Google Cloud opens Singapore Engineering Center for AI and cloud development

Google Cloud has opened its Singapore Engineering Center to develop AI, cloud, data, and developer technologies for enterprises.

Google Cloud has opened its Singapore Engineering Center, a product development hub that will work on AI, cloud infrastructure, data, networking, storage, machine learning, and developer platforms.

Google Cloud says the facility is its first engineering center in Southeast Asia. Google unveiled the Singapore Engineering Center in February 2026 and formally inaugurated the facility on September 15.

The center brings together specialized software engineers working across AI, AI infrastructure, data, compute, machine learning, networking, storage, and frontline support. Google had outlined plans in February to expand its engineering and research presence in Singapore.

Engineering cloud products from Singapore

The Singapore Engineering Center will bring together software engineers working across several parts of Google Cloud's technology stack. Its remit includes developing cloud infrastructure and data systems for enterprise workloads, including applications built around AI agents.

Engineers at the center will also work on integrating Google's AI models and agent technologies into cloud products. Google Cloud said some of this work will be adapted to local requirements before being incorporated into products used in other markets.

Another area of work covers developer platforms, including application programming interfaces, automation tools, and systems used to coordinate AI agents. The center will also contribute to open-source projects and technologies used across hybrid and multicloud environments.

The center is co-located with Google DeepMind's Singapore research lab, which opened in November 2025. The lab includes research scientists, software engineers, and AI impact experts working on areas including Gemini and research into linguistic and cultural inclusivity across Asia-Pacific.

Google DeepMind's Singapore team focuses on AI research, while the Singapore Engineering Center develops cloud products and systems for enterprise deployment.

The Singapore Economic Development Board is supporting the center. Beng Kong Pee, executive vice president at EDB, said the facility would add engineering expertise to Singapore's AI and cloud sector while creating engineering and Forward Deployed Engineer roles.

"Singapore is proud to host Google Cloud's first Engineering Center in Southeast Asia. It will add depth and expertise to Singapore's diverse AI and cloud ecosystems by accelerating AI application development and shaping products for global deployment," Pee said.

Google says it has invested more than US$5 billion in four data center facilities in Singapore and employs more than 3,000 people in the country. It opened its Singapore cloud region in 2017 and added a third availability zone the following year.

Singapore is also increasing public investment in AI research. In January, the government committed more than S$1 billion to its National AI Research and Development Plan for 2025 to 2030, covering fundamental and applied research, engineering capabilities, and talent development.

Working with enterprise customers

Google Cloud said engineers at the center will work directly with customers during product development, including on systems intended for production deployment.

The company identified Grab and DBS as early collaborators. According to Google Cloud, work with Grab includes testing real-time multilingual AI models, while its collaboration with DBS covers financial workflows using AI agents.

Google Cloud said engineers at the center are working with Grab to stress-test real-time multilingual AI models. The company did not disclose further technical or deployment details about the collaboration.

Google Cloud is also working with DBS on what it described as core financial workflows using AI agents. The company did not provide further details about the systems being developed with the bank.

DBS is separately expanding its use of agentic AI across its banking operations. In August, the bank said it had rolled out a system that uses specialized AI agents to carry out more than 70 tasks involved in preparing a review-ready first draft of a corporate credit memo.

The system was deployed to about 1,500 employees globally after an initial pilot involving 150 participants. DBS said relationship managers can spend up to 40% of their time on credit memos and related credit work, and it is targeting a reduction of at least 30% in the time required through the new system.

Neither Google's SEC announcement nor DBS's credit-memo announcement links the system to the companies' Singapore Engineering Center collaboration.

Nimish Panchmatia, DBS chief transformation and data officer, said the bank expects collaboration around AI to focus on delivering value to employees and customers while addressing safety and responsible use.

"Singapore has the opportunity to be a trusted global AI hub, bringing together talent, technology and enterprise expertise to drive innovation and growth," Panchmatia said.

Expanding engineering support

Google Cloud is also increasing its Forward Deployed Engineer workforce in the region. These engineers work with customers to adapt and integrate technologies into existing systems and move projects from pilot deployments into production environments.

Singapore Engineering Center engineers will focus on the underlying cloud and AI products, while Forward Deployed Engineers will work with customers on integration and deployment.

Moe Abdula, vice president of customer engineering for Asia Pacific at Google Cloud, said the company chose Singapore because of the diversity of markets and operating conditions across Asia-Pacific.

"A true test of engineering capability is building for the diversity and speed of Asia Pacific, which is why we chose Singapore," Abdula said.