Singapore public agency VITAL offered corporate shared services including human resources (HR), payroll, and finance to agencies across the Singapore Public Service. Due to the nature of their jobs, VITAL officers handled a large volume of mundane administrative work. As automation was being increasingly adopted in the workplace, VITAL Chief Executive Dennis Lui decided that his staff should undergo training in areas such as data analytics, design thinking, and low-code/no-code tools to remain relevant. This would also enable them to move up the value chain and command better salaries. However, as in any change management exercise, VITAL’s management faced several challenges as they put in place various new initiatives.

Meanwhile, VITAL had also been tasked to be the robotics and automation lead for fellow public agencies in the area of corporate and administrative services, while still having to compete with private sector rivals for business as it did not enjoy a monopoly. As the world struggled to find its bearings amid wave upon wave of new developments in the realm of Artificial Intelligence (AI), Lui wondered how he could lead the agency to reach greater heights.

This case is intended for use in an information systems graduate programme. Students should be able to achieve the following learning objectives: examine how VITAL can generate more business, demonstrate how VITAL is a centre of excellence for Robotic Process Automation (RPA), analyse how VITAL can further transform its workforce, explore how VITAL can survive if it lost a sizeable key client, and discuss whether VITAL is harming its programmers by providing low-code/no-code tools training.

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