Empire Code rebrands as Empire AI and becomes the first school in Southeast Asia to completely rebuild its children’s curriculum around the way technology is actually built today – with AI, not despite it.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – SINGAPORE, 2 April 2026:

Ask most parents what they want their child to learn in technology class, and the answer is usually: coding. Python, JavaScript, you name it. Something practical. Something that will matter when they grow up.

Empire AI, formerly Empire Code, understands that instinct completely. And it is precisely why the school, established since 2016, is making a big change.

Traditional coding as it has been taught in children’s schools – typing out lines of code, learning syntax (the exact rules of how a programming language is written), is no longer the skill that will define a child’s future in technology.

The industry has already moved on, and Empire AI is moving with it.

Effective from 1 April 2026, the school is retiring syntax-heavy coding from its curriculum for all age groups, and replacing it with something more powerful: the ability to think with AI, create with AI, build with AI, and understand how the technology shaping our world actually works.

The rebrand from Empire Code to Empire AI is not a name change. It is a new direction.

“We are not just updating our curriculum. We are completely re-imagining it. Empire Code was built for a world where learning to code was the skill. Empire AI is built for the world that already exists.”

Why Now? What Has Actually Changed in the Industry

Here’s something many coding schools may not have fully shared yet:

The world’s largest technology companies – such as Google and Oracle – have all publicly confirmed that artificial intelligence now writes a significant portion of the code their engineers work with.

The way software is built has fundamentally changed. Tools like Claude Code now allow professionals to build working applications by describing what they want in plain English, rather than writing thousands of lines of commands from memory. In AI-native development, developers work inside environments like Cursor; using AI agents to generate, debug, and iterate on code in real time.

The technical bottleneck is no longer syntax. It is systems thinking: understanding how to architect a solution, break down a problem, and communicate intent precisely. That is the skill set that matters now.

This has had a direct impact on hiring. The entry-level jobs that once went to people who had spent years learning to write code manually are shrinking.

Oracle made global headlines recently when it significantly reduced the size of its engineering workforce. This is not an isolated case – it reflects a broader shift happening across the technology industry.

In short: the job that parents imagine their child studying towards in technology related fields in the traditional sense – is being transformed faster than most school curricula have acknowledged.

Empire AI believes it is time to be honest about this, and to act on it.

– AI can now generate working software from a plain-English description, not syntax

– The skill that matters today is knowing what to build, how to direct AI to build it, and how to judge whether it works

– Children entering the workforce in ten years will be evaluated on their ability to work with AI as a creative and technical partner – not on whether they can recall programming syntax

– Schools that continue teaching traditional coding are preparing children for a version of the technology industry that is rapidly disappearing

“We are preparing children for jobs that require understanding AI, not just using it as a shortcut.”

What Is Actually Changing in the Classroom

The Empire AI curriculum covers children aged four through nineteen. Here is what parents need to know about what stays, what changes, and what their child will be learning:

Robotics – Growing, Not Going

Robotics is staying and expanding. Building and programming physical robots teaches children something no screen-based activity can replicate: the understanding that actions have consequences, that design decisions matter, and that real-world problems require real-world thinking. Empire AI is bringing in new robotics tools that incorporate AI, so children can experience firsthand how intelligent machines work.

Block Programming – Still Here, Used Differently

Tools like Scratch, ScratchJr, Tynker, and Minecraft Education are remaining in the programme. Block programming – where children drag and snap visual pieces together to create sequences and logic, like digital building blocks – is a powerful way to teach young minds how to think step by step. What changes is the emphasis: less focus on the mechanics of code itself, more on the reasoning behind it, and how those ideas connect to science, maths, and the creative arts.

Game Development – Now Includes How to Build a Business

The creative and strategic thinking involved in building a game – designing rules, understanding how systems interact, making decisions about user experience – remains one of the best ways to teach complex thinking. Empire AI is updating this area to reduce the manual coding components and add something new: entrepreneurship. Students will learn not just how to create a game, but how to think about it as a product – how to design it for an audience, and how it could generate real-world value.

App Development – Building Real Things, the Modern Way

Younger students will learn how apps are actually made today, not by typing code from scratch, but by combining ideas, logic, and AI tools to bring something to life. For teenagers, this becomes more advanced: they will work on building real, functional applications by directing AI tools, connecting to live data sources (called APIs – think of them as bridges that let apps talk to each other and to the internet), and deploying their creations online so others can actually use them.

Electronics and Hardware – Real Technology, Real Hands

Physical electronics remain central to the curriculum. Platforms like Arduino (a small programmable circuit board), Micro:bit (a pocket-sized computer designed for learning), and Raspberry Pi (a credit-card-sized computer used for real projects worldwide) stay in place. Children will increasingly learn to combine these physical devices with AI – building things that sense, respond, and adapt to the world around them.

Traditional Coding Languages – Being Retired

This is the significant shift. Languages like Python and JavaScript where students spend hours learning precise syntax rules, memorising commands, and debugging line-by-line, are being phased out. In their place, students will learn to build using AI as a creative partner: describing what they want in natural language, understanding how AI interprets and executes those instructions, connecting their creations to real services and data, and getting them running in the real world.

Why This Matters to Parents

Singapore’s Smart Nation vision has placed technology and innovation at the heart of how this country is preparing for the future. Parents here are already living in that context. They see it in their workplaces, in the conversations around them, and in the questions their children are beginning to ask.

Those questions deserve honest answers. What will my child’s career look like? What skills will actually matter? How do I make sure the education they are receiving today is genuinely preparing them for what comes next?

Empire AI’s curriculum overhaul, covering every age from four to nineteen, is built around those questions. It is not a response to a trend. It is an acknowledgement that the technology landscape has shifted in ways that are already visible, and that children’s education should reflect that reality sooner rather than later.

About Empire AI

Empire AI (formerly Empire Code) is a Singapore-based technology education school for children aged four to nineteen. As one of Singapore’s longest-running STEM enrichment centres, established in 2016, the school offers programmes in robotics, AI-integrated learning, app development, game development, electronics, and hardware engineering.

Its mission is to move beyond technology as a technical subject and towards technology as a way of thinking, creating, and building so that every child who comes through its doors leaves with the confidence and capability to shape the world ahead of them.

Empire AI is headquartered in Singapore and serves students across the region.

Register for a Free Trial Coding or Robotics Class

Empire Code offers trial coding and robotics classes for children aged 4 to 16, taught by MOE-registered and carefully selected educators who support early and primary learners with clarity, structure and genuine care.

A single session is often enough to see what your child naturally gravitates to – coding, robotics, or a little of both. Please complete the form below and our team will be in touch with you shortly to arrange a trial class.