Malaysia stands at a defining juncture in its digital evolution, marked by the ongoing development of the National AI Action Plan 2030.
This strategic blueprint, which is currently being finalised and orchestrated by the National AI Office (NAIO) under the Digital Ministry, is a whole-of-nation approach. Its core purpose is to elevate Malaysia into an "Inclusive, Sustainable AI Nation" and carries a mandate that extends far beyond mere technology adoption.
For the National AI Action Plan 2030 to serve as a cornerstone for nation-building and structural economic transformation --
aligning with the spirit of the upcoming 13th Malaysia Plan (RMK-13) -- artificial intelligence (AI) must be governed responsibly.
AI is designated as a powerful "force for good" for Malaysia, tasked with delivering sustainable benefits for people and the planet and securing a clean, safe and sustainable living environment.
The environmental engine: AI accelerating sectoral sustainability
The most immediate impact of this Green IT Revolution is visible in the National AI Action Plan 2030's impact engines that channel AI into priority sectors to drive measurable ESG outcomes. This strategy ensures that AI applications are inherently designed for efficiency and resource conservation, such as:
> Energy Transition: AI is fundamental to modernising the Power Utility sector. It is being leveraged for grid flexibility and load forecasting to actively boost renewable energy adoption. Furthermore, AI-enabled analytics are planned to accurately forecast solar farm output, ensuring operational precision as the nation shifts its energy mix.
> Sustainable AI resource management: In agriculture, the Scalable Agristack aims to achieve up to a twofold improvement in yield while saving resources like fertiliser and irrigation. In the Plantation sector, the AI-powered platform for oilpalm smallholders is designed to potentially double yields, enabling increased national output without requiring land expansion.
> AI governance: This transformation requires the digital infrastructure to be climate-aligned. The Foundational Enabler for Accessible High-powered Compute, carries the clear mandate that high-performance computing capacity must be delivered "while staying within the nation's climate-impact commitments". This compute capacity is vital for local AI development, enabling data-intensive research critical for environmental resilience, such as weather forecasting and disaster management.
> Data stewardship: The nexus of AI governance and market incentives.
AI's ability to drive ESG decision-making hinges on the availability of reliable, high-quality data, the essential "AI-fuel". The creation of these trusted datasets requires rigorous data preparation, including quality assurance and cleaning processes to minimise bias, correct inconsistencies and ensure the data is truly fit for purpose when training AI models.
Shamsul Izhan Abdul Majid Head of the National AI Office (NAIO)
While the Jabatan Digital Negara oversees the AI-ready data exchange, NAIO establishes the AI policy foundation and ethical AI governance. To drive high-quality data supply, the National AI Action Plan 2030 incorporates the "AI Data Champion" incentive, which directly boosts a company's Bursa ESG score. This structurally ensures data stewardship is a key part of corporate value and transparency.
National competitiveness: Leveraging the "Made By Malaysia" model
The aspiration to build a robust and competitive future for Malaysia, aligned with principles of national growth and long-term prosperity, is intrinsically linked to our ability to innovate domestically. The "Made by Malaysia" goal moves Malaysia beyond being merely an AI consumer, focusing instead on transitioning the nation into a capable AI producer of products and services.
The National AI Action Plan 2030 also underscores strategic interventions aimed at fostering growth and scaling local capabilities:
> Cultivating a locally skilled and competitive workforce, ready for the global AI landscape: At the core of this strategy is the massive reskilling effort through Talent Pipeline at Scale, which targets transitioning hundreds of thousands of existing workers into higher-value, AI-enabled roles. Among initiatives to attract expertise and stimulate the local ecosystem, NAIO and TalentCorp through the MyMahir-National AI Council for Industry, are overseeing key initiatives aimed at AI talent development, industry integration, policy alignment and governance.
> Addressing the AI talent pipeline from the ground up: AI-Fluent Students aims to embed AI usage, safety and ethics into K-12 learning, fostering AI literacy among students, while AI-Centric Higher Education works to equip tertiary learners with techno-functional skills and fast-lane accreditation for AI courses. Crucially, the AI-Competent Civil Servants initiative prepares public officers with the necessary skills and knowledge to adopt and regulate AI at work, ensuring the AI-Augmented Government is a catalyst for the nation's transformation.
> Nurturing innovation through AI Growth Zones: To accelerate the transition from an AI consumer to an AI producer, NAIO supports the establishment of Regional AI Growth Zones. These zones are designed to de-risk investment and accelerate time-to-market by providing tailored support, including compute access, talent secondments, and grant funding contingent on hitting technical and commercial milestones. This systematic focus on market-driven innovation and adoption is key to securing long-term economic transformation.
The trust mandate: Ensuring a responsible future
Ultimately, the sustainability of this entire effort relies on public and investor confidence. NAIO is the guardian of Trust through Responsible AI Governance, a necessary pillar for delivering the Social (S) and Governance (G) benefits:
> Corporate accountability: Through the AI-Aware Stewardship initiative, NAIO is focused on elevating AI risk management to the highest level. This involves exploring best practices to publish "Emerging Technology (including AI) Governance Statement", ensuring that technology risks are inclusively integrated into ESG programmes.
> Building public confidence: Recognising that public concern around AI risks like privacy and deepfakes remains, the Public Trust and Confidence initiative aims to build AI literacy and promote responsible use to secure broad public buy-in for AI adoption. This systematic effort ensures that the benefits of AI, such as reimagined, hyper-personalised government services, are delivered transparently and inclusively.
The National AI Action Plan 2030, currently being developed by the NAIO under the Digital Ministry, is strategically designed to establish the necessary groundwork for a dynamic and accountable "Green IT Revolution", securing the national aspiration of becoming an "Inclusive, Sustainable AI Nation."