Building a Smart IR
As a destination known for precision and world‑class hospitality, even the smallest moments matter. From arrival to departure, guests expect experiences to unfold seamlessly without queues, paper coupons, or unnecessary pause.
At Marina Bay Sands, that expectation has shaped how technology is designed.
This is especially true for its “Smart IR (Integrated Resort)” team, a department made up of engineers and digital specialists.
It started in 2011 managing core customer data and integrating them into Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems, but has since taken on major projects such as mobile app development, website transformation and creating internal digital tools used across the organisation.
A proud project of the team is the mobile app – revamped in 2021 – that now allows different guests to experience Marina Bay Sands in their own way, at the tip of their fingertips.
Paiza Collection guests and VIPs can use the app to book a limousine with live vehicle tracking and automatic assigning, much like a regular ride-hailing service.
Drivers can redeem a virtual carpark coupon via the app using electronic receipts, while hotel guests can book accommodation, restaurants and theatre shows, and even electronically check in to their rooms without going to the front desk.
The in-app itinerary consolidates users’ activities across the resort, empowering them to manage their plans effortlessly.
Frequently updated with new features, the all-in-one app also offers a glimpse into the deep engineering that Marina Bay Sands carries out to deliver a frictionless guest experience.
Beyond a supporting role
The Smart IR team’s evolution also reflects an intentional shift in how Marina Bay Sands approaches technology as a strategic capability beyond a support function.
What’s unique about the team is that it sits on the business side of operations while two in three staff are developers. This allows them to stay closely tuned to customer needs while partnering with IT for backend stability.
Today, the team is 40-strong. It is set up to be “self-sustaining”, handling the entire end-to-end software development life cycle. It does design, coding, testing, and deployment, while partnering closely with IT on the enterprise foundations: systems, infrastructure, architecture, application programming interfaces (APIs) and middleware.
For Susan Khoo, Assistant Vice President of Smart IR, the decision to build rather than buy was a strategic one.
“In a highly differentiated environment like an integrated resort, success depends on how well technology adapts to guest expectations – not the other way around,” she says. “Owning our core systems gives us the freedom to design personalised experiences that scale, evolve, and remain discreet.”
Being agile makes the difference
The Smart IR team’s technical agility has also enabled it to develop internal tools such as a personalised customer dashboard, now used by almost 800 Team Members across the organisation. The one-stop widget-based system lets guest-facing team members customise their home page to select their most viewed widgets to pull up data instantly.
Always looking ahead, the team continues to explore emerging platforms and behaviours, leading them to take on new projects over time, including a WeChat Mini Programme from late 2025. By integrating some of its offerings like hotel bookings into the popular chat app, Marina Bay Sands makes it easier for users to access its services on a platform they prefer.
Learning from the real world
Under Khoo’s leadership, Smart IR operates with a strong sense of ownership and proximity to the business. Developers spend time with front‑line teams, observing real guest interactions and peak‑period operations.
“When you see how a system performs at its most demanding moments, quality becomes non‑negotiable,” she notes.
She adds that by witnessing first-hand how guests ask questions and how staff navigate the systems during peak periods, developers gain a deeper understanding of the practical challenges faced. When a developer has personally seen the stakes of technical lag, they are far more motivated to ensure their code never fails under pressure.
A defining aspect of the Smart IR team’s culture is the intense sense of ownership they have over their proprietary systems, which Khoo describes as treating each project like their own “baby”.
Any system issue or negative user comment causes genuine “heartache” for the developers, pushing them to maintain the highest standards of quality, she adds.
For the Smart IR team, this means constantly refining the apps, websites, interfaces and dashboards they develop to raise the bar for guest experiences at the iconic resort.
For Khoo, future‑proofing Marina Bay Sands’ digital experiences is a continuous discipline, not a one‑off transformation.
“In luxury hospitality, today’s innovation quickly becomes tomorrow’s baseline,” she says. “Our role is to stay ahead – not by adding complexity, but by making every experience feel considered, personal, and effortless.”
