Malaysian Business Leaders Urged to Embrace AI or Risk Falling Behind

A growing gap between awareness and readiness for artificial intelligence (AI) is emerging in Malaysia's corporate world, with business leaders being told they must take a more active role in embracing the technology. The warning comes as AI moves from pilot programmes into mainstream operations across the country.

The distinction lies not just in strategy or budget but in leaders personally getting familiar with AI and integrating it into their own work. This means going beyond mere awareness to actually using AI for personal benefit, according to experts at a recent industry summit.

Futurefirst Solutions co-founder Shankar Nagalingam emphasized that simply being aware of AI is no longer enough. He urged business leaders to take the first step in humanizing with AI by familiarizing themselves with it and integrating it into their work. 'Leaders need to get themselves to use AI for their own benefit,' he said.

Those who fail to act on AI's impact risk falling behind, Nagalingam warned. The Summit of Titans II, where this warning was made, drew over 300 C-suite executives from across Malaysia and featured the launch of a new leadership venture called Tarantula Trail.

The Tarantula Trail programme is built around NETRA, a framework centered on five traits: Neuroplasticity, Neuroempathy, Technosapient, Regenerative, and Agentic. It combines technology-based assessment using EEG brainwave analysis, AI facial recognition, and voice modulation with a cinematic experience that allows participants to identify their own leadership gaps.

The programme uses cutting-edge technology in a unique way for the business world, said Nagalingam. 'We are using technology that no one is using in a leadership environment to connect and interpret future capabilities,' he explained.

Tarantula Trail's creators claim it can read how leaders truly think, feel, and decide, elevating human capabilities beyond what machines can replace. The programme identifies individual gaps through technology rather than questionnaires, with the reliability of its brainwave measurement surpassing that of a lie detector.

The cinematic element is key to creating self-realization in participants, according to co-founder Dr Chanthiran Veerasamy. 'Cinematic experience gives you immersive learning,' he said, while validation comes from an AI app and EEG technology.

Other industry leaders who spoke at the summit included Managing Director of Green Packet Datuk Wira Shahul Hameed Shaik Dawood, PIKOM CEO Ong Kian Yew, and Malaysian Institute of Human Resource Management President Simon Benjamin. Keynote speaker Professor Keith Carter emphasized that whether AI replaces or empowers people depends entirely on leadership intent.

CEOs with vision are bringing AI into their organizations to unlock human potential rather than cut jobs, according to Carter. He warned that waiting gets punished in 2026 and organizations that delay action risk being left behind.