Following the tabling of Budget 2027, Exabytes Founder and Group CEO Chan Kee Siak says the real test for Malaysian SMEs is no longer whether to adopt AI, but how fast they can put it to work.
Prime Minister and Finance Minister of Malaysia, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim tabled Budget 2027 on 9 October 2026, the fifth MADANI Budget and the second under the Thirteenth Malaysia Plan. Built on three priorities, Raising the Ceiling, Raising the Floor and Driving Reform in Governance, the budget places digitalisation and artificial intelligence (AI) firmly within the national growth agenda.
For Malaysia’s micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), the message is clear. AI is now part of the country’s economic plan, not a side project for large corporations. Exabytes, a homegrown digital and AI solutions provider serving more than 160,000 businesses, says the next step is making sure that policy support turns into practical, measurable adoption on the ground.
What Budget 2027 Means for SMEs and AI
The Ministry of Finance’s Pre-Budget Statement had already signalled the direction. It named AI and digital services as strategic sectors linked to the National AI Action Plan 2026–2030, and it called for AI literacy and digital skills for workers and SMEs. It also flagged MSME digitalisation and financing as a priority.
Budget 2027, totalling RM510 billion, now puts that direction into numbers. Under its “AI for the People” thrust, a RM30 million MDEC fund will help 4,000 MSMEs apply AI and automate their operations, while training and certifying 5,000 AI professionals. AI Malaysia Berhad receives nearly RM15 million to build a safe and ethical AI ecosystem, working towards 200,000 AI-skilled workers. The Government is also planning a sovereign AI cloud to keep citizens’ data and strategic information under Malaysian control.
SMEs get direct relief too. The income tax rate on the first RM150,000 of chargeable income falls to 14%, and to 16% for income between RM150,000 and RM600,000, giving 300,000 MSMEs up to RM6,000 in extra income. The Accelerated Capital Allowance for ICT equipment and software is extended to 31 December 2030, and total loan and financing guarantee facilities rise from RM50 billion to RM57 billion.
In the lead-up to the budget, Digital Minister Gobind Singh Deo said affordability, access and adoption were the ministry’s priorities, and called for measures to help MSMEs adopt AI to raise productivity. Industry research shows why that matters. A 2025 Ecosystm and Red Hat study of 133 Malaysian SMEs found that only 21% had moved beyond AI pilot projects, while around 60% cited a lack of in-house technical expertise as a major obstacle.
CEO’s Take: Less Talk, More Action
For Chan Kee Siak, Founder and Group CEO of Exabytes, the budget’s support for AI is welcome. He says it will only pay off if businesses move from interest to implementation.
“Budget 2027 sends a strong signal that AI is now central to Malaysia’s growth story. The support is there. What SMEs need now is a clear starting point and a partner who can help them turn that support into real results,” said Chan.
He has been outspoken about the gap between enthusiasm and execution. “Businesses understand that AI will affect how they compete, but many are still uncertain about where to begin and how to implement it securely,” he said earlier this year. “That is why there are still too many talks out there, but not enough action.”
Chan believes the focus must shift. “The focus now should be on moving beyond theory, presentations and experimentation, and showing businesses how AI can actually be applied to solve specific problems, improve productivity and deliver measurable results.”
He is equally clear about expectations. “AI is not like a super magician. Today I sign up for AI, tomorrow my business will grow 10 times. Unfortunately, it doesn’t happen that way,” he said. “But with the right onboarding context and with a clear objective, we would expect, within three to six months of investing or implementing AI, it should at least double up efficiency.”
Data readiness is often the hidden barrier. “Many organisations want to implement AI and may even have the budget to do so, but one of their biggest challenges is that their data is not ready,” Chan noted.
“My advice to SME owners is simple: pick one problem that costs you time or customers, apply AI to it, and measure the result. Use support like the new MDEC AI fund and the extended capital allowance for ICT to start small, then scale what works.”
Practising What It Preaches: AI Inside Exabytes
Exabytes speaks from experience. The company has made AI central to how it operates, not only to what it sells.
“More than half of our budgets and allocations are now AI-related,” said Chan. “For example, when we look at infrastructure, CapEx and hardware that we are purchasing, it has to be for the AI business first.”
The clearest example is Eve, Exabytes’ AI agent. “She joined Exabytes two years ago, and today, she can handle more than 80% of our Level 1 workload, including sales, support, product inquiries, and many other tasks,” Chan said.
Rather than cutting jobs, Exabytes has moved its people to higher-value work. “In the past, we always had to firefight in terms of hiring fast enough and training fast enough people to handle all these repetitive level-one workloads,” he explained. “But today, because this workload is effectively handled by AI, it actually frees up our level-one executives. We reskill and upskill them to become account managers.”
Talent development is built in. “For our existing talent and the new talent we are hiring, we will ensure they have access to AI tools and are provided with various AI training and upskilling, so that we understand AI better and can serve our customers better.”
This internal journey underpins GROW AI, the mission Exabytes launched at its GROW AI Summit 2026 in August. GROW AI builds on the company’s earlier GROW Digital programme and moves the focus from getting businesses online to helping them run intelligently with AI. It rests on four principles: Reliable, Accessible, Scalable and AI-driven. The goal is to help one million businesses adopt and grow with AI by 2030.
How Exabytes Helps Businesses GROW AI
With Budget 2027 creating fresh momentum, Exabytes is positioned to help SMEs move from pilot to performance. Its support covers the full journey:
- Guidance on where to start. Exabytes helps businesses identify high-impact, practical use cases, such as customer service, sales follow-ups and lead handling, so AI investment is tied to clear objectives.
- Proven AI agents. The same approach that enables Eve to handle more than 80% of Exabytes’ Level 1 workload can be adapted for other businesses. Internal deployments that prove useful become repeatable solutions for clients.
- Enterprise-grade AI solutions. Through a three-year partnership with Nasdaq-listed Aurora Mobile and its GPTBots.ai enterprise AI platform, Exabytes is co-developing AI solutions for businesses across Southeast Asia.
- Secure, scalable infrastructure. Exabytes provides cloud infrastructure, managed services and a newly available HPC and AI servers colocation facility, giving businesses a reliable foundation as AI workloads grow.
- Data and digital readiness. Building on 26 years of helping businesses go digital, Exabytes helps SMEs get the basics right, from web presence to data, before layering on AI.
With the new MDEC fund targeting AI adoption and automation for 4,000 MSMEs, and capital allowances extended for ICT equipment and software, Exabytes can help SMEs scope practical AI and automation projects, and then deliver them on secure cloud and AI solutions, in line with the fund guidelines once they are released.
Turning Policy into Progress
Budget 2027 gives Malaysian SMEs a clear signal and fresh support. Exabytes believes the businesses that benefit most will be the ones that act now, start with a defined problem and measure results from day one.
“AI can work 24/7,” Chan said. “With the right context, it can also significantly increase the quality of targeting.” For SMEs competing on tight margins and lean teams, that is the opportunity Budget 2027 helps unlock, and the one Exabytes is ready to help them seize.
Businesses ready to start their AI journey can learn more at www.exabytes.ai.
