Universiti Malaya and Huawei Malaysia’s third Digital Think Tank Network Roundtable zeroes in on scaling AI deployment for the nation

Speakers of the Third Digital Think Tank Network Roundtable (left to right): Head of Department of International and Strategic Studies UM, Associate Professor Dr. Roy Anthony Rogers; Head of Malaya AI Research from the Department of Artificial Intelligence FCSIT UM, Associate Professor Ts Dr Aznul Qalid Md Sabri; Deputy Dean of Research and Innovation FCSIT UM, Associate Professor Dr Saaidal Razalli Azzuhri; Dean FCSIT UM, Associate Professor Dr. Norisma Idris; Vice Chancellor of Huawei ASEAN Academy, Oliver Liu; Chairman of the Domestic Commercial Affairs Committee of Malaysia-China Chamber of Commerce, Sean Lee; Director of AI Innovation NAIO, Mohd Al Hafidz Yahya; Head of Digital Health Research and Innovation Unit ICR NIH, William Law Kian Boon and SEA Technical Consultant of iFLYTEK, Max Lee.

KUALA LUMPUR, 30 December 2025 – Malaysia must move artificial intelligence (AI) from pilot projects to widespread adoption to build a competitive economy by 2030, urged leaders from Government, academia and industry at the recently held Third Digital Think Tank Network Roundtable co-hosted by Universiti Malaya and Huawei Technologies (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd (Huawei Malaysia).

The roundtable convened policymakers, academics and key industry representatives under the theme “Building Malaysia’s AI Ecosystem Toward 2030” to discuss strategies for accelerating scalable, sustainable AI implementation across sectors.

Beginning the discussions, Deputy Dean of Research and Innovation at UM’s Faculty of Computer Science & Information Technology (FCSIT), Associate Professor Dr Saaidal Razalli Azzuhri said universities play a critical role in building future-ready digital talent and applied research capacity.

“While FCSIT remains relatively small in structure, it has become one of the university’s largest faculties by student enrolment as demand for computer science and information technology related disciplines continue to grow. The rising enrolment, particularly in AI, reflects increasing national demand and underscores the importance of closer collaboration between academia and industry to ensure education and research deliver practical outcomes,” he said.

Vice President of Huawei Cloud in Malaysia, Andy Wei said rapid global investments in AI and declining AI training costs have lowered barriers to adoption, shifting the focus from experimentation to scaled deployment.

Vice President of Huawei Cloud in Malaysia, Andy Wei delivering his opening remarks.

“To implement AI, enterprises must consider many aspects. This includes computing resources, selection and optimisation of models, data preparation, application development, business security and other related requirements. Our goal at Huawei Cloud is to make advanced AI tools and cloud services affordable, secure and accessible for businesses of all sizes,” Wei said.

Wei added that AI should be deployed in ways that deliver tangible value to the economy and society. He highlighted Huawei Malaysia’s AI talent development efforts under the broader Huawei Cloud Asia-Pacific AI ecosystem initiative, which aims to train 30,000 Malaysian AI talents over the next three years, spanning students, public sector officers and industry practitioners. He reaffirmed Huawei Malaysia’s commitment to strengthening local talent pipelines and partner capabilities to advance AI adoption across key sectors including manufacturing, healthcare, finance and smart cities.

Addressing implementation challenges, Associate Professor Ts Dr Aznul Qalid Md Sabri from the Department of Artificial Intelligence at UM’s FCSIT noted that Malaysia’s AI readiness has yet to produce consistent industrial outcomes. The challenges he identified include fragmented and non-scalable AI applications, shortages of industry-ready talent and the slow pace of research commercialisation.

“To address these challenges, priorities should include making AI applications measurable, aligning talent training with market demand, strengthening financing for local innovation, implementing workable governance frameworks and treating data as a strategic national asset,” he emphasised.

He added that UM will launch a Bachelor’s Degree in AI in 2026 as a landmark step in strengthening the national AI talent pipeline.

Representing the business community, Chairman of the Domestic Commercial Affairs Committee at the Malaysia-China Chamber of Commerce, Sean Lee said deeper Malaysia-China cooperation can support AI ecosystem development through joint innovation and localisation of solutions.

Drawing on his experience, he proposed an AI-driven credit scoring to improve financing access for small and micro-sized enterprises.

“This would help to address structural inefficiencies in existing funding mechanisms,” he stated.

Speaking on practical AI deployment, Southeast Asia (SEA) Technical Consultant of iFLYTEK, Max Lee said AI should enable human-machine collaboration and complement human expertise, particularly in healthcare and public services.

“Trusted AI use depends on high-quality datasets, rigorous validation and secure implementation, especially in sensitive settings. In healthcare, AI is used to support clinicians by reducing documentation workloads, while similar tools are being applied in public administration to improve service delivery in line with national digital transformation priorities,” he said.

In the area of policy, Director of AI Innovation at the National AI Office (NAIO), Mohd Al Hafidz Yahya positioned Malaysia’s AI Nation 2030 Vision as a key national roadmap aimed at transforming the country from a technology user into a producer and regional hub that develops and commercialises homegrown AI solutions.

“Based on economic and social impact assessments, twelve priority industries have been identified to anchor widespread AI deployment. This includes agriculture, food, public services, education, healthcare, utilities and traditional industries,” he stated.

The Head of the Digital Health Research and Innovation Unit (DHRi) at the National Institute of Health’s Institute for Clinical Research (ICR), William Law Kian Boon stressed that digital transformation remains a prerequisite for effective medical AI adoption. He noted, however, that gaps in data interoperability and digital readiness across healthcare facilities continue to limit deployment at scale.

“Recent initiatives to support healthcare AI research, such as the establishment of the AI Community Centre and the Trusted Research Environment under the National Institute of Health enables secure, privacy-preserving data access to facilitate wider adoption over time,” he said.

The discussions at the roundtable underscored that Malaysia’s progress towards a competitive and sustainable AI ecosystem will rely on coordinated policy execution and long-term collaboration across Government, academia and industry. The roundtable identified key enablers for scaling AI beyond isolated pilots, including policy clarity, data governance, sustained research funding, international partnerships and robust ethical safeguards.

-END-