NCS AI Playbook sets the bar for leveraging AI tools from both east and west

The NCS AI Playbook, which was unveiled at NCS Impact, explains the different models, LLMs and cloud hosting solutions that customers can choose from.

During a media session at the NCS Impact summit, Sam Liew, NCS CEO, explained that the company needs to work with tech companies from both the east and west as both have their own strengths when it comes to enabling customers in their AI journey.

As a systems integrator and also a solutions provider, Liew explained that NCS works with leading vendors from both the US and China as it was necessary to support the increasingly sophisticated customer demand but also regulatory requirements some customers may have when it comes to using AI.

“I think our customers are not just the ones that you see in Singapore. We also have a significant presence in China. A lot of companies in China naturally have to use the China stack. In some cases, even legislated by the government,” Liew said.

Interestingly, with some MNC companies working outside of China or in China, there are certain requirements that they need to adhere to. Liew highlighted a customer that NCS was working with in Europe that were told to use an Eastern cyber product and stack and so on in their operations in China.

“They were a little bit stuck because they also need to integrate with Salesforce, which is a CRM of choice for its headquarters. So, companies like NCS stepped in and said, we know how to integrate this, because we know the cloud solution that you might be introducing, which is Alibaba Cloud or Tencent Cloud, and we know how to integrate that to a Salesforce platform. So that actually has put NCS in a very unique advantage when it comes to East and West technologies,” he explained.

Liew also pointed out that for Chinese companies wanting to come out to Singapore, or out to the Western Hemisphere, they need to re-platform their product into Amazon or Google as a cloud-access plate.

“That also is an NCS advantage because we do understand the Eastern model, the Western cloud model, versus a Chinese systems integrator that might only understand the Eastern standard. So, we do have quite a good base of customers in this,” he added.

At the same time though, Liew did point out some western vendors do voice concerns on this, but as a systems integrator, NCS is not locked into any single product. This is also why customers prefer NCS, which has led to the production of the NCS AI Playbook.

Echoing Liew’s views is Edward Chen, Chief AI Officer at NCS. Liew explained that the situation today is very interesting with AI. Using open rate models as an example, Chen pointed out that the best open rate models in the world are coming from China.

“This has seen very good adoption in our clients. In fact, a lot of times, for two reasons. One is the fact that it is open rate, they can deploy it in their own environment. Secondly, in terms of cost, it is a fraction of what Western closed models are. Because of these two reasons, adoption has been very high,” Chen said.

Chen also shared that customers, including government customers, have been very open about adopting this approach.

“So, I would say that actually opens up a big front for us, and we see that this is an opportunity for our clients to push this boundary,” he added.

The NCS AI Playbook

The NCS AI Playbook, which was unveiled at NCS Impact, explains the different models, LLMs and cloud hosting solutions that customers can choose from. As a practitioner-led blueprint distilled from more than 100 AI projects, it is organised around two questions every enterprise must answer: “Are we doing the right things, and are we doing things right?”

According to the AI Playbook, NCS believes that 2026 marks the moment for organizations to move from promise to payoff. Specifically, the opportunity for businesses is no longer simply to adopt AI, but to convert AI ambition into measurable, repeatable, and scalable business value.

“Organizations that make the right choices and execute them with excellence and discipline can unlock 10x returns from Intelligentisation – a structured, holistic approach to embedding AI into the core of business processes, government workflows and human experiences,” the playbook stated.

Key points from the playbook include the 3R Framework that reframes AI from cost-cutting to value creation: Return on Customer, Return on Employee, and Return on Future. The playbook also highlights the Five U's of Failed AI which it believes is root causes of stalled programs. The Five Us are: Unclear cost, Unchanged business processes, Unready data, Ungoverned agent development, and Unknown security and safety risks.

Given this scenario, the playbook focuses on Four Execution Pillars for AI which organizations will be looking at. This includes cheaper token strategy and model selection, better AI-ready data and workflow redesign, faster NCS AI accelerators, and safer built-in assurance.

Applied together, NCS believes these pillars unlock the highest returns, moving enterprises away from low, short-term ROI towards long-term transformative growth. More importantly, it will allow organizations to leverage technology from both the east and the west.