Insurance Firm Offers Free Machine Learning Course to Employees

Prudential Singapore is offering a free machine learning (ML) course for its 1,200 employees in Singapore, according to a report on Singapore broadsheet The Straits Times.

ML for humans

Called “Machine Learning for Humans”, the 30-hour course is developed together with Ngee Ann Polytechnic. With training by data scientists from both the public and private sectors, the online course offers assessments are offered for participants to apply what they have learned.

It is understood that more than 170 employees have signed up so far. A foundational course called “AI in Finance” offered last year was taken by over 200 employees from Prudential.

“This partnership is a significant milestone for Ngee Ann Poly as we look forward to equipping companies like Prudential to upskill their employees and embrace the technology that is changing the landscape of the financial services sector in Singapore,” said Clarence Ti, the principal at Ngee Ann Polytechnic.

“With the new machine learning program, we hope our employees can acquire an important skill set that will boost their relevance in this digital age,” said Sheela Parakkal, the chief human resources officer at Prudential Singapore, who initiatives such as the askPRU chatbot for financial consultants to illustrate the company’s greater use of AI.

An employee working as a performance management analyst says he signed up for the course to keep his skills relevant, even though AI topics are not a requirement for his current role. According to him, the skills that are perceived to be in demand are typically those associated with AI, data analytics and cloud computing.

Photo credit: iStockphoto/fizkes