STACK Meetup [Data] · 23 July 2026

Unlocking Sensitive Data in the Age of Agentic AI

Your interactive prep guide for the GovTech × IMDA × Terminal 3 meetup on Responsible Data Use, PETs, and hardware-enforced trust.

GovTech Singapore IMDA PET Sandbox Terminal 3

Six Concepts You Need to Know

These are the building blocks behind every talk tonight. Tap each card to flip it and see the deeper explanation.

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PETs
Privacy-Enhancing Technologies
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PETs

A family of techniques that let you extract value from data without exposing the underlying sensitive information. Includes anonymisation, synthetic data, federated learning, differential privacy, homomorphic encryption, and TEEs. The core question: how do you use data you are not allowed to see?

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Anonymisation & De-identification
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Anonymisation

Stripping or obscuring personally identifiable information (PII) from datasets so individuals cannot be re-identified. Techniques include generalisation (reducing precision), suppression (removing fields), and k-anonymity (ensuring each record blends into a group of k). Risk: insufficient anonymisation can lead to re-identification attacks.

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Synthetic Data Generation
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Synthetic Data

AI models generate artificial datasets that preserve the statistical properties of the original data without containing any real personal records. Use case: train ML models on sensitive data (e.g. healthcare) without exposing patient PII. Key challenge: utility-privacy trade-off — more realistic synthetic data risks leaking patterns from the original.

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Federated Learning
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Federated Learning

Instead of sending data to a central server, the model is sent to where the data lives. Each node trains locally and shares only model updates (gradients), not raw data. The central server aggregates updates to improve the global model. Used by Google (Gboard), healthcare networks. Adds differential privacy noise to updates to prevent reverse-engineering of training data.

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TEEs
Trusted Execution Environments
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TEEs

A hardware-isolated enclave within a processor (e.g. Intel SGX, AMD SEV, ARM TrustZone) where code and data are protected from the host OS, hypervisor, and other processes. Even the server owner cannot see inside. Terminal 3's thesis: TEEs provide hard-gating — the AI agent physically cannot access data outside its enclave, no matter how clever its reasoning.

ZKPs
Zero-Knowledge Proofs
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ZKPs

A cryptographic method where you prove you know something without revealing what you know. Example: prove you are over 18 without showing your birthdate. In AI: prove an agent ran the correct model on the correct data, without exposing the model or data. Combined with TEEs, creates a verifiable trust chain — the agent provably did what it claims, on data it provably never exfiltrated.

Which Protections Apply to Your Data?

GovTech's Responsible Data Use framework assesses data risk across the AI lifecycle. Drag the slider to see which PETs are appropriate at each risk level.

Data Sensitivity Level

LOW RISK
Public / Open Data
Data already available publicly or carries no privacy risk. Minimal protection needed — focus on data quality and provenance.
Basic Governance Data Cataloging

Hard-Gate or Guard-Rail?

Terminal 3's core argument: AI agents need hard-gating (hardware enforcement), not just software guard-railing. Can you tell which is which?

Hard-Gate
Hardware-enforced. Cannot be bypassed.
Guard-Rail
Software policy. Can be reasoned around.

Which PET Should You Use?

Match the real-world scenario to the right privacy-enhancing technique. Test your understanding before the talks.

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Tonight's Lineup

Four talks, one Q&A. Here's who's speaking and what to expect from each session.

6:30 PM
Networking
Arrive early — this is where the best conversations happen
7:00 PM
Introduction by STACK Community
7:05 PM
Opening
Yap Ghim Eng, Head of Data Practice, GovTech Singapore
Sets the stage for the evening — the data challenges GovTech faces across the Singapore government.
7:10 PM
PETs in Practice: IMDA PET Sandbox
Khalid Ahmad, Acting Deputy Director, IMDA
Practical tools for secure data collection, analysis, and sharing. Expect adoption resources, technical guides, and info on how to participate in future sandbox projects.
7:25 PM
Enabling Responsible Data Use for AI and Agentic Workflows
Judy Hong (Product Manager) & Nicole Ren (Data Engineer), GovTech
How GovTech assesses data risk and selects protections across the AI lifecycle. Anonymisation, synthetic data, and federated learning for cross-institution collaboration.
7:50 PM
Cannot Leak What You Never Know: Hardware-Enforced Trust for AI Agents
Gary Liu, CEO, Terminal 3
Why safeguarding AI agentic systems requires hard-gating, not just software guard-railing. TEEs and ZKPs to protect sensitive data and enforce trust at use.
8:10 PM
Q&A
Your moment — ask the smart questions you prepared below
8:30 PM
End of STACK Meetup

Smart Questions to Ask

Prepared questions make you memorable. Pick 2-3 from below that match your interests. Each is targeted at a specific speaker.

For Khalid Ahmad (IMDA PET Sandbox)
"What are the concrete onboarding steps for an organisation to join the PET Sandbox? Is there a minimum maturity bar, and what does the technical assessment look like?"
Shows you are thinking about practical participation, not just theory.
For Khalid Ahmad (IMDA PET Sandbox)
"Which PETs have seen the most real-world adoption through the Sandbox so far, and what were the biggest implementation blockers?"
Gets at ground truth — what actually works vs what looks good on paper.
For Judy Hong & Nicole Ren (GovTech)
"How does GovTech measure the utility-privacy trade-off when choosing between synthetic data and federated learning for a given use case?"
Demonstrates you understand these are not interchangeable — each has different trade-offs.
For Judy Hong & Nicole Ren (GovTech)
"In the context of agentic workflows, how do you assess data risk when an AI agent dynamically decides what data to access at runtime?"
Connects GovTech's framework to the agentic AI theme — a bridge question that both GovTech speakers will appreciate.
For Gary Liu (Terminal 3)
"TEEs protect data at use, but what about the attestation layer — how do you ensure the enclave itself is running the expected code and not a tampered version?"
Shows deep understanding: the TEE is only as trustworthy as its attestation chain.
For Gary Liu (Terminal 3)
"What is the performance overhead of running AI inference inside a TEE, and how does that scale for real-time agentic workflows?"
The practical question every engineer wants answered — hardware enclaves are not free.
For Gary Liu (Terminal 3)
"How do ZKPs and TEEs complement each other in your architecture? What does the trust chain look like end-to-end?"
The key architectural question — TEEs protect at use, ZKPs verify at proof. Understanding both is the whole talk.
For All Speakers (Q&A Panel)
"If you had to pick one PET to invest in for the next 12 months for a mid-size organisation, which would it be and why?"
Forces a concrete, opinionated answer. Great closing question.
For All Speakers (Q&A Panel)
"What is the gap between policy intent and engineering reality for responsible data use in Singapore today?"
Bridges GovTech (policy), IMDA (sandbox), and Terminal 3 (engineering) — a panel question that gets all three perspectives.

Your Pre-Meetup Checklist

Tap to check off as you go. Show up prepared, not just present.

Skim the IMDA PET Sandbox page
Know what tools are available and the current sandbox cohort themes before you walk in.
Read GovTech's Responsible Data Use articles
Available on tech.gov.sg — understand the data risk assessment framework before the talk.
Understand TEE vs ZKP at a high level
TEE = hardware isolation at use. ZKP = cryptographic proof without revelation. Both protect, but at different layers.
Prepare 2-3 questions from the list above
Pick ones that match your own work or interests. Authenticity beats rehearsed brilliance.
Have your 10-second intro ready
Name, role, what you are working on, why this topic matters to you. Networking starts at 6:30 PM.
Connect on LinkedIn after the talk
Send a personalised note referencing their talk. Do it within 24 hours while you are fresh in their memory.