Malaysian Business AI Adoption Rises but Most Companies Remain at Basic Stage

Malaysian business AI adoption has accelerated, with 38% of companies now regularly using at least one artificial intelligence tool, compared with 27% a year earlier, according to an Amazon Web Services-commissioned study.

More than 3.4 million businesses now use AI after nearly one million adopters were added over the year.

However, 67% rely primarily on basic applications such as public chatbots or off-the-shelf tools, while only 19% have formal strategies for scaling AI across their organisations.

Financial services recorded the highest adoption rate at 53%, followed by manufacturing at 50%.

Governance structures are also still developing. Only 30% of businesses have assigned clear accountability for AI, while 27% undertake regular monitoring or audits and 18% have documented escalation procedures.

Government involvement could influence the next stage of adoption.

About 74% of businesses said government leadership would be important in accelerating AI use, while 72% said greater public-sector adoption would encourage them to expand their own deployment.