KPMG, NLB launch AI-ready reading programme in Singapore

KPMG and the National Library Board have launched Read to Lead: Building an AI-Ready Mind in Singapore, a programme intended to reach more than 2,000 professionals, managers, executives, technicians, and business leaders.

The year-long initiative was launched by Rahayu Mahzam, Minister of State at the Ministry of Digital Development and Information, alongside Melissa Tam, Chief Executive Officer of the National Library Board, and Lee Sze Yeng, Managing Partner at KPMG.

It is built around a finding that many workers are not confident assessing information in an AI-shaped workplace. A poll of 1,150 PMETs by KPMG and the National Library Board found that only four in 10 respondents felt confident in their ability to distinguish accurate content from AI-generated misinformation.

Less than half said they would check the original source of a statistic before forming an opinion, even when reading an AI-generated summary in search engines. The results point to a gap between the demands placed on workers and the habits they have developed so far.

Poll findings

The survey examined whether professionals in Singapore critically evaluate information as AI-generated material becomes more common in daily work. It comes against a broader shift in how people access, summarise, and interpret information through generative AI tools.

Read to Lead treats reading as a workplace skill rather than a personal habit. The organisers say sustained, focused reading can help professionals question information more carefully, connect ideas across subject areas, and judge the credibility of AI-generated material.

Participants will be offered talks, interactive activities, and resources aimed at building professional discernment. The first phase begins with Knowledge Week, which includes panel discussions, a digital library, and an interactive quiz.

Later phases include a practical toolkit on AI literacy, misinformation, and cyber risks, followed by a jointly published journey paper drawing on insights gathered during the programme. The effort is designed to keep critical reading part of workplace discussions over a longer period.

Workplace focus

The launch places reading within a wider debate about how employees and companies adapt to AI tools that can quickly summarise large volumes of material but can also produce errors or misleading claims. In that setting, the ability to verify claims and trace information back to original sources is becoming more important in day-to-day decision-making.

Melissa Tam outlined the National Library Board's view of the programme's purpose.

"Reading has always been at the heart of what NLB does. The launch of Read to Lead reflects our belief that focused reading strengthens our capability for critical thinking. By reading consistently and reading widely, we learn to ask better questions and are likely to be more discerning consumers of AI-generated outputs. Our partnership with KPMG brings this conviction into the workplace, and we hope this will be the first of many. NLB looks forward to collaborating with more organisations across Singapore to build a culture of reading and, through this, equip Singapore's professionals with the skills they need to contribute meaningfully to their organisations," said Tam.

Her comments reflect an effort to move the issue beyond libraries and education into corporate settings, where employees are increasingly expected to make quick judgments using machine-generated summaries and search results.

Lee Sze Yeng said the issue is not simply about volume or speed of reading, but about breadth and judgment.

"Singapore's professionals are highly capable and deeply knowledgeable in their fields - but in today's environment, reading fast and reading within one's domain is no longer sufficient. Professionals who read widely across disciplines will be significantly better at evaluating information, including AI-generated content, even within their own field. The ability to read laterally, connect ideas across domains, and question what AI surfaces with genuine discernment is fast becoming the capability that sets leaders apart. Read to Lead is our commitment to building that at scale," said Lee.

The programme brings together a consulting firm and a public library agency at a time when employers are reassessing which skills remain distinctly human as AI systems take on more routine information tasks. The finding that only a minority feel confident separating reliable content from misinformation suggests that access to AI tools may be spreading faster than workers' ability to evaluate what those tools produce.

For businesses, that can affect decision-making, internal communication, and risk management. For workers, it increases the pressure to verify information rather than accept concise, machine-generated answers at face value.

The initiative is meant to encourage that discipline across Singapore's professional workforce, starting with a basic question raised by the poll data: whether people are checking what they read before they act on it.