Kuala Lumpur, 6 August 2025 – The Small and Medium Enterprises Association of Malaysia (SAMENTA), in partnership with the Malaysia Productivity Corporation (MPC), today launched the SME AI Festival 2025 at Dewan Produktiviti, Menara MATRADE, Kuala Lumpur; marking a major step forward in accelerating artificial intelligence (AI) adoption among Malaysian small and medium enterprises (SMEs).
Narayanan, Group COO, TalentCorp Malaysia; Sir Jaya Singnam Rajoo, Senior
Director of Multilateral Policy & Negotiation Division, Ministry of Investment,
Trade and Industry (MITI) Malaysia; Datuk William Ng, SAMENTA President;
Yang Berusaha Dr. Mazrina Mohamed Ibramsah Deputy Director General,
Malaysia Productivity Corporation (MPC); and Datuk Parmjit Singh, CEO of
APIIT Education Group.
The festival convenes SME leaders, government agencies, academia, and technology providers to explore how AI can transform productivity, foster innovation, and fuel sustainable growth for Malaysian businesses.
SAMENTA National President Datuk William Ng says the festival is not just an awareness event but a catalyst for mindset change.
“AI is no longer optional. It is existential. SMEs that don’t embrace it risk falling behind. Through this festival, we are demystifying AI and making it accessible for every SME, regardless of size,” he said.
The festival features three thought-provoking panel discussions that dive into Malaysia’s evolving AI ecosystem, SME readiness across people, process and product, and practical strategies to supercharge growth with AI. Panellists include top executives from the National AI Office Malaysia, MyDigital Corporation, MDEC, TalentCorp Malaysia, Microsoft Malaysia, Alibaba, and other industry leaders.
Sir Jaya Singnam Rajoo, Senior Director of Multilateral Policy & Negotiation Division, Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry (MITI) Malaysia, kicked off the SME AI Fest 2025 and underscored the government’s commitment to driving AI adoption in the industry.
Also announced during the event are Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) between SAMENTA and two universities: Asia Pacific University and Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) to strengthen AI talent development, research, and industry-academia collaboration.
Another crowd-puller is the SME AI Prompt Competition, which challenges SMEs to experiment with prompt engineering to solve real-world business problems using AI. Winning teams are recognised during the closing session.
The SME AI Festival 2025 is part of a broader, sustained effort by SAMENTA and MPC to future-proof Malaysian SMEs by embedding AI and digital tools into their business DNA.
