
ABOUT TP IN SINGAPORE
TP in Singapore is part of the TP Group, a global leader in digital business services which consistently seeks to blend the best of advanced technology with human empathy to deliver enhanced customer care that is simpler, faster, and safer for the world’s biggest brands and their customers. The Group’s comprehensive, AI-powered service portfolio ranges from front office customer care to back-office functions, including high-value digital transformation services, collections and operations consulting. It also offers a range of specialized services such as interpreting and localization, visa and consular services, and recruitment process outsourcing services. The teams of multilingual, inspired, and passionate experts and advisors, spread across close to 100 countries, as well as the Group’s local presence allows it to be a force of good in supporting communities, clients, and the environment.
For more information: www.tp.com.
*Assets under management as of March 31, 2026 includes approximately US$184 billion of assets with respect to SPDR® products for which State Street Global Advisors Funds Distributors, LLC (SSGA FD) acts solely as the marketing agent. SSGA FD and State Street Investment Management are affiliated.
© 2026 State Street Corporation
8937957.1.1.GBL.RTL
Exp. May 31, 2027
-
Feature/OPED6 years agoDavos was Different this year
-
Travel/Tourism10 years ago
Lagos Seals Western Lodge Hotel In Ikorodu
-
Showbiz3 years agoEstranged Lover Releases Videos of Empress Njamah Bathing
-
Banking8 years agoSort Codes of GTBank Branches in Nigeria
-
Economy3 years agoSubsidy Removal: CNG at N130 Per Litre Cheaper Than Petrol—IPMAN
-
Banking3 years agoSort Codes of UBA Branches in Nigeria
-
Banking3 years agoFirst Bank Announces Planned Downtime
-
Sports3 years agoHighest Paid Nigerian Footballer – How Much Do Nigerian Footballers Earn