AI Skills Need to Go Beyond the Classroom
Malaysia wants more AI talent.
But knowing what artificial intelligence is and knowing how to solve a real business problem with AI are two different things.
Tencent Cloud and UTM are trying to close that gap.
Their recent AI CAN DO IT Hackathon placed students in front of problems supplied by Malaysian organisations including AmBank, Johor Corporation, Silverlake and Arkie AI.
Students then had to use AI tools to develop practical solutions rather than simply completing academic exercises.
Students Worked on Real Malaysian Problems
The challenges covered areas such as:
- Financial scam prevention
- Business performance monitoring
- Communication and social-skills training
One winning team developed AI Scam Shield, an AI-powered platform designed around financial scam prevention.
Another created Threshold, a 3D simulation that uses AI characters to help people practise communication skills.
This type of experience is valuable because businesses usually do not need employees who simply know how to prompt an AI chatbot.
They need people who can understand a problem, choose the right technology and turn it into something useful.
The Partnership Will Continue for Three Years
The hackathon is only one part of a wider collaboration.
Tencent Cloud and UTM signed a three-year Memorandum of Understanding covering:
- AI and cloud research
- Smart technologies
- Digital transformation
- Professional certifications
- Internships
- Hackathons
- Training and exchange programmes
UTM Vice-Chancellor Prof. Ts. Dr. Mohd Shafry Mohd Rahim said Malaysia’s AI progress will depend on connecting academic learning with the tools and skills actually used by industry.
Why This Matters for Malaysia
Malaysia is already attracting major investment into cloud computing, AI infrastructure and digital services.
But infrastructure alone is not enough.
Companies also need people who can:
- Build AI applications
- Manage cloud platforms
- Develop software
- Protect systems
- Analyse data
- Integrate AI into existing business processes
Without enough skilled talent, Malaysia could end up hosting AI infrastructure while much of the higher-value development work happens elsewhere.
Partnerships between universities and technology companies can help reduce that gap.
Malaysia Needs People Who Can Actually Use AI
AI tools are becoming easier to access.
The harder part is knowing how to apply them effectively.
Students in the programme worked with tools such as Tencent WorkBuddy, CodeBuddy and Miora for research, programming and creative development.
The important lesson is not the individual tool.
Those tools will change quickly.
What matters more is developing the ability to identify a business problem, test an AI solution and evaluate whether it actually works.
Those skills will remain useful even as today’s AI platforms are replaced by newer ones.
Closing Thoughts
Malaysia’s AI ambitions will require more than data centres, GPUs and cloud platforms.
It also needs people capable of turning that infrastructure into useful technology.
The Tencent Cloud–UTM collaboration is one example of how universities can move AI education closer to real industry requirements.
For Malaysia, that may be one of the most important parts of the AI race:
not only having access to AI, but developing enough local talent to build with it.