2026 AI Glossary for Singapore Professionals

Agentic AI Concept

Autonomous AI systems that plan, decide, and act across multiple steps using tools and APIs, not just generate text. Distinguished from chat AI by their ability to take action in the real world: book, file, audit, resolve. Agentic AI is the dominant pattern of enterprise AI in 2026.

Taught in AI Productivity Foundations and AI for Engineering & Scrum Masters.

Multi-Agent Orchestration Concept

A design pattern where multiple specialised AI agents collaborate to complete a complex task, with a supervisor agent routing work between them. Used to break large enterprise workflows into manageable agent responsibilities (research agent, drafter agent, reviewer agent, dispatcher agent).

Model Context Protocol (MCP) Standard

An open standard introduced by Anthropic that lets AI models connect to external tools, files, and data sources in a secure standardised way. MCP is the backbone of practical agentic AI in 2026. Where REST APIs let services talk to each other, MCP lets AI agents talk to tools.

Why it matters for Singapore enterprises: MCP makes it realistic to plug AI agents into your existing systems (CRM, ERP, ticketing) without rebuilding everything.

Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) Architecture

An architecture where the AI model retrieves relevant information from a knowledge base at query time and uses it to generate a grounded answer. Reduces hallucination and lets organisations apply AI to their private documents (HR policies, product specs, regulatory guidance) without retraining the model.

Large Language Model (LLM) Model

A neural network trained on very large text datasets that can generate, summarise, translate and reason about language. The 2026 leaders include Claude (Anthropic), GPT (OpenAI), Gemini (Google), Llama (Meta), Mistral, Qwen (Alibaba), DeepSeek and Grok (xAI).

Fine-tuning Technique

The process of further training a base AI model on a smaller curated dataset so it performs better on a specific task or in a specific domain. Often the wrong tool for enterprises in 2026. RAG, prompt engineering, or simply switching to a stronger base model is usually cheaper, faster, and more maintainable.

Prompt Engineering Skill

The craft of writing instructions that get reliable, accurate, and useful output from an AI model. A foundational skill for every working professional in 2026, regardless of role. Good prompts are specific, structured, give examples, and constrain the output format.

AI Governance Practice

The set of policies, processes and controls that guide responsible AI use inside an organisation: data privacy, fairness, accountability, auditability, human oversight. In Singapore this connects directly to MAS FEAT for financial services and AI Verify for broader industry.

AI Verify Singapore

Singapore's open source AI testing framework and toolkit, published by IMDA. It helps organisations validate AI systems against principles like transparency, fairness, and accountability before deployment. The first national AI testing framework globally.

MAS FEAT Singapore

The Monetary Authority of Singapore's principles for the use of AI and data analytics in financial services. FEAT stands for Fairness, Ethics, Accountability and Transparency. Applies to banks, insurers, and asset managers operating in Singapore. Foundational reading for any AI lead in Singapore financial services.

Claude Code Tool

Anthropic's terminal-based AI coding agent that uses Claude models with full file system and tool access. Built for engineers shipping real production code with agentic AI assistance. Ships with MCP support, slash commands, and a configurable hook system for team workflows.

Cursor Tool

An AI native code editor that combines a VS Code style interface with deep LLM integration for writing, refactoring, and reviewing code. One of the most adopted AI developer tools in 2026, especially among startup engineering teams and modernising enterprise IT functions.

GitHub Copilot Tool

GitHub's AI pair programmer that suggests code, completes lines, and answers questions about codebases inside the IDE. Used widely in enterprise engineering teams. Includes a chat mode, agent mode, and code review capabilities.

n8n Tool

An open source workflow automation platform that connects apps, APIs, and AI models with a visual node based editor. Popular for building agentic AI workflows without writing full applications. Often used by AI Builders inside enterprises to ship the first round of AI productivity wins quickly.

Generative AI (GenAI) Concept

AI systems that produce new content (text, images, audio, video, code) rather than only classifying or predicting. GenAI is the umbrella that includes LLMs, image models (Midjourney, Stable Diffusion), voice models (ElevenLabs), and multimodal systems.

Transformer Architecture Architecture

The neural network design that underpins virtually every modern large language model. Introduced in 2017 by researchers at Google in the paper "Attention Is All You Need", it uses attention mechanisms to model relationships between every token in the input.

Context Window Concept

The maximum amount of text (measured in tokens) an AI model can consider in a single conversation. In 2026 leading models handle one million tokens or more, enough for an entire codebase or document library. Larger context windows unlock practical agentic AI on real enterprise data.

Hallucination Risk

When an AI model generates a confident, plausible sounding answer that is factually wrong. Mitigated by RAG, citation requirements, structured output formats, and human review for high stakes use cases. Understanding and managing hallucination is part of every responsible AI deployment.

AI Workflow Practice

A multi step process where one or more AI models, tools, and human checkpoints are chained together to complete a business task. The unit of practical AI delivery in 2026. Built with platforms like n8n, Make, Zapier, or custom code using LangGraph or AutoGen.

Tool Use (Function Calling) Capability

The capability of a modern LLM to invoke external tools, APIs or functions during a conversation. The mechanism that turns a chat model into an agentic system. Combined with MCP, tool use is what makes AI useful beyond conversation.

Vector Database Tool

A database optimised for storing and searching numerical embeddings of content. The retrieval engine in RAG systems. Examples include Pinecone, Weaviate, Qdrant, and Postgres with pgvector.

Embedding Concept

A numerical representation of text, image, or other content as a vector of numbers. Embeddings let computers measure semantic similarity. The foundation of search, retrieval, and clustering in modern AI.

AI Coaching Practice

A practice in which an experienced coach guides individuals or teams through adopting AI in their actual work: identifying use cases, designing workflows, building habits, and managing the change. The hands on companion to AI training.

AI Transformation Practice

The end to end change of how an organisation works because of AI. It covers strategy, operating model, roles, governance, tooling, and culture. Distinct from running a single AI pilot. The category Agile Visa specialises in for Singapore enterprises.

ICAgile Accreditation

The International Consortium for Agile, a global accreditation body for Agile training. Certifications like ICP, ICP-ACC, and ICP-ATF carry industry recognition across 90+ countries. Agile Visa is an ICAgile accredited training provider.

SkillsFuture Credit Singapore Funding

The training credit every Singapore citizen aged 25 and above receives from the government for approved learning. Can be used to offset course fees for SkillsFuture approved programmes. A second tranche of credit is provided for citizens aged 40 and above.

SSG Course Fee Grant Singapore Funding

A subsidy from SkillsFuture Singapore that reduces the course fee for approved training programmes. Subsidy levels vary by citizenship, age, and course category. Agile Visa is pursuing SSG accreditation for its AI Transformation programmes.

SkillsFuture Enterprise Credit (SFEC) Singapore Funding

A one off credit of SGD 10,000 for eligible Singapore employers to defray out of pocket costs of business transformation and workforce upgrading, including approved training. Designed to support SMEs investing in their teams. Available for corporate cohort programmes.

Last reviewed: 31 May 2026 by Prashant Shinde, Founder and ICAgile accredited trainer. Return to the Agile Visa Singapore home.