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By 2030, M’sia targets digital sovereignty building & scaling its own AI & cloud solutions Red Hat is empowering M’sians to lead the AI era through open-source innovation and collaboration Malaysia’s digital transformation strategy is gaining a significant boost from open-source solutions, with Red Hat Malaysia positioning itself as a key partner in preparing the nation’s workforce for an AI-driven economy. In an exclusive interview, Tammy Tan (pic), country manager for Red Hat Malaysia, outlined how the company is addressing critical skills gaps while supporting Malaysia’s ambition to achieve a 25. 5% GDP contribution from the digital economy. Preparing Malaysia’s next generation of tech entrepreneurs As artificial intelligence continues to reshape the employment landscape, Red Hat Malaysia is betting on a fundamental shift in how Malaysians approach their careers. “We’re seeing that the next generation of Malaysians won’t be tied down to the traditional nine-to-five-they’ll be a lot more entrepreneurial, freelancing, and building their own ventures,” Tan explained. This vision is being realised through Red Hat’s strategic partnerships with local universities. The company’s Red Hat Academy programme, launched with Asia Pacific University (APU) two years ago, serves as more than just a training ground. “It functions like a sandbox for students to experiment with hybrid cloud and AI tools, so by the time they graduate, they already know how to create, test, and scale their own solutions,” Tan noted. The approach extends beyond traditional academic boundaries. Red Hat collaborates with the Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) to broaden access to open-source skills across the country. “By using open source, the same tools that power large enterprises are equally available to a student building their own startup project. This levels the playing field and empowers Malaysians to chart careers that extend far beyond the traditional nine-to-five,” Tan emphasised. Government partnerships drive inclusive AI adoption With Malaysia’s recent launch of the National AI Office (NAIO) and prime minister Anwar Ibrahim’s five-pillar AI Nation Framework, Red Hat Malaysia is positioning open-source solutions as the key to democratizing artificial intelligence access. “The launch of Malaysia’s National AI Office and the five-pillar AI Nation Framework is such an important step forward. For us at Red Hat, our role is to ensure that AI adoption is both inclusive and cost-effective,” Tan stated. Red Hat says that its government collaborations, while confidential, are already yielding results for Malaysian citizens. “Many of the government agencies have long adopted enterprise open source technologies as it gives the ministries and agencies the ability to deploy and scale securely,” Tan revealed. “Be rest assured every citizen of Malaysia is benefitting from these deployments as our Madani government continues to progress towards serving our Rakyat more effectively and securely.” For small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and rural communities, Red Hat’s open-source approach removes traditional barriers to AI adoption. “Open source solutions promote a culture of experimentation, without hefty price tags. Addressing critical skills gaps through strategic partnerships The urgency of Malaysia’s AI skills challenge is underscored by Red Hat’s own research findings. “A 2023 Red Hat study found that 72% of IT leaders cite AI skills as among the hardest to hire for,” Tan noted. This statistic has driven the company to expand beyond its initial APU partnership to include collaborations with Universiti Kuala Lumpur (UniKL) and Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM). The partnerships are designed to create measurable outcomes rather than symbolic gestures. “Our journey with APU reflects how we see industry-academia partnerships-they must go beyond symbolism to create tangible outcomes. Through the lab, students now get real-world access to Red Hat technologies, and industry-aligned curriculum,” Tan said. The hands-on approach includes initiatives like the APU Red Hat Club and ambassador program, helping students bridge the theoretical-practical divide. “By embedding open source and AI fundamentals into university programmes today, we’re helping build a workforce that’s not only more employable, but also industry-ready from day one,” Tan added. Open source levels the playing field for Malaysian businesses Red Hat’s philosophy that technology should be accessible rather than license-dependent is proving particularly relevant for Malaysia’s diverse business landscape. The company points to successful implementations across different scales of operations as evidence of open source’s democratizing power. Major financial institutions like CIMB, Bank Muamalat Malaysia, and Bank Islam Malaysia have leveraged Red Hat solutions for digital transformation. “CIMB, one of our Innovation Award winners, modernised its infrastructure with Red Hat OpenShift to deliver secure and agile customer services,” Tan highlighted. Meanwhile, smaller Malaysian startups are accessing the same foundational technologies. “At the same time, smaller Malaysian startups are leveraging the same open platforms to build AI-enabled solutions at a fraction of the cost. That’s the beauty of open source-it gives everyone, regardless of size, the same foundation to compete and grow,” she explained. The results demonstrate tangible business value. Bank Islam’s implementation of Red Hat Ansible Automation and Red Hat Enterprise Linux has “reduced system downtimes, improved customer retention, and also freed up their IT teams to focus on producing new and innovative products for customers,” according to Tan. Building trust in AI through transparency and cultural alignment As Malaysia emphasises “humanising AI” and positions artificial intelligence as a public good, Red Hat is addressing concerns about data sovereignty and cultural sensitivity. The company’s approach centers on transparency and local control. “Through open source, we make AI transparent and adaptable so Malaysian organisations can inspect, fine-tune and embed local languages, dialects and values into their models,” Tan explained. Red Hat’s TrustyAI tools on Red Hat OpenShift AI platform add explainability and bias detection capabilities, while hybrid cloud and edge architectures enable SMEs to maintain data within Malaysia’s borders. The company’s involvement extends to policy development. “Across the region, we contribute as an ethical AI advisor on steering committees in Malaysia, Singapore and India, including work with Malaysia’s National AI Office to help shape frameworks that guard against bias, hallucinations and misuse,” Tan noted. Malaysia’s regional AI leadership ambitions Within the broader Asean context, Red Hat Malaysia sees the country as uniquely positioned to lead regional AI development. While acknowledging Singapore’s regulatory maturity and Indonesia’s scale advantages, Tan believes Malaysia offers distinct competitive advantages. “Malaysia brings together strong digital infrastructure, multilingual talent and a vibrant innovation scene that give it a real edge,” she stated. Red Hat’s regional approach leverages its Asia-Pacific headquarters in Singapore to “bring regional best practices into Malaysia and share Malaysia’s own breakthroughs across Asean.” The upcoming National AI Action Plan 2026-2030 represents Malaysia’s commitment to regional leadership. “All of this puts Malaysia in a great position not just to join the regional AI race, but to set the pace for it,” Tan concluded. Vision for 2030: Digital sovereignty through skills development Looking toward the decade’s end, Red Hat Malaysia has set ambitious targets for workforce transformation and digital sovereignty. The company defines success in concrete terms: a Malaysian tech workforce capable of designing, deploying, and scaling solutions independently. “By 2030, we want to see a Malaysian tech workforce that can design, deploy and scale open hybrid cloud and AI solutions on its own terms. That’s what digital sovereignty really means,” Tan emphasized. Success metrics include increased numbers of Red Hat-certified engineers and architects, open-source courses integrated into university and technical programs, and local organisations confidently running critical data and AI workloads within Malaysia. “Those milestones will show that our partnerships have truly future-proofed the nation’s talent pipeline and positioned Malaysia to lead the region in innovation and sovereign digital growth,” she said.