“What we’re screening for,” says Delaine Cheong, “is motivation and grit.”

Run by Temasek-backed Temus, the four-month technology boot camp Step IT Up (SIU) provides those with no technology background an opportunity to transition into the digital economy, with guaranteed placements for “graduates” at the digital transformation firm or one of its clients.

“Breaking into a new area is never easy,” says the 40-year-old investment professional, currently seconded from Temasek to Temus as its Director of Special Projects. “They need to be passionate and interested, and they need to really want this. My job is to ensure the most deserving applicants get this opportunity.”

It is a steep climb – and one that Delaine is no stranger to. Her own 16-year career with Temasek has taken several twists and turns, and landed her in places where she had to “start from scratch”.

“You have to quickly pivot and figure out what needs to be done, test it out, course correct, and then try again. Temasek gives us the opportunity – and then trusts that we can do it,” she says.

That same belief in human potential forms the foundation of Step IT Up.

Building ventures, from the inside

Delaine began her Temasek career in 2007, doing “bread-and-butter” investments in traditional industries like financial services, technology, media, and telecommunications. Her journey since then has mirrored the company’s broadening focus.

Drawn to the newer areas Temasek explored, she moved to its Innovations team in 2014 to learn about early-stage investments, and played a role in enabling the company to move quickly into nascent businesses with promise. Five years later, she joined the firm’s Enterprise Development Group (EDG), where she focused on growing new business platforms and companies in critical areas such as digital and cybersecurity. She then moved to her current role at Temus.

“Every few years, I saw a different part of the investing landscape, which I truly appreciated. Now, I wanted to dive deeper and understand how operations were actually run,” she says. “As investors, we can tell a company they should hire more people, but what does it take to hire more people or manage attrition in reality? If we are going to help ventures succeed, we need to understand how they work.” 

Fittingly, she walked straight into a talent quandary at Temus. 

Set up by Temasek in partnership with global digital services firm UST in 2021, the startup helps companies take their digitisation plans from concept to reality, accelerating digital transformation in the Temasek ecosystem as well as the broader marketplace. Part of this includes building the talent pipeline to support those ambitions.

Alongside her role of growing the year-old startup through mergers and acquisitions, Delaine was tasked with getting a talent conversion programme off the ground. 

“We needed more people, but the technology market was tight,” she recalls. “Rather than compete for computer science graduates, we decided to create an alternative talent acquisition channel.” Training people who had no background in technology but wanted to transition into entry-level roles in specific technical specialisations was doable – after all, Temus’ partner UST had been doing it globally for 10 years. 

The curriculum is tightly focused on in-demand skills, like software development, training them for specific roles, “and then they plug and play”, explains Delaine.

The pool of potential talent turned out to be vast. The first two runs on basic coding attracted 1,700 people for 40 available slots. The third, to fill 20 Digital Business Analyst positions, drew over 1,200 applications.

A “blind” online qualifying test serve​d​ as a meritocratic gatekeeper, screening for abilities such as analytical skills, mathematics, and comprehension. Anyone who passed, regardless of professional or educational background, qualified for an interview. 

“It did not matter where the participants came from. We wanted to enable people with the right attitude and aptitude to transition into technology. That was the mission of Step IT Up,” Delaine explains.

Among Temus’ “Transformers” who have earned their place in the digital marketplace are a former ​optometrist who now creates insurtech products, an ex-journalist who develops applications, and a stay-at-home mum who will soon call herself a digital business analyst.

“These are people from diverse backgrounds, educational levels, occupations, and generations, all trying to get into the technology space,” she says. “I remember one trainee who was very passionate about technology but was worried because he didn’t have a degree. He worked incredibly hard, coming in early and staying late, and turned out to be one of our top performers. The day he graduated, he gave me a big hug.”

“It is one of the most meaningful things I have done, catalysing a change in someone’s life.”

Returns on human potential

Through future runs of SIU, which will zoom in on in-demand tech-related skills, Temus hopes to hire, place, and train 400 tech professionals by 2025.

In April this year, Delaine rejoins Temasek’s EDG team, where she will continue to help build critical capabilities and local talent pipelines.               

“Temasek has always been very forward looking, identifying white spaces that make sense to move into, and creating localised capabilities critical for the next stage of development,” she says. “Over and above that, I think the enterprise building mandate – to build the next generation of portfolio companies – is what differentiates Temasek from many investment houses out there."

Temus will remain part of her portfolio, and she hopes to apply the SIU model of matching passion with access and opportunity to other companies in Temasek’s ecosystem.

“I have seen people who are truly appreciative of the opportunity, and they show it by really giving back in terms of effort. That’s what struck me the most, that the most valuable investment we can make is in human potential.”