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GDEX, VSTECS dan AWS bekerjasama menyediakan akses AI kepada 10,000 PKS bagi mempercepat transformasi digital, meningkatkan produktiviti dan memperkukuh daya saing perniagaan tempatan.
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00:00Alright, Malaysia has spent years talking about digitalization among SMEs.
00:04So today, the conversation is rapidly shifting towards Artificial Intelligence or AI.
00:08So while large corporations are investing heavily in AI, many SMEs still face familiar barriers
00:13such as limited budgets, lack of technical expertise and uncertainty over where to begin.
00:19So against this backdrop, GDEX together with VSTACS and AWS is launching an initiative
00:24to provide 10,000 SMEs with access to AI tools for six months.
00:29And this includes AI Assistant, Amazon Quick, alongside configuration, training and support services.
00:35So the question is no longer whether AI will transform business,
00:38but whether Malaysian SMEs can adopt it quickly enough to remain competitive in an increasingly digital economy.
00:45And this initiative also raises broader questions about productivity, workforce transformation and the future of SMEs.
00:51And so we want to know, can AI genuinely improve efficiency and decision-making for smaller businesses?
00:56Or will adoption remain limited to a handful of early movers?
01:00And more importantly, how can SMEs move beyond experimentation and turn AI into measurable business outcomes?
01:05So to answer all these questions, joining me in the studio is Edmund Tiong, the CEO of GDEX Change.
01:10Good morning, Edmund. How are you?
01:11I'm fine. I'm a bit nervous here though.
01:13Amazing. No worries.
01:14We'll go through one by one.
01:16So I'm going to start on the base questions first, the broad question.
01:21For the longest time, we see that Malaysia's SME agenda has been focusing on digitalization.
01:25So maybe you can share on why do you believe the conversation is now moving towards artificial intelligence AI?
01:32And what makes this the right time to target the 10,000 SMEs with AI tools?
01:36Because is it the AI now becoming the necessity for SMEs rather than just a competitive advantage?
01:42What do you think about that?
01:43Right. So maybe before I address that question, I think viewers may try to understand,
01:49hey, why is GDEX coming here to talk about an AI topic, right?
01:52Right.
01:53So I think in terms of this, I want to share a transformation journey that took place in GDEX five
01:57years ago.
01:58So five years ago, the group, we took a conscious decision to basically make our own business,
02:04which is the time is very heavily on logistics only.
02:07So we tried to make the company more efficient, process better.
02:12So we took a very, very leap of faith, I would say, whereby we saw the IT side not only
02:19as a support center
02:20to make our business more efficient, more effective, and then we saw this as a growth lever as well.
02:25And that's why once we did our whole transformation journey, which example,
02:29we saved about 30% cost in terms of certain business processes.
02:34We became more efficient.
02:36And I think even though there's a lot of large competition, we're able to fan the competition
02:41and we're also able to grow further and wanted to share this transformation journey to the wider SME and the
02:46wider public.
02:47Amazing.
02:47And so that's why we created this company called GDEX Change to basically share our transformation journey,
02:52share experiences.
02:53And with VS Tech and AWS, I have the best in distribution, the best in technology,
02:59and combine all these things to the wider public.
03:01And ultimately for me, I always have this, I came from SME for the past eight years.
03:06I really wanted to basically, for me it's a bit of a nation building as well,
03:11basically how to make SMEs in Malaysia more efficient, more effective,
03:16and they're able to transform to become global companies.
03:18And that's one of my dreams, I would say.
03:21And working closely towards with SMEs, the discussion of AI itself has been widely discussed,
03:28but yet the adoption among SMEs remains even.
03:30That's the main concern right now and the biggest challenge.
03:33So in your view, what are the biggest barriers preventing businesses from embracing AI at a scale?
03:39Is it the challenge of primarily at cost or is it lack of skills?
03:42Or maybe the uncertainty over the ROI or just simply a fear of change?
03:47I think you've got all these points mentioned.
03:52A little bit of everything.
03:52It's a little bit of everything.
03:55Basically, we see, I think first and foremost is the mindset part.
03:59So whereby there's a certain fear of change or fear of, I would say, the unknown, right?
04:06And thirdly is also cost because I think there's a lot of stories that spoke people that say,
04:10hey, the tokens, right, burnt through a lot and is way beyond their budget
04:14and they didn't know how to control all of this.
04:17So that's why for this, we have this program with AWS FAS Tax.
04:21With GA Exchange, right, we're trying to reduce all these frictions.
04:25The first part, through the understanding of what AI can do.
04:30Then we have this training.
04:31So we have a company called Frontier Scion that basically tells, hey, what can AI do?
04:36What's the possibilities?
04:39And after that, this is whereby cost is another part.
04:42So for us, we also have this program whereby we offer six months free to SMB so that they understand,
04:47hey, what can it be done in a very controlled and very, I would say, cost-effective manner.
04:53And that's how you're able to step up from the comfort zone and ultimately try to make changes
04:58to make the company better, right?
05:00Has it started yet?
05:01It started already.
05:02How has it been so far?
05:02To me, I think it's one to say kudos to the team on air.
05:07So I think the team has been working tirelessly.
05:10I've onboarded already like 100 plus.
05:12It just started last month basically.
05:15So this is where I think, so the team, we have a few forward deploy engineers together
05:21working with training people, together with commercial people to how to solve pain points
05:26for customer side.
05:27So for me, it's always about addressing the pain point first.
05:29So whereby, I think the first point is, what is the challenges that they're facing, the
05:36use cases, and then after that, understanding what success looks like, right?
05:40So it's more just than just giving licenses, but really about, hey, what does success look
05:45like in your business, in your context?
05:46And then we find, hey, this is the budget you'll be looking at in terms of identifying
05:52these problems, and these are the success metrics for this.
05:55So that's how we basically cater this program for the masses.
06:00What are some of the significant changes that you've been seeing after the changes from
06:06the traditional to its AI?
06:08Oh, right.
06:10I think there's a few ways to see it, right?
06:13I think for any SME owners, just like for us, when we did the transformation, it's very
06:17simple.
06:18Can you achieve revenue up, cost down, whilst you have the governance in place?
06:24So I think this is the two big problem statements that will lead to different business processes,
06:30whatnot, and if you can solve these two main things, right, while taking care of the governance
06:35part, I think we've succeeded in helping the nation in that sense.
06:40Well, we can see those positive changes in the metrics that you mentioned earlier, but
06:44changing business behavior is another.
06:46So how do you ensure that SMEs actually use these AI tools effectively during the six-month
06:51sponsorship period under this program, rather than just treating them as a short-term experiment?
06:55Right, this is where for us, we've created an ecosystem whereby there's not only the
07:01configuration, there's also after the config and after identifying the use case, we have
07:06training ecosystem as well.
07:07So we run webinars, not only webinars, we also run workshops.
07:11So we work with a lot of partners and as well as our own team is able to give them
07:16the
07:16support that they need.
07:17So creating an AI, a very practical AI that Malaysia needs, I would say.
07:22How's the feedback for the SMEs?
07:24Oh, yeah.
07:26So I think the feedback, we've run quite a lot of workshops now.
07:30I think overwhelmingly, I was quite surprised at first, because at first the workshop was
07:34supposed to end at like, let's say 5.30, but people still ask questions and then I think
07:39it dragged to 7, 8 p.m.
07:41So I think the curiosity is there.
07:43And I think from this one small example alone, I think people are really excited to adopt it.
07:49And for me, even though, you know, work will be harder, but to me, it's very satisfying
07:53to solve the pain points for Malaysia.
07:56That's a positive impact.
07:57Yeah, yeah.
07:58All right.
07:59Let's see on the productivity.
08:00Because many SME owners want to know one thing.
08:02How will AI affect their bottom line?
08:04So what are some of the most immediate business functions where Amazon Quick can deliver measurable
08:09productivity gains?
08:10And could AI actually realistically help SMEs achieve the equivalent output of a larger
08:15workforce without significantly increasing their costs?
08:19I think short answer is yes.
08:22In terms of business processes, that covers many, right?
08:26So for us, in GDAC's perspective, you've got your finance ops, you've got revenue collection
08:31ops, you've got operations, HR, so many of these different pain points to tackle, right?
08:37So I won't say in terms of, I think it's always important for the SMEs to identify what
08:45is the biggest pain point at the time.
08:46Because business is a very alive one, whereby different season of the year, different pain
08:52point is the most crucial at that point.
08:54So in fact, I would say almost everything can be solved using Quick, but I would say it's
08:59really identifying what's the immediate need.
09:03That's more important thing rather than picking and choosing which processes.
09:07Because ultimately, for us, we use a lot.
09:11I use it every day for most of my tasks.
09:15Yeah, I think if you just think of any sort of processes, I think it should be fine.
09:21And when it comes to the adoption, we see that large organizations have dedicated IT
09:26teams and also AI specialists.
09:28But on the other hand, SMEs often do not.
09:31It's because of the cost that we mentioned earlier, right?
09:33So how important is it that AI solutions become simple enough for business owners and non-technical
09:38employers to use on a daily basis?
09:40Because honestly, it can be overwhelming.
09:43And also the trust is barely there yet.
09:46So what do you think about that?
09:47Because are we reaching a point where AI is becoming as accessible as email or cloud-based
09:51software?
09:52I think transitioning to that already.
09:55In fact, I was called, what I like to use is a thing called practical AI.
09:59So AI shouldn't be something far-fetched, something that is really, of course, those are the guys
10:03that the AI labs would handle the LLMs, right?
10:07But really for SMEs and for enterprises in Malaysia, I think we've got to focus on what is practical.
10:11And if you can really think of that as the main point, anything is possible.
10:19So for us, we deploy it for all our organizations.
10:22For SMB side, we deploy whether it's HR, finance and other things, they can achieve more.
10:29Because ultimately, when we solve all the practical stuff, which is basically all your more mundane,
10:37more repetitive tasks, therefore, you can alleviate yourself to augment your own intelligence,
10:42to do something that is much more value-added, right?
10:46So for me, like examples, this is as simple as when I came here to the radio station, right?
10:51Not to the station, right?
10:52I used Waze, right?
10:53To come here.
10:54And if I didn't have Waze, I would be somehow navigating my Waze.
10:59So it's really becoming as AI, it's like Waze.
11:02So you use it daily.
11:03You don't even think of it.
11:05And ultimately, that gives you more brain space to think of something that's more complicated
11:09and something more important for the company.
11:12Okay, what if, let's talk about this.
11:14What if Malaysians fail or delay the adoption of AI?
11:18Could we eventually see a divide between AI-enabled SMEs and those that struggle to survive
11:24between the ones that fail to adapt?
11:27I really think so.
11:30Well, case in point is, I think for me, for my past, I think, few months,
11:36our whole organisation, we've stressed that we wanted everyone to basically get their certificates on AI
11:43because AI is still very new.
11:44And everyone should be, how to understand AI and how do you use it for their own daily tasks.
11:51And that, when you have those knowledge, right, basically you're more efficient than the other guy that doesn't use AI,
11:57right?
11:58It's happening already.
11:58And in fact, I would say if GDEX, we didn't pivot to AI about two years ago, we wouldn't be
12:05here today
12:05because we wouldn't be more efficient to deliver your parcels.
12:10We couldn't optimise our cost to serve.
12:14So if it happened to GDEX already, I think because our industry is, I would say, quite a coveted logistic
12:20industry,
12:21but other SMEs, I would say, they will face the same problems, I think, in a short time, I would
12:27say.
12:28But do you ever wish that you or GDEX beverted or transformed earlier, not just more than two years ago?
12:33Well, I think the timing was about right because two years ago, we were still talking about, you know,
12:42it's just agent, what's it called, generative AI.
12:45It's only about that time whereby generative became too agentic.
12:51So agentic is whereby it really can see that kind of productivity, massive gains.
12:55Whereas generative is really just, you know, prompting and then getting replies, and that's not scalable.
13:01So it is the right time.
13:04In fact, I would say, not so for most SMEs who haven't adopted, I think it's not too late.
13:10It's not too late, yeah.
13:11Well, what happens to GDEX workforce?
13:13Because, of course, the thoughts of the concern that AI could replace job.
13:17But very many SMEs actually struggle to hire and retain talent at the same time.
13:23So could AI be better viewed as a tool that augments employees rather than just rebases them?
13:27And for your GDEX specifically, what new skills should SME workers develop to remain relevant in an AI-driven workplace?
13:37100%. So I think I agree with you.
13:39Basically, I see AI as a tool to augment intelligence.
13:42So making an example, it's as if I'm like Tony Stark, right?
13:46If you watch Marvel, so you have a Jarvis with you.
13:50And who doesn't want to be Tony Stark if you have a Jarvis with you, right?
13:52So, and then in terms of equipping yourself with the right tools, I would say nowadays the information is out
14:02there.
14:03These courses are quite often times free.
14:05So as for the man down the street or even the teenager down the street, I would highly encourage people
14:13to start learning about it.
14:15go for courses by these big tech giants.
14:18I mean, I personally went to AWS Skill Builder, just learning up those courses.
14:23And it was quite a few bits free.
14:25So just learning from that, you already open your mindset already, I would say.
14:30So lastly, how do you see that the importance of the Together initiative, Together with GDEX, VS Tags, also AWS?
14:38And why is it important between the collaboration between public, private, and Azure ecosystem punishments in associating AI adoption across
14:47Malaysia's SME sector?
14:48What do you think about that?
14:49That's a very big question.
14:51So for me again, what three of us, which is the consortium, GDEX, GDEXchange, VS Tags, and AWS,
15:00what we want to achieve is basically AI from Malaysia.
15:04That's being practical AI being used by SMEs by the masses.
15:08How we do that is trying to make something that is really foreign and something that looks so advanced,
15:14simplify and make it accessible to people through training, through having a team of FDEs to tell people how to
15:20use it in a very secure manner.
15:23And secondly, so public and private conversation.
15:27I think this is where, I think from public side, very important thing is to layer the next generation of
15:34talents.
15:34So I'm in my 30s.
15:36I hope that the new Gen Zs and the new generations, right, will come into the workforce with a very
15:43high knowledge of AI.
15:44And this will make, I would say, the whole digital roadmap for Malaysia much faster.
15:48So I think a lot of public universities are doing that already.
15:51I just understand they're also creating a lot of this called an AI faculty on top of the digital faculty.
15:56So that's a wonderful, wonderful start to this journey that we're taking.
16:01So there should be more discussions between public and private academia as well about how should we do this in
16:11a more holistic manner.
16:13So I'm happy.
16:14And I wish all the best towards the transformation towards AI for GDEX.
16:19But specifically, we see that access to AI may be the first step.
16:22But the real measure of success will be whether SMEs can translate the access into productivity, growth and long-term
16:28competitiveness.
16:30So I would like to say thank you to Edmund Tiong, the CEO of GDEXchange for Insights and Time, Malia.
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