Expanding Access to Practical AI Learning
Today, Manus is announcing new partnerships in Singapore through the SkillsFuture AI Subscription initiative and Singtel AI Pass. These programs bring together structured learning, access to AI tools, and opportunities for continued practice. They also mark the beginning of our global ambition to work with learning partners and help more people build practical AI capability.
Expanding access to practical AI in Singapore
As AI transforms how we work and live, our mission is to democratize access to AI and accelerate practical upskilling, so everyone has the opportunity to thrive in a human-led, agent-powered future. Singapore is among the countries putting this vision into action at a national scale. Through measures announced in Budget 2026, it is bringing access to AI tools and structured learning together to prepare people and businesses for the future of work.
Through the SkillsFuture AI Subscription initiative, eligible Singaporeans who take up selected Skills and Workforce Development Agency (SWDA)-supported AI courses can receive six months of free access to premium AI tools, including Manus.
For eligible learners who select Manus, this provides time to continue practicing during and after their course. They can apply what they have learned to research, analysis, presentations, websites, applications, workflow automation, and other practical work.
The aim is not simply to introduce people to AI. It is to give them the confidence and experience to use these AI tools more proficiently.
As part of this initiative, Manus is also available through Singtel AI Pass, which gives eligible learners access to a curated suite of premium AI tools. Learners can explore the full suite for three months, then continue using one tool of their choice for another three months.
This gives learners time to experiment, identify the tools that best support their goals, and continue applying what they have learned beyond the course.
Together, these initiatives create more opportunities for people to move from learning about AI to applying it in their work, studies, and businesses.
From access to capability
The future of work will be human-led and agent-powered.
AI agents can already help people conduct research, create presentations, build applications, automate recurring work, and turn ideas into useful outcomes. Yet access to these capabilities remains uneven.
The adoption gap is not only about who can access an AI product. It is also about who understands what is possible, who has opportunities to practise, and who feels confident directing an agent, reviewing its work, and taking responsibility for the outcome.
We want to help close that gap, particularly for knowledge workers and business owners without technical backgrounds. People should not need to be developers to turn their expertise, judgment, and ideas into software, workflows, or new services.
Practical AI upskilling should therefore be measured by more than course completion. Its value becomes visible when people can apply what they have learned to problems they understand.
What practical AI capability can make possible
Our small-business customer stories provide a view of these potential outcomes.
These businesses did not participate in the formal programmes described in this article. Instead, their experiences demonstrate what people can accomplish when they gain the confidence to learn through building.
Noelle Fleur, a Singapore-based flower boutique, used natural-language prompts to build an AI bouquet visualiser without coding. Founder Noelle translated her expertise as a florist into a digital experience that reduces repetitive communication and makes personalised service more scalable.
Mandai Smoke Co. started with a similarly practical problem. Founder Royston Chan needed a more efficient way to calculate how much food to prepare for each weekend’s orders.
He used Manus to build a simple preparation calculator, then expanded it as the business grew. The tool eventually became FLAME, a custom system that supports ingredient planning, order management, delivery routing, customer communication, and feedback. Mandai Smoke Co. now processes more than 300 orders a month.
Both businesses started with problems they understood deeply. By learning through experimentation, they developed capabilities that allowed them to create solutions around their own needs.
This is the outcome that practical AI upskilling should make possible. It should help more people move from understanding AI to using it with purpose.
Different pathways into AI capability
There is no single route to becoming confident with AI. Some people begin independently. Others benefit from an instructor, a cohort, a workforce programme, or a collaborative challenge.
Manus Academy provides a free starting point for professionals who want to understand how AI can support real work.
Learners can begin with Manus Fundamentals before progressing to intermediate, advanced, and role-specific courses covering areas such as business analysis, product management, finance, team collaboration, and administration.
The Academy will continue to evolve alongside Manus. Learning content will be updated as new features are introduced, including guidance on the Manus Team Plan and how teams can collaborate and share knowledge.
Our partnerships with Heicoders Academy and RISE by BCG U show how Manus can support structured, hands-on learning for different audiences. At Heicoders, Manus is integrated into GA100: Generative AI for Automation and Productivity, where learners have built projects such as recipe generators, media-literacy games, and standard operating procedure tools. At RISE by BCG U, participants in selected RISE 2.0 and RISE for Business cohorts receive complimentary access to Manus for practical AI agent sessions and hackathons that complement BCG U’s expert-led curriculum.
Across both partnerships, learners move beyond theory and apply AI to real needs, from personal productivity to career progression, digital transformation, and business growth.
Hackathons and community programmes offer another pathway from exposure to application. A cross-campus AI challenge supported by Manus attracted more than 1,100 sign-ups from over 14 universities and polytechnics.
Through the AI for All Create-a-thon, co-hosted with Singapore’s Economic Development Board and Ministry of Digital Development and Information, students worked with local small businesses and freelancers to develop AI solutions for real needs.
Across these different formats, the principle is the same. People build capability when they use AI to complete meaningful work, not only when they watch a demonstration.
Join as a Manus Learning Partner
The programmes in Singapore and our previous collaborations are a starting point. We want to work with more partners around the world to create practical pathways into AI.
This includes national AI and workforce programmes, training providers, universities, vocational institutions, industry associations, employers, and learning communities.
Manus can support these partnerships with subsidised subscriptions and credits, train-the-trainer sessions, Academy content, facilitator resources, role-specific use cases, co-designed solutions, and support for events and learning communities.
Our partners bring trusted relationships, subject-matter expertise, local context, and a clear understanding of the people they serve. Together, we can make AI agents more tangible, open up new forms of execution for non-technical workers, and keep human judgment, creativity, and responsibility in the lead.
If you are helping people build practical AI capability, become a Manus learning partner and tell us about the learners you support, the program you are developing, and the outcomes you want to create.
