Singapore Telecommunications (Singtel) is deploying conversational artificial intelligence (AI) agents across its customer service operations after a pilot programme showed the technology could resolve a majority of common customer requests without human intervention.
It has partnered with Silicon Valley-based conversational AI firm Sierra to integrate agentic AI into its customer engagement systems, starting with its Singapore operations and potentially expanding across the wider group.
The collaboration began in late January with a pilot in Singtel Singapore's customer care ecosystem involving its existing AI assistant, known as "Shirley". The upgrade introduced more conversational capabilities designed to allow customers to resolve queries and complete transactions independently through chat and voice interfaces.
"By using AI to support our customer service teams, we can ensure customers are promptly and well-assisted, while empowering our agents to focus on more complex cases where human expertise matters most. Our AI agents are designed to understand local expressions and even Singlish, reflecting our roots as a homegrown company serving a diverse nation. This marks an important step in redefining how we build and sustain customer relationships in the AI era,” says Ng Tian Chong, chief executive officer of Singtel Singapore.
Early results suggest the system can absorb a significant share of routine support tasks. In the first six weeks after going live, Shirley handled more than 70,000 customer cases, primarily involving common requests such as mobile troubleshooting and roaming services.
About 73% of mobile and home troubleshooting cases were resolved without requiring a customer care officer, while 76% of roaming sign-up requests were completed automatically. Customers also purchased more than 200 roaming add-ons independently through the system.
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Shirley uses Sierra’s agentic AI technology to verify customer details and provide product information while maintaining human oversight to ensure accuracy and security during interactions. The telco also plans to deploy voice-based AI agents for outbound sales calls within defined compliance and governance frameworks.
"We founded Sierra in the belief that AI can create better, more human customer experiences. Our partnership with Singtel is helping make that a reality, deepening their relationship with customers, while also growing their business," says Bret Taylor, CEO and co-founder of Sierra.
Singtel says the new capabilities could eventually be extended beyond customer care to other internal departments and to enterprise clients seeking similar AI-driven engagement tools.
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Securing the next wave of connected devices
Alongside its AI push, Singtel Singapore is also strengthening cybersecurity capabilities tied to the rapid expansion of connected devices across Southeast Asia.
At the 2026 Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Singtel signed a memorandum of understanding with cloud security firm Zscaler to make Zscaler Cellular available to enterprises across Southeast Asia through Singtel's network and regional footprint.
The partnership aims to help organisations secure SIM-connected internet-of-things and operational technology devices using a "zero trust" architecture designed to isolate devices from one another, enforce least-privilege access, and limit the risk of lateral movement across connected systems.
The service allows companies to apply fine-grained security policies to cellular devices using identifiers such as IP addresses, device identifiers or SIM credentials, while maintaining centralised visibility over network traffic.
"As enterprises expand their use of mobile, Internet of Things (IoT) and operational technologies (OT), they must scale security in tandem with network growth. Our partnership with Zscaler brings together Singtel's advanced network connectivity with Zero Trust security to help organisations securely connect and protect critical devices at scale. This partnership reinforces our commitment to delivering integrated connectivity and cybersecurity solutions that accelerate our customers' digital transformation," says Keith Leong, chief customer officer for Enterprise at Singtel Singapore.
Nathan Howe, senior vice president of Innovation & Product Management at Zscaler, adds: "We're thrilled to partner with Singtel Singapore and sign an MoU that extends the power of the Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange to cellular-connected IoT and OT across Singapore and Asean. By stopping threats in line and strengthening visibility and segmentation, we're enabling organisations to operate securely at scale as they connect more devices and modernise critical environments.”
