TBWA Singapore Opens APAC's First AI Innovation Lab With Government Support
TBWA Singapore launches APAC's first AI Innovation Lab with government backing. The center compresses brand prototyping from months to weeks using AI, robotics, and spatial computing.
TBWA Singapore has launched the first Centre of Excellence in its Asia-Pacific network, establishing an Innovation Lab in Singapore on February 26, 2026, with support from the Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB).
Lab Targets Faster Brand Development Through AI and Immersive Technology
The Innovation Lab is designed to help companies build and test new brand experiences using artificial intelligence, robotics, spatial computing, and virtual and augmented reality. Its primary goal is to compress the time it takes to prototype brand experiences from months to weeks.
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TBWA Singapore CEO Mandy Wong said the Lab addresses a growing gap between how fast customer expectations change and how slowly traditional marketing processes move. "Technology has finally caught up with creative ambition. AI and immersive platforms allow us to build, test, and learn at a pace the industry simply couldn't achieve before," Wong said.
Head of Innovation Mel Daniels added that the Lab is focused on making previously impractical ideas usable and scalable. "AI, robotics, and spatial computing let us prototype experiences and operating models that used to be too slow, too complex, or too risky to attempt," Daniels said.
The Lab also functions as a training center. Head of Talent Mandy Goh will lead efforts to develop hybrid roles combining creativity, technology, systems thinking, and cultural intelligence, including roles that do not yet formally exist.
Singapore's AI Ecosystem Provides the Infrastructure Backdrop
The Lab enters a dense and growing cluster of AI infrastructure in Singapore. Since the country's National AI Strategy 2.0 launched in December 2023, more than 50 AI Centers of Excellence have been established across sectors. These include HEINEKEN's Global GenAI Lab, launched in March 2025 with AI Singapore, and EY's global Innovation Center for Snowflake, announced in February 2026.
Singapore's government committed SG$150 million (~US$111 million) through its Enterprise Compute Initiative in February 2025 to provide AI computing resources across industries, including marketing. Eighty of the world's top 100 technology firms operate in Singapore, making it the most infrastructure-dense AI market in the region.
TBWA's Lab is the first marketing and advertising-specific Center of Excellence within this ecosystem. EDB Vice President Junie Fo said the initiative strengthens Singapore's position as a professional services hub. "TBWA Singapore's Innovation Lab will harness AI in marketing and advertising to support businesses, while partnering our Institutes of Higher Learning to develop the next generation of AI-savvy talent," Fo said.
TBWA's Global AI Platform Anchors the Lab's Capabilities
The Singapore Lab operates as the first dedicated APAC deployment node for TBWA's proprietary Collective AI platform. That platform gives employees and clients access to custom AI applications, TBWA's institutional knowledge archives, and technology integrations with Adobe, Microsoft, Google, and DALL-E.
TBWA was named to Fast Company's 2025 Most Innovative Companies list for its use of AI tools to address brand challenges, providing the global track record within which the Singapore Lab operates.
The Lab also connects to TBWA's global NEXT innovation practice, which tracks shifts in human behavior, culture, and technology. Singapore represents the first physical APAC infrastructure dedicated to translating that global research into regional market execution.
Singapore's AI talent pipeline targets 15,000 AI professionals by 2029. TBWA's Lab is partnering with local Institutes of Higher Learning to contribute to that pipeline, giving the initiative a dual commercial and civic mandate aligned with EDB's broader professional services strategy.
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