On 28 November 2025, the evening lights of Kuala Lumpur shimmered a little brighter for Malaysia’s digital community. The prestigious PUMM 32nd Anniversary cum 2025 Malaysia Role Model Recognition Gala Night took place at the elegant M Resort Hotel, Kuala Lumpur — gathering leaders, innovators, entrepreneurs, and changemakers from across the region.
For Exabytes, the event marked more than a calendar highlight in the company’s journey — it was a defining moment. A homegrown Star Role Model was born. It was a night of pride, gratitude, and profound recognition, celebrating not only the organisation’s growing legacy in the Malaysian tech ecosystem, but also the visionary leadership of its founder. When he stepped onto the stage, he did so not merely as an award recipient, but as a beacon of inspiration for aspiring entrepreneurs nationwide.
That night, Exabytes Founder and CEO, Mr Chan, was honoured with the PUMM Role Model Recognition 2025 award as a Star Role Model in the Star Role Model Category, recognising outstanding leadership that transcends business metrics to influence communities, industries, and future generations. The Star Role Model tier represents individuals who have demonstrated exemplary achievements, earned the trust of the public, and shaped the entrepreneurial narrative through both bold innovation and steadfast integrity.
Mr Chan received the award from Malaysia’s beloved public figure, Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah, the former Director General of Health Malaysia — widely recognised for his leadership in safeguarding Malaysia’s health through unprecedented times. Having a global icon present the award added a layer of significance: a meeting of two worlds — public service leadership and tech entrepreneurship — united by excellence, responsibility, and national impact.
A Room United by Purpose and Promise
The evening began with a red carpet reception that buzzed with anticipation. The venue, M Resort Hotel, Kuala Lumpur, transformed into a ballroom of aspiration — a celebration of resilience and role models that have dared to push boundaries. The gleaming décor, the warm camaraderie, and the ceremonial grandeur set the tone for what would become one of the most memorable nights in Exabytes’ history.
A delegation of 10 Exabytes team members and board representatives attended the gala to witness the milestone in person — their presence echoing Exabytes’ belief that success is never individual, but collective. Seeing the award moment live, they shared not just applause, but a shared sense of mission and meaning. These leaders, engineers, strategists, and growth drivers came together to celebrate the person who laid the foundation for it all.
From Humble Beginnings to Industry Torchbearer
Founded at a time when digital transformation was still finding its voice in Southeast Asia, the company has evolved into one of Malaysia’s most recognised homegrown digital enablers — built to support growth from startups to scaled enterprises. Today, the organisation advances businesses through five core pillars:
A — AI Hosting
B — Business Apps
C — Commerce
D — Digital
E — Enterprise
forming a complete ecosystem that enables companies to transform, operate, and scale infrastructure-first.
Over the decades, Exabytes has fuelled success for 160,000 businesses worldwide, empowering SMEs and enterprises to GROW Digital — helping them build impactful brands, deploy AI-ready hosting environments, digitise workflows through business applications, unlock real transaction growth via digital commerce, operate safely with cybersecurity-led reliability, and scale confidently with enterprise-grade digital collaboration and cloud enablement solutions.
Yet, the recognition of the company’s founder that evening highlighted an even bigger achievement — that the organisation’s influence now extends far beyond business enablement. It has grown into a story of human inspiration — one that motivates Malaysia’s entrepreneurs to build responsibly, encourages future leaders to lead with empathy, and reinforces that meaningful innovation can shape industries, uplift communities, and power global success with Malaysian roots.
What the Star Role Model Award Truly Means
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Innovation that empowers the underserved — championing digital inclusion for SMEs since day one.
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Leadership that humanises technology — building products, platforms, and teams through people-first thinking.
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Advocacy for Malaysia’s tech talent ecosystem — actively inspiring future founders through mentorship, speaking engagements, and ecosystem support.
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Resilience through disruption — steering Exabytes with agility across economic storms and digital revolutions.
A Moment That Reflected Every Exabytes Member
The delegation seated that night witnessed more than Mr Chan’s win — they witnessed a moment that represented hundreds of employees working in synergy across borders, teams, disciplines, and time. The award reflected the engineers safeguarding data centres, the sales and marketing teams accelerating digital commerce adoption, the infrastructure builders supporting uptime excellence, and the strategists nurturing Malaysia’s digital economy.
This collective representation is woven into the ethos of Exabytes: leadership anchors direction, but people power momentum.
Inspiring Malaysia’s Future Role Models
Exabytes’ participation at this milestone gala reflects the organisation’s alignment with the mission of PUMM: amplifying stories that spark the next generation of leaders. The digital economy in Malaysia continues to grow at unprecedented speed — and with that growth comes a need for leaders who combine business ambition with national responsibility.
Mr Chan’s recognition serves as a powerful reminder for founders, CEOs, and innovators alike: meaningful success is not measured only by scale, but by the number of people we inspire, empower, and uplift along the way.
Looking Ahead
The Malaysia tech ecosystem can expect even more from Exabytes in the years ahead — not only in digital enablement, but also in ecosystem influence. As Exabytes looks forward to accelerating enterprise adoption of AI collaboration, cloud optimisation, and digital commerce infrastructure, the company also keeps its eyes firmly on inspiring Malaysia’s future builders.
The 32nd Anniversary gala night was not just a celebration of history — it was an affirmation of Malaysia’s progress and promise. And for Exabytes, it was a night that celebrated the brightest star — the one that continues to guide its mission to empower entrepreneurs everywhere.
