Grab to equip 10,000 drivers, merchants with AI skills by 2028

[SINGAPORE] Grab aims to train 10,000 drivers and merchants on its platform with artificial intelligence (AI) skills by 2028, the company said on Thursday (Feb 5).

The target was announced during a visit to Grab’s one-north office by Acting Minister for Culture, Community and Youth David Neo – who co-chairs the Economic Strategy Review (ESR) committee on human capital – and Senior Minister of State for Manpower Koh Poh Koon.

The training will cover the use of AI tools to boost sales and productivity, as well as the general usage of AI for day-to-day tasks. To date, more than 300 merchant partners have received the training, said Ong Chin Yin, Grab’s chief organisation capability officer.

The company will also extend its support to partners who seek to transition into other careers that are “in line with their aspirations”, she added.

More than 300 driver partners have transitioned out of the platform into part-time or full-time careers because of the training they have received at Grab, said Ong, who is also a member of the ESR committee on human capital.

The company did not reveal the total number of partners it works with.

Beyond its partners, Grab has also been upskilling its own employees with AI skills such as basic AI governance and application of AI tools, she added.

Grab’s AI Centre of Excellence – which seeks to build and train an ecosystem of AI talents – has hired more than 50 people since its inception in May last year, she noted.

Asked whether job cuts would be needed to fund AI development, Ong said this was “not where our starting point is”, adding that Grab remains focused on equipping its workforce with the right skills to harness technological change.

Strengthening the workforce

As business transformation accelerates, workforce transformation must keep pace, said Dr Koh during a doorstop interview.

“What we want is to strengthen the nexus between business transformation and workforce transformation,” he said, adding that one way to do so is to bridge the gap between schools and the workforce to ensure that graduates are “job ready”.

He argued that the old framework of studying and learning “all you can” before entering the workforce would have to change. Instead, learning and work should be more integrated.

Beyond new graduates, the workforce will need strengthening and upskilling to handle the immediate disruption posed by AI, he noted.

Instead of just seeing the technology as a replacement, the workforce should view it more as a complementary tool, he added.

The ESR committee is currently working on a playbook to guide businesses – at a sectoral level – to apply AI in their business processes.

“It is still a very long-term stream of work,” said Dr Koh, noting that the committee is still gathering more input from stakeholders including partners, businesses and workers. “Hopefully towards the later half of the year, we should be able to come up with a final set of recommendations.”