Cisco announced several deals on Tuesday it says will accelerate AI innovation in Malaysia, including a collaboration agreement with Telekom Malaysia (TM) to help government digital agency Jabatan Digital Negara (JDN) upgrade its digital infrastructure.
Under the agreement – which is under the auspices of Cisco’s Country Digital Acceleration (CDA) programme – TM will build a secure, agile network for JDN’s Putrajaya campus that provides the necessary network performance, reliability and capacity to support bandwidth-intensive applications such as AI and machine learning.
As part of the deal, Cisco will provide JDN with AI-powered collaboration tools such as Webex Boards and Cisco Spaces, which it says will “drive seamless and secure employee workspace experiences.”
JDN is the agency under the Ministry of Digital responsible for coordinating and implementing national and public sector digitalisation projects.
Cisco also signed a CDA collaboration with Malaysian investment firm Permodalan Nasional Bhd (PNB). Under that deal, Cisco will equip PNB’s innovation lab, network operations centre, and open collaboration areas with AI-powered networking, IoT, collaboration and security technologies as it transitions to a new office.
Solutions to be installed in the lab include Webex, Cisco Spaces, Meraki devices and ThousandEyes to help PNB test and develop sustainable workplace technologies.
Meanwhile, Cisco also announced it is partnering with Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) and Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) to launch an AI hackathon to provide engineering and computer science students with a platform to develop AI-driven solutions.
All of this was revealed at Cisco’s first AI Day event in Kuala Lumpur, where Cisco unveiled its strategy to help businesses in Malaysia address the challenges of adopting AI at scale (to include security issues) by building trusted infrastructure that can securely support AI workloads.
Cisco said that AI can potentially add US$115 billion to Malaysia’s gross domestic product (GDP).
“What we have announced today with partners like TM and PNB demonstrates how our AI innovations can help businesses in Malaysia enhance their operations, improve customer experiences, and drive sustainable growth,” said Cisco Malaysia MD Hana Raja in a statement.
The Cisco deals come as the Malaysian government is pushing AI as part of its overall digitalisation strategy. Last week at Google’s groundbreaking ceremony for its first data centre and cloud region in Malaysia, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said that Malaysia is committed to positioning itself as a top AI-driven nation in ASEAN.
At the Cisco event, Digital Ministry secretary general Fabian Bigar highlighted the role AI will play in driving Malaysia's digital economy and strengthening its global competitiveness.
“The potential for AI to enhance productivity, streamline processes, and unlock new avenues for growth is immense,” he said. “By embracing AI, we can tackle pressing challenges, modernise key sectors, and secure long-term prosperity."
