KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 12 – The Government will introduce the AI Builders Hub under Rakyat Digital from October to help Malaysians move beyond learning and using artificial intelligence (AI) towards creating practical solutions with the technology.
Digital Minister Gobind Singh Deo said the hub would provide a hybrid pathway for Malaysians to apply what they had learned, experiment with AI and develop solutions of their own.
“The aim is to help more Malaysians make the transition from learning about and using technology to creating with it, and ultimately, to build solutions that are Made by Malaysia,” he said yesterday at the AI Malaysia Takeover 2026 event, which is being held on Aug 11 and 12.
Rakyat Digital, which was first launched in January 2024 as an online learning platform to make digital knowledge and skills more accessible, is now being expanded into a broader digital learning ecosystem.
The expanded approach is built around three priorities, namely awareness, access and adoption, with the Digital Literacy Hub providing free access to foundational digital and AI learning under the awareness component.
For access, the Government funded Global Learning Pass will provide 100,000 Malaysians with three months of free access to Coursera, with the programme to be rolled out in four cohorts. The first cohort, involving 25,000 participants, will begin on Sept 16, with registration now open through the Rakyat Digital portal at www.rakyatdigital.gov.my.
The pass will give participants access to more than 16,000 courses and certifications offered through Coursera by leading universities and industry players worldwide.
“The third, Adoption, is about turning knowledge into action,” Gobind said.
Under this component, the AI Builders Hub will give Malaysians an avenue to apply their knowledge, experiment with AI and work on practical solutions. On its development, Gobind said the hub was still a work in progress and would continue to evolve according to the needs of the ecosystem.
“I don’t think we can say, okay, we are going to build a hub by this particular date. It is evolving. It is continuous,” he said.
Malaysia, he said, could not be content with being a nation of AI users and needed to develop more innovators, creators and builders.
“Put simply, we need more AI Builders,” he said.
An AI Builder did not necessarily have to be an AI expert or computer scientist, but could be someone who identified a problem, understood how AI could be applied to address it and turned an idea into a product, service or practical solution.
Traditional education pathways should also be complemented by more flexible ways of developing relevant skills and experience, including short courses, industry certifications, bootcamps, hackathons, peer learning and apprenticeships.
“These pathways must go beyond learning in theory by giving people opportunities to experiment, apply what they had learned and build real solutions to real problems,” he said.
Greater efforts were also needed to bring people together to exchange ideas and build Malaysia’s AI ecosystem, with awareness remaining important in helping Malaysians understand AI, including its strengths, weaknesses and risks.
Access to AI solutions was equally important, particularly where the technology could address specific needs in industries and sectors.
“Adoption becomes key, and I think that is where you will see a true value that is created by this new technology, in particular AI,” he said.
The Government, he said, could support the ecosystem through infrastructure, policies and incentives, while also listening to the views of those developing AI solutions in Malaysia.
Industry and the Government should not work independently, he added, as an inclusive ecosystem would be needed to ensure Malaysia could develop its own AI capabilities.