What if a student project could help real companies improve the way they work? Or if students could explore AI usage in businesses before they even graduate?
That is the idea behind Singapore Polytechnic’s (SP) new Human Capital Collaboratory (HCC) - a platform that brings students, educators and industry partners together to tackle real workplace challenges.
Launched at the Human Resource Learning Festival 2026, the HCC is part of SP’s efforts to prepare students and businesses for an AI-powered future. The event, themed Career Rewired: Resilience, Relevance and Reinvention in the AI Era, explored an important question: as AI changes the workplace, how can people make the most of it?
So, What is the Human Capital Collaboratory?
The idea is simple: bring education and industry together to turn business challenges into practical solutions.
The HCC helps organisations rethink how work is done, redesign jobs and workflows, and explore how AI and automation can support their people. It builds on SP’s experience working with close to 1,000 organisations over the past 3 years.
For students, this means learning continues to go beyond lectures, tutorials, and textbooks. Depending on the opportunities available, students may work on:
In other words, students do not just learn how a business work - they receive opportunities to explore how to make it work better.
Less Textbook, More Real-World Learning
Working on real business challenges helps students understand how ideas are applied in the workplace. They learn to ask the right questions, solve problems, work with others, and present solutions that can create meaningful business impact.
These experiences can also help students build stronger portfolios and speak more confidently about their work during university or job interviews.
For parents, the HCC offers added assurance that students are developing skills that remain useful even as industries change. Beyond technical knowledge, students can strengthen important capabilities such as adaptability, communication, collaboration, critical thinking and responsible decision-making.
Working with AI, Not Competing Against It
AI may be changing many jobs, but technology alone cannot understand every business challenge or decide what works best for people. That is where future-ready business graduates come in.
Through exposure to AI, job redesign and workplace transformation, students can learn how to connect people, technology and business needs. These are valuable skills across fields such as human resources, management, operations, entrepreneurship and digital transformation.
“AI transformation is not only about adopting technology; it is about redesigning work so people can use it well,” said Mr Lucas Tok, Director, School of Business, Singapore Polytechnic.
To facilitate this, SP has also partnered with 5 organisations to expand opportunities in workforce transformation, professional development and applied learning:
These partnerships open possibilities in areas such as Leadership Development, Professional Certification, HR Technology, Workflow Automation, Sustainability, Logistics Transformation, Work-Study Programmes, and Internships.
Ready for Business, Ready for What’s Next
Preparing for the future of work is not about trying to predict every new job; it is about giving students the confidence, experiences and versatility to take on whatever comes next.
Through the Human Capital Collaboratory, the Singapore Polytechnic School of Business is creating more ways for students to learn by doing, work with industry and gain future-ready business skills.
Singapore Polytechnic
500 Dover Rd Singapore 139651