15,000 Sign Up for ISCA AI Training Programme in Two Months

More than 15,000 accountants and finance professionals have enrolled in the Institute of Singapore Chartered Accountants' (ISCA) AI Fluency Programme within just two months of its launch, putting the initiative a quarter of the way toward its three-year target of 60,000 participants. The programme, which went live on July 3, offers over 180 practical AI use cases across six professional roles and more than 600 learning activities covering tasks from financial analysis to audit planning.

The speed of uptake reflects a broader shift in Singapore's professional services landscape, where AI literacy is rapidly moving from nice-to-have to essential. Participants span the full career spectrum — from students and small-firm practitioners to senior business leaders — with employers including DBS, EY, Deloitte, SP Group, and the Accountant-General's Department already sending staff through the programme.

ISCA is now looking to scale the initiative beyond Singapore's borders. Chinese, Thai, and Vietnamese versions are being prepared, with discussions under way with professional accountancy bodies, firms, and companies across ASEAN. The regional push follows a collaboration agreement signed with the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) to extend the training to ICAI's 1.5 million members and students.

Why it matters for Singapore: The programme positions Singapore as a regional exporter of AI training standards, not just a consumer. By building a structured, role-specific curriculum that maps directly to real accounting workflows, ISCA is creating a template that other ASEAN countries are already lining up to adopt. For Singapore's fintech and professional services ecosystem, this kind of soft infrastructure — workforce AI fluency at scale — is exactly the kind of competitive moat that's harder to replicate than hardware or capital.