SpeakIn Launches SPIRE to Bridge Education and Jobs Across Asia

SpeakIn, Asia’s largest on-demand thought leadership and capability-building platform, has officially launched its flagship regional initiative to close the gap between education and employment. On 17 August 2026, the company announced the SpeakIn Asia Institute for Industry Readiness and Employability, known as SPIRE, with Singapore as the centre of its regional rollout.

SPIRE is designed as a dedicated institution that connects students and aspiring professionals directly with accomplished industry leaders, entrepreneurs, coaches and subject-matter experts. Beyond traditional training, the institute focuses on structured learning, mentorship, industry-connect programmes and, most importantly, real employment pathways through corporate internships.

“Every young person deserves the opportunity to learn from those who have already achieved excellence in their chosen field. Talent is universal, but opportunities for mentorship and industry exposure are often unevenly distributed. SPIRE is our commitment to making that access available at scale and to lead to tangible internships and possibly full-time roles,” said Deepshikha Kumar Anand, Founder of SpeakIn.

The institute works with government bodies, schools, colleges, universities, associations, NGOs and employers to embed industry engagement into education and skill development. Its core offerings include curated industry-connect sessions with business leaders, employability and workforce-readiness programmes, career guidance and future-skills training, leadership and entrepreneurship modules, and one-on-one coaching through SpeakIn’s FindACoach™ platform. Global workforce readiness initiatives for students and young professionals form another key pillar.

A defining feature of SPIRE is its strong emphasis on outcomes rather than certificates alone. Students who complete the readiness programmes specialise in one of three clearly defined career tracks Marketing, Engineering, or Operations & Administration. These tracks were selected because the skills developed map directly onto real, hireable roles in the job market.

SPIRE partner companies commit to providing a minimum of two internship placements per cohort for certified students in the relevant track. Whether the internship is paid and whether it converts into a full-time role remains at the company’s discretion. This structure ensures that participants gain a genuine, curated pathway from classroom learning to workplace experience.

Alongside the launch, SPIRE announced two anchor government partnerships currently under development. The first is an Industry Connect Module for government school students in Delhi, aimed at giving young learners meaningful early exposure to careers. The second is a Memorandum of Understanding under the Government of Telangana for the Telangana Global Workforce Readiness Initiative. This programme seeks to prepare aspiring overseas workers for opportunities in international markets including Singapore, Malaysia, Japan and South Korea.

The regional launch will be marked by an invitation-only leadership roundtable in Singapore on 22 October 2026. Convened under SpeakIn’s Asia Dialogues Forum, the closed-door session is themed “Talent by Design: How Singapore Is Building the Workforce of Tomorrow.” It will bring together senior business leaders, policymakers, education leaders and industry experts to discuss how Singapore can continue strengthening its future-ready workforce, deepen education-industry partnerships, accelerate lifelong learning and maintain its global talent advantage in an AI-first economy.

Singapore was chosen as the launch base because of its deliberate and sustained investment in human capital. Initiatives such as SkillsFuture 2.0, the Forward Singapore agenda, the transformation of the Institute of Technical Education, and stronger industry-academia collaboration have positioned the city-state as a regional model for talent development. The principles underlying these national efforts align closely with SPIRE’s regional model.

Across Asia, students increasingly need practical knowledge, mentorship and industry networks that complement formal education. SPIRE was created on the belief that every learner should have the chance to engage with people who have built successful careers and can guide the next generation. By making industry expertise and genuine employment pathways more accessible, the institute aims to strengthen employability, confidence and career readiness for young people from diverse backgrounds and geographies.

Also Read: How Asia Built the World's Best Schools

SPIRE builds on more than a decade of work by SpeakIn. Founded in 2016 and headquartered in Singapore with deep roots in India, SpeakIn has grown into Asia’s largest on-demand thought leadership and coaching ecosystem. It connects more than 31,000 curated experts, coaches and industry leaders with over 3,500 enterprise clients across more than 30 countries.

The platform is also the creator of FindACoach™, Asia’s largest ICF-partnered coaching platform, and the Asia Dialogues Forum. In Singapore, SpeakIn has already worked with public institutions including the People’s Association and the Skills and Workforce Development Agency on capability-building and future-readiness programmes.

These experiences have shaped the institutional model that SPIRE now extends across Asian markets, beginning with the Singapore flagship launch. By combining structured learning, expert mentorship and concrete internship commitments, SPIRE seeks to turn industry readiness from an aspiration into a practical, scalable reality for the region’s next generation of talent.