Leslie Teo leads AI products at AI Singapore, including SEA-LION, and serves on the United Nations’ scientific panel on AI. He previously held data and transformation leadership roles at Grab and Great Eastern and was GIC’s chief economist. Earlier, he was Principal Economist at the Monetary Authority of Singapore (June 1999–December 2001), Social Science Computing Lab Manager at the University of Rochester (September 1992–May 1996), and a Computing Lab Consultant at Chicago Booth (November 1989–May 1992).
Leslie Teo leads AI products at AI Singapore, including SEA-LION, and serves on the United Nations’ scientific panel on AI. He previously held data and transformation leadership roles at Grab and Great Eastern and was GIC’s chief economist. Earlier, he was Principal Economist at the Monetary Authority of Singapore (June 1999–December 2001), Social Science Computing Lab Manager at the University of Rochester (September 1992–May 1996), and a Computing Lab Consultant at Chicago Booth (November 1989–May 1992).
Career
Leslie Teo studied at University of California, Berkeley — School of Information (Master of Information and Data Science (MIDS)), The University of Chicago (B.A. in Liberal Arts and Sciences; General and Special Honors), and University of Rochester (Ph.D. in Economics and Finance).
Independent Director at Sofina from 2023-05 to Present
Independent Director, Coinbase Singapore at Coinbase from 2020-12 to PresentServes on the Singapore subsidiary’s board, with a focus on governance, risk and regulation.
Advisor to the CEO at Grab from 2020-07 to 2020-12Previously Head of Data Science, Policy and Data Initiatives from August 2019 to July 2020. Supported financial-services data capability, the digital-bank bid and AI research partnerships.
Managing Director and Chief Economist at GIC from 2011-01 to 2019-06Led Economics and Investment Strategy, including asset allocation and the firm’s economic and market views. Previously Senior Vice President from January 2008 to December 2010.