KUCHING (Nov 2): Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) paying for individual artificial intelligence (AI) subscriptions for their staff could spend several thousand ringgit a month without necessarily seeing a corresponding impact on their operations.
Exabytes founder and chief executive officer Chan Kee Siak said subscribing to readily available AI tools may seem affordable initially, but costs can add up when multiple employees require access.
“For example, a business with 30 employees paying for individual AI subscriptions could spend several thousand ringgit a month, without necessarily seeing a corresponding impact on its operations if the tools are used mainly for basic tasks,” he told The Borneo Post in an exclusive interview.
His comments come as Budget 2027 sets aside RM30 million through the Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) to support AI adoption among 4,000 micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), and aims to certify 5,000 AI professionals.
Chan said the allocation presents an opportunity to help more MSMEs explore AI and integrate it into their businesses. However, he said successful adoption involves more than access to software subscriptions.
“Businesses may also need support with organising data, connecting AI tools to existing systems and implementing solutions that address specific operational needs.
“This is particularly relevant given that around 60 per cent of Malaysian SMEs report lacking in-house technical expertise,” he said.
He said the initiative to certify 5,000 AI professionals also presents an opportunity to connect this talent with participating MSMEs, giving businesses practical guidance and implementation support.
He added that cybersecurity and data protection are equally important as businesses begin using AI across customer service, sales and operations.
“Beyond the number of businesses adopting AI, the real measure of success is whether the technology delivers tangible improvements,” he said.
He said this could include time saved on routine tasks, cost per transaction, customer response times and revenue growth.
“Establishing a baseline before implementation and reviewing results after six and 12 months would help assess whether AI is delivering sustained value, rather than simply measuring initial adoption,” he said.
For SMEs weighing their own spending, Chan said RM50,000 can be a starting point for exploring AI, but the cost of adoption will depend on the business problem they are trying to solve and the level of implementation required.
He said more integrated AI solutions may offer greater opportunities to automate workflows, but they also come with implementation and ongoing costs.
Rather than dividing a budget across software, automation, data, infrastructure and training from the outset, he said SMEs should begin with a specific business problem. They should also account for recurring expenses and maintenance, not just the initial setup cost.
He said the aim is not to spend the entire budget, but to understand what level of investment is justified by the value AI can deliver.
AI – Moving beyond basic use
The concern over spending without results reflects a wider gap in how Malaysian businesses use the technology. According to Amazon Web Services (AWS), 38 per cent of businesses now use AI consistently with two-thirds of these still at the basic application stage.
“Using AI regularly does not necessarily translate into business transformation,” Chan said.
He said employees may use AI for content creation, research or customer communications, but if these uses stay disconnected from existing workflows and broader business objectives, their impact on overall productivity may be limited.
“The next phase of adoption will depend on how effectively businesses integrate AI into their operations to address specific challenges, streamline processes and improve business outcomes,” he said.
The AWS figures also show that only 19 per cent of AI adopters have a formal strategy to scale their AI use.
Chan said a practical strategy should start with a clear business objective, rather than a decision to adopt AI simply because it is becoming more widely used.
He said SMEs should first identify what they want to improve, whether productivity, customer service, operational efficiency or cost management. They should then map their day-to-day workloads to find tasks that are repetitive and consume significant time or resources.
“An effective AI strategy does not need to be a complex document or a large-scale transformation plan from the outset; it should provide a clear direction, define how success will be measured and establish a practical path for scaling AI in line with the business’s needs and capabilities,” he said.
Even with the right tools, he said AI initiatives often stall when businesses fail to change how work is done.
“One of the most common reasons AI initiatives stall is that businesses invest in the technology without making the necessary changes to how work is carried out,” he said.
He said limited in-house expertise and uncertainty about integrating AI with existing systems can also make it difficult for businesses to progress beyond initial experimentation. Business leaders need to understand AI’s capabilities and limitations, set clear expectations, and give employees guidance and resources.
“Ultimately, successful AI implementation requires more than access to the right tools; it depends on aligning technology with business objectives, processes and people,” he said.
Before moving towards AI agents and more advanced automation, Chan said businesses should map out key workflows, clarify responsibilities and organise the data AI needs to access.
“However, SMEs do not need to have perfect data or overhaul their entire infrastructure before getting started,” he said.
He added that access controls and appropriate safeguards should be in place before AI agents are given greater autonomy or access to sensitive business systems.
Exabytes currently supports more than 160,000 businesses and aims to help one million businesses adopt and grow with AI by 2030.
“We look forward to opportunities to work with MDEC, state governments and other partners to help more SMEs across the country build their AI capabilities and translate adoption into meaningful business outcomes,” Chan said.
Full article by The Borneo Post.
