The Singtel Group has announced a partnership with Sierra, an artificial intelligence platform, to improve customer engagement across its operations. The initiative began in late January with a pilot program that integrated Sierra’s technology into Singtel Singapore’s customer care system, focusing on the AI assistant known as “Shirley.”
“Shirley” has been updated to offer more natural and conversational interactions, allowing customers to resolve queries and complete transactions independently. The assistant is designed to understand local expressions and colloquialisms, including Singlish. Singtel is also working on expanding language capabilities to better connect with local communities.
Ng Tian Chong, Chief Executive Officer of Singtel Singapore, stated: “Putting our customers first has always been at the heart of what we do. The deployment of agentic AI across chat and voice is about delivering real value — more personalised experiences, greater convenience and faster, more responsive service. By using AI to support our customer service teams, we can ensure customers are promptly and well assisted, while empowering our agents to focus on more complex cases where human expertise matters most. Our AI agents are designed to understand local expressions and even Singlish, reflecting our roots as a homegrown company serving a diverse nation. This marks an important step in redefining how we build and sustain customer relationships in the AI era.”
Singtel Singapore plans to deploy voice-based AI agents for outbound sales calls within established compliance standards. There are also plans to expand these technologies across other departments and offer them to enterprise clients.
Bret Taylor, CEO and Co-Founder of Sierra, said: “We founded Sierra in the belief that AI can create better, more human customer experiences. Our partnership with Singtel – Asia’s leading communications technology group – is helping make that a reality, deepening their relationship with customers, while also growing their business. Singtel is a pioneer in applied AI and we’re so excited to be working with them.”
Sierra’s agentic AI technology enables customers to verify details and access product information through virtual platforms like “Shirley.” These systems aim for accurate and secure interactions under human oversight.
Within six weeks of launch, “Shirley” managed over 70,000 customer cases related mainly to mobile issues and roaming services. Early data indicates that 73% of troubleshooting cases for mobile and home services were resolved without needing intervention from Customer Care officers; 76% of roaming sign-up requests were completed successfully by customers themselves; over 200 roaming add-ons were purchased independently.
These results suggest that the use of AI reduces manual workloads for staff while improving productivity and strengthening brand loyalty.
Singtel positions itself as an adopter by applying AI across business functions for efficiency gains; as a provider by developing commercial AI solutions; and as an enabler by offering infrastructure necessary for large-scale adoption.
