Workato marks first anniversary of AI lab in Singapore | Singapore EDB

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Workato’s Singapore AI Lab marks one year of homegrown talent powering global innovation

At World of Workato 2026, the company’s Singapore AI Lab marked a full year of accelerating product development with Singapore-based talent and opening inclusive career pathways.

20 Oct 2026•2 min read

This press release was issued by Workato.

Workato®, the leading Control and Execution Platform for Enterprise AI, today marked one year since launching its AI Lab in Singapore. Over the past year, the Lab has grown Singapore-based talent to accelerate the development of Workato AIRO^TM, built a new model for growing early-career AI talent, and partnered with SG Enable to widen access to AI careers for persons with disabilities

From Singapore to the World: Building Workato AIRO™

Since the Lab opened in 2025, engineers based in Singapore have worked alongside Workato's global product organisation on Workato AIRO^TM, the multi-agent system the company made generally available worldwide in July 2026. AI Lab resources helped accelerate the development and experimentation behind AIRO, including the MCP Gateway that lets enterprises securely connect their own models and tools, and the Control Plane that unifies governance of the organisation’s AI operations in a single place, working alongside teams in the United States to bring the product to market

"What Singapore AI engineers brought to our product innovation was a different kind of rigor, especially in how we tested the system’s reasoning under real customer conditions. This is early proof of the Lab's premise that translational AI research done in Singapore can shape innovative products used by enterprises around the world. That is exactly the kind of contribution we need more of as the Singapore AI Lab enters its second year."

Bhagat Nainani

Chief Product Officer

Workato

Holistic investment in AI Talent through real world exposure

Over the past year, the Lab has been actively hiring engineers and researchers, and has given them production-grade, customer-facing exposure. The Lab treats AI domain expertise as something to be honed. By pairing new engineers directly with real customer projects, under genuine deadlines and real stakes to deliver outcomes, the company has seen staff work through rapid iterations to deliver successful outcomes.

"We believe in growing our AI team, not just purely hiring our way into a strong one. We made a deliberate decision to invest in engineers and researchers by providing them with real stakes from day one. A year in, I am proud to see their achievements."

Shan Sim

Head of Workato's AI Lab

Workato Singapore

"To grow Singapore’s AI talent pool, we need to pair strong technical capabilities with opportunities to apply them to real-world business problems. Workato’s AI Lab is a good example of how companies can help build these capabilities by investing in talent and product development here. Over the past year, Singapore-based engineers have contributed to products used by enterprises globally. We look forward to working with more companies to create similar opportunities for Singaporeans to build deep AI capabilities and contribute to global products."

Jinyong Low

Senior Vice President and Co-Head

Digital Industry Singapore

Extending Opportunity Through a New Partnership with SG Enable

As part of its commitment to building an inclusive workforce, Workato will be welcoming two new colleagues through a hiring partnership with SG Enable and Autism Resource Centre (Singapore). The initiative pairs persons with autism with roles designed around their strengths. They will be joining a team responsible for the quality of data that drives company strategy and decision making.

"This partnership shows what is possible when companies design roles around strengths and skills required instead of expecting people to fit a predefined mould. Meaningful careers in fast-growing fields such as AI and automation may have felt out of reach. Workato’s willingness and flexibility is what turns good intentions to lasting careers, and will be a useful model for companies to create sustainable, fruitful opportunities for persons with disabilities"

Edward Chew

Senior Director

Employment and Lifelong Learning at SG Enable, the National Agency for Disability

Topics

Artificial Intelligence

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