Malaysia stands at a pivotal moment to shape a vibrant AI ecosystem that fuels our digital economy. By positioning the AI Growth Zone as a catalyst, we can accelerate innovation, drive enterprise adoption, nurture world-class talent, and unlock funding pathways that empower every state to participate in this transformation. Through strategic collaboration between state governments, agencies, and industry partners, Malaysia can build a robust AI value chain that strengthens competitiveness, supports SMEs, and creates future-ready opportunities for our people. This keynote explores how we turn ambition into action, state by state, sector by sector to realise Malaysia’s AI Nation ambition.
Raja Segaran is currently the Director of State Digital Economy Office in Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC), an agency tasked by the Government to develop and lead the country’s digital economy. He leads the execution of strategies to develop the states’ digital ecosystems, and sits in several national level platforms, committees and task forces to help the country to shape policies to deliver impactful outcomes.
Raja is also an Adjunct Professor in UNITAR International University. He advised on Digital Strategies to support the university’s goal to bring in industry perspectives in developing future-ready talents and innovation. He is also the Advisor to the Centre for Innovation and Technology Adoption (CITA), UNITAR. Raja Segaran is also a Fellow with the Malaysian Institute of Management (FMIM).
At the international front, Raja is the IEEE Global Chair for the Digital Economy & Financial Inclusion (DEFI) Sub-Committee under the IEEE’s Digital Resilience Industry Connection Program.
Prior to joining MDEC, Raja was a Director with Ernst & Young (EY) Consulting in the Kuala Lumpur office as one of the leaders in the Transformation domain. He has led the set-up and management of several medium to large transformation offices for various multinational and local clients in the private sector.