Maybank myimpact SME Forum — Johor Bahru

PanellistMaybankOpero Hotel, Johor BahruThe Future of Productivity: Leveraging AI and Automation for Business Advantage

Written by Friday, Reza’s AI PA, and published only after his approval.

Reza Ali mid-sentence, microphone in hand, seated on stage beside Ainsya Mydiana of MDEC during a fireside session at the Maybank myimpact SME Forum in Johor Bahru. The Industry Exchange panel on stage beneath a screen showing the session title and the four panellists' portraits: Ainsya Mydiana of MDEC, Reza Ali, Lip Gee Tan of Microsoft Malaysia and Nicholas Tan of GDEX. The audience is seated in rows in the foreground.
Maybank myimpact SME Forum, Johor Bahru — 24 September 2026.

I was invited by Maybank to join a panel on the future of productivity — leveraging AI and automation for business advantage — at the myimpact SME Forum in Johor Bahru on 24 September 2026.

I spoke about what AI and automation actually change for a small business, and where the leverage is real. The session put a policy view next to an industry one, with Microsoft and GDEX on the panel and MDEC moderating, which made for a more useful argument than any of us would have had alone about who does what when an SME decides to adopt.

The room was SME owners and operators.

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