One Summit. Every Stage of Business. One Shared Advantage: AI.
One Summit. Every Stage of Business. One Shared Advantage: AI.AI is moving quickly from something businesses are experimenting with to something they are actively using in their day-to-day operations. From automating repetitive work and improving customer experiences to supporting decision-making and creating new opportunities, AI is becoming an increasingly important part of how businesses grow.
That was the focus of GROW AI Summit 2026, held on 13 August 2026 at EQ Kuala Lumpur.
Organised by Exabytes Group, the one-day summit brought together business leaders, technology professionals, AI practitioners, and industry experts for a practical look at what AI means for businesses today — and what organisations can do to make the most of it.
Rather than focusing on AI as a futuristic concept, the discussions throughout the day centred on a more immediate question:
How can businesses actually put AI to work?
Making AI Practical for Businesses
The summit began with an opening keynote by Chan Kee Siak, Founder & CEO of Exabytes Group, titled “GROW AI: Powering One Million Businesses into the Future.”
Chan shared Exabytes’ vision of making AI more accessible and practical for businesses, regardless of their size or stage of digital transformation.
For a small business, that could mean using AI to save time on everyday tasks. For an SME, it could mean improving productivity or customer engagement. For a larger organisation, AI could play a much bigger role across operations, data, cloud infrastructure, and enterprise transformation.
The important thing is not to adopt AI simply because everyone else is doing it.
Businesses need to start with the areas where AI can make a genuine difference and build from there.
Understanding Where to Start
One of the challenges many businesses face is knowing where to begin.
The session “The Power of AWS AI — Made Simple for Your Business”, presented by Cheryl Margarita Korintus, Malaysia Scale Leader & ASEAN Demand Generation Leader at AWS, and Lee Hsiang Tan, Solutions Architect at AWS, looked at the broader AWS AI ecosystem and how businesses can approach AI adoption.
The session covered everything from infrastructure and data to AI models and agentic solutions, while also highlighting practical tools that businesses can explore as their first steps into AI.
The takeaway was particularly relevant for organisations that may feel AI is too complicated or costly to get started with.
It doesn’t have to happen all at once.
Businesses can start with one problem, test what works, measure the results, and build their AI capabilities over time.
AI Is Changing the Way We Work
AI adoption isn’t only about customer-facing solutions. It is also changing how teams collaborate and get work done.
At “Smart Collaboration: Unified AI-Powered Platform to Align. Connect. Deliver,” Simon Hsieh, Presales Solution Consultant at Lark Technologies, shared how AI can be incorporated into everyday workplace collaboration.
The discussion looked at the current state of AI adoption and what organisations need to consider when moving towards an AI-first way of working.
For businesses, this means looking beyond simply adding another tool to the technology stack. AI needs to fit into existing workflows and help people work more effectively.
That human element remains important. Technology can enable change, but people ultimately determine whether it succeeds.
When AI Starts Working for You
After lunch, the conversation moved towards one of the more exciting developments in AI: AI agents.
In his session, “Gen AI Enterprise: Agents That Never Sleep,” Chris Lo, Founder & CEO of Aurora Mobile, explored how AI agents can support businesses across areas such as workflow automation, customer service, and conversational sales.
The idea of AI moving from simply answering questions to actually carrying out tasks opens up many possibilities for businesses.
Instead of employees spending hours on repetitive processes, some of those tasks can increasingly be handled through automated AI workflows — giving teams more time to focus on customers, strategy, and other areas that require human judgement.
Rethinking the Customer Experience
AI is also changing the way businesses interact with their customers.
Theresa See, Regional Business Development Manager at Exabytes Commerce, explored this through “The AI-Powered Consumer Journey: Building the Next Generation of Commerce.”
The session looked at how AI can be used across the customer journey, from helping customers discover products to improving conversion and encouraging repeat engagement.
With more businesses collecting customer data across different channels, AI can help turn that information into more useful insights — whether through better recommendations, more relevant customer segmentation, or more personalised experiences.
The opportunity is not simply to use AI in one part of the business. It is to connect those different touchpoints and create a better experience for the customer.
Preparing People for What’s Next
As AI becomes more common in the workplace, one question businesses cannot overlook is whether their people are ready for it.
This was discussed during the panel “Building an AI-Ready Workforce: Skills, Strategy, and Growth,” moderated by Karamjit Singh, Founder of Digital News Asia.
The panel featured Anthony Choong, General Manager & Head of Southeast Asia at Moka AI; Warren Leow, Founder of AITraining2U, Superhomes, and SuperAgentK; and Howie Chang, Co-founder & CEO of Forward College.
The discussion touched on AI skills, employee training, hiring, and the changing nature of work.
One point came through clearly: building an AI-ready workforce is not about expecting everyone to become an AI specialist.
Instead, businesses need to help employees understand where AI can support their work, how to use it effectively, and where human judgement still matters.
Continuous learning will become increasingly important as the technology continues to evolve.
Keeping Businesses at the Centre of AI
The final panel of the day, “AI is Driven by Data and Successful Use Cases are Driven by Business — How Do We Ensure Success?”, brought the conversation back to one of the most important aspects of AI adoption: making sure it delivers business value.
Moderated by Ryan Lim, Enterprise Sales & Account Manager at Exabytes Group, the panel featured Eric Foo, Deputy CEO & EVP of Enterprise Business at Exabytes Group; Sam Hu, AI Solution Manager at Sangfor Technologies; and Dave Yu, COO of Aegis Cloud.
The discussion covered topics including AI investment, data quality, data sovereignty, buy-versus-build decisions, workforce adoption, and ROI.
For businesses considering their next AI investment, these are practical questions that matter.
What problem are we trying to solve? Do we have the right data? Should we build or buy? How will our employees use the technology?
And, ultimately, what will success look like?
These questions help ensure that AI remains connected to the business rather than becoming a technology project without a clear purpose.
A Day of Ideas, Conversations and Connections
Beyond the sessions, GROW AI Summit 2026 gave attendees the opportunity to explore AI solutions through live demonstrations and the exhibitor showcase, while networking with fellow business and technology professionals.
The summit was supported by a range of partners across the AI and technology ecosystem, including AWS, Aurora Mobile, Lark Technologies, Aegis, Moka AI, Sangfor Technologies, EasyParcel, AITraining2U, and Forward College.
Together, they offered attendees a broader view of the technologies, services, and expertise available to support businesses at different stages of their AI journey.
The AI Journey Starts with One Step
By the end of the summit, one thing was clear: there is no single way for a business to approach AI.
Some organisations are just getting started. Others are already experimenting with AI tools, automation, and agents. For larger enterprises, the conversation may already be about scaling AI across departments and ensuring the right data and infrastructure are in place.
Wherever a business starts, the important thing is to start with a clear purpose.
As Chan Kee Siak shared during his closing keynote, “Your AI Journey Starts with One Step.”
For businesses, that first step could be as simple as identifying one process that takes too much time, one customer problem that needs solving, or one opportunity where AI could make a measurable difference.
From there, the journey can grow.
