Budget 2027: More Incentives Needed To Accelerate AI Adoption -- Pandai Education
By Fatin Umairah Abdul Hamid
KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 2 (Bernama) – The government should provide incentives in the form of credits and tax exemptions for artificial intelligence-related companies undertaking research and development, and support data centre expansion to lure more AI technology investments to Malaysia.
These perks, if contained in Budget 2027, would accelerate AI adoption, Pandai Education Sdn Bhd co-founder and chief executive officer (CEO) Khairul Anwar Mohamad Zaki said today.
He also said there should be greater emphasis on talent and human capital development to help local companies secure skilled workers, particularly in technology and AI.
Such support is important for technology companies such as Pandai, which has increasingly relied on AI to provide personalised learning to a growing number of students, he said.
“We need good local talent to support what we do, especially in technology and AI,” he told Bernama.
He cited how the company’s AI system, P-Bot, is now using more than one billion tokens (units of text processed by AI systems) per month. Hence, they need a lot of support in this area.
Pandai Education is a local education technology (edtech) start-up launched in 2020 that provides an online learning platform offering tuition and other curriculum-based learning resources for students, teachers and parents.
Khairul Anwar said Pandai has grown its registered student base to 1.5 million from about 100,000 in its first year since it was established. Revenue has risen 45-fold over the past five years. He did not disclose any figures.
He said Pandai uses AI tools to personalise quizzes, tests, flashcards and other learning materials based on students’ performances, including their strengths and weaknesses across subjects, topics and difficulty levels.
The platform’s focus is to improve access to digital education and to keep students engaged with customised content tailored to individual needs, he said.
“Pandai has one clear goal, which is to provide personalised, quality education to as many students as possible.
“When it comes to technology, people often say that technology is a great equaliser. However, what we have seen over the years is that technology can also become a great divider, widening the gap between those who have access to technology and those who do not,” he added.
He said technology could help narrow educational gaps, particularly for students with limited access to quality learning resources, adding that 30.3 per cent of Pandai’s students are from rural areas.
Investment Expands Pandai Features
Khairul Anwar said the company secured its first external investment of RM1.2 million from 500 Southeast Asia in early 2021, followed by investments from other investors from various countries.
500 Southeast Asia is one of the venture capital fund managers backed by Khazanah Nasional Bhd through Dana Impak, which aims to strengthen Malaysia’s start-up ecosystem by channelling catalytic capital to high-potential Malaysian companies.
Pandai offers a free version of its platform, while its Offline Mode gives access to selected content without an Internet connection once it has been downloaded and synchronised.
Khairul Anwar said the funding had enabled the platform to evolve from offering basic quizzes to providing comprehensive curriculum-based content for students from Year One to Form Five, including notes, flashcards, videos, interactive experiments, live classes and AI-powered learning features.
Growth and Regional Plans
Pandai’s priorities over the next three years include reaching more underserved students, particularly those outside major cities, and working more closely with education ecosystem partners, especially the Ministry of Education (MOE), he said.
“We have two main agendas for the next three years. First, to reach more underprivileged students. Those in rural areas need the most help. We (also) want to work closely with ecosystem partners, especially with the Ministry of Education (MOE).
“Two years ago, we started working more closely with MOE. We are now allowed to go into schools. We have physically visited more than 600 schools this year,” he said.
Khairul Anwar said Pandai will continue to explore opportunities in Singapore and Indonesia even as it strengthens its presence in Malaysia and Brunei.
-- BERNAMA