“No matter how brilliant you are, you can’t know everything. What matters most is knowing who has the knowledge and skill to learn from and work with.” – Ng Yi Ming
Ng Yi Ming has built his technology firm on a simple premise: that trust, not code, is the real value-add of emerging technology. Blockchain was never the hard part. Getting sceptical institutions to bet on something they couldn’t fully picture was. But now, with artificial intelligence (AI), he’s solving the same problem at greater speed.
As CEO and co-founder of Tribe, Singapore’s first government-supported blockchain accelerator, that work has widened considerably. What began as an accelerator for blockchain founders now runs the Ignition AI Accelerator with Nvidia, alongside Pfizer, the Ethereum Foundation, and a growing bench of government partners—building the ecosystems that let start- ups, corporations, and governments adopt emerging technology together.
The company’s origins are unglamorous by design. Ng and co-founder Ryan Chew met as participants in various accelerator programmes in 2018. Back then, both felt frustrated that nothing existed to properly support blockchain founders. It was a time when the technology was widely misread and few investors could see past the noise to what it actually offered.
“Tech is full of jargon, just as it is in finance and law. A lot of the time, something isn’t actually that complicated; it’s just the way people explain it. As someone once said, you should always be able to explain what you do to a five-year-old,” says Ng.
Both men established Tribe to close that gap and, eight years on, have made a strong case for their work. To date, Tribe has worked with more than 500 businesses across medicine, mobility, AI, and blockchain. And the start-ups that have passed through its programmes have raised over US$350 million since.
What are some of Tribe’s high points so far?
A major highlight has been building long-term partnerships with both global corporations and government agencies, and running programmes with them consistently over the years. That we continue to work with market leaders speaks to our team’s capability and commitment. For a company less than 10 years old, that is not something I take for granted.
What is one professional lesson that has stayed with you throughout your career?
Build something the market genuinely needs, not something you think is cool. I’ve seen a lot of platform businesses that were well-run and hardworking, but didn’t survive the funding cycles simply because of timing. I have a lot of admiration for services businesses instead. Not sexy, but stable, the kind you can sleep at night with. Idea is one per cent; execution is 99.
What’s a long-held belief that you’ve changed your mind about over the years?
That scale meant headcount. Today it’s the reverse. We teach organisations to think in levels: level one is using AI as a chat tool, level two is building automated agents, level three is workflows running between people and partners around the clock—a second brain, working for you. What matters now isn’t how many people you have; it’s how capable they are with the tools.
How do you stay motivated during challenging times?
The team. We’ve grown through very different seasons over the past eight years and the one constant has been how supportive the people here are. We’re self-driven and we dare to dream and think big. People come and people go, but the DNA of the people at Tribe has stayed relatively consistent and that keeps me going.
What’s the most valuable feedback you’ve ever received?
That no matter how brilliant you are, you can’t know everything. Someone once told me that what matters most is knowing who has the knowledge and skill to learn from and work with. It ties into something else I’ve held onto: listen more and stay humble. Everyone you meet carries their own knowledge and expertise, and if you try to see things from their perspective, you’ll keep learning and getting better over time.
What quality do you value most in your colleagues?
A willingness to try. Things are changing so rapidly that if you’re not prepared to step outside your comfort zone and experiment, it’s very hard to grow. With new technologies, tools, and AI solutions emerging all the time, the ability to say “let’s try” matters a lot. That openness to learn, adapt, and move forward is one of the most important qualities a person can have.
Photography by Eugene Lee of Enfinite / Hair & Makeup by Sveta Klyn of Suburbs Studio
