The Challenge: Turning Broad AI Interest into Practical Capability
Sembcorp Industries recognised that Generative AI (GenAI) was rapidly changing how teams work, and they wanted their people to move beyond surface-level familiarity into genuine, applied capability. The challenge was scope. The participants were drawn from different parts of the business, each bringing different roles, workflows, and starting points.
A generic, off-the-shelf course would not have served such a varied group well. Sembcorp needed a training partner who could design a single, cohesive programme that spoke to a cross-functional audience, grounded the learning in real tools, and showed participants how to translate AI concepts into something they could actually use in their day-to-day work.
Why Heicoders Academy
Sembcorp chose Heicoders Academy for our ability to customise the GA100 curriculum around their specific requirements, and for the practitioner credibility of our instructors. Because our trainers work full-time in the tech sector, they bring current, hands-on experience into the classroom rather than abstract theory.
That combination mattered for a group this diverse. We were able to shape the content so that it landed for participants across very different functions, while keeping the rigour and practical focus that defines our corporate training.
The Solution
Heicoders Academy designed and delivered a customised version of our popular GA100 programme for a class of 20 participants from across Sembcorp Industries. The workshop moved deliberately from foundational technique to applied workflow design, giving the team both the fundamentals and a framework for putting them to work. The curriculum covered:
- Prompt Engineering: Crafting clear, effective prompts to get reliable, high-quality outputs from large language models.
- AI Agents: Working with powerful agentic tools like Manus to carry out research and multi-step tasks with minimal supervision.
- Building Workflow-Based Agents: Going beyond one-off prompts to construct agents that execute structured, repeatable workflows.
- The Generative AI Toolkit: Hands-on exposure to a range of leading tools, including Nano Banana for image generation, ElevenLabs for AI voice, and Suno for AI-generated music.
- Process Engineering for AI Workflows: Applying process engineering principles to the design of AI workflows, so that automation is built on sound, well-structured processes rather than ad hoc experimentation.
To lead the workshop, Heicoders Academy assigned Kong Yu Ning, our Principal Instructor and Chief of Growth. Given the importance of Sembcorp Industries as a partner, our management felt it was important to personally take the helm for this engagement, bringing both technical depth and the communication style to engage a broad, cross-functional audience and keep the learning accessible and energising throughout.
Through the course, participants built their own AI projects and an agentic RAG workflow. Here are some screenshots of what they produced:
Results
The response from the Sembcorp team was positive. Participants came away with a working command of the core GenAI tools and, just as importantly, a clear mental model for how to apply process engineering to the AI workflows they design going forward.
Because the content was customised to Sembcorp's requirements and grounded in practical tools, the learning felt immediately applicable rather than theoretical. The team left better equipped to identify opportunities for AI-driven efficiency within their respective functions.
What's Next
This engagement is the first of many. Heicoders Academy has further runs and additional engagements planned with Sembcorp Industries, and we look forward to continuing to help them build an AI-ready workforce across the organisation.
