(From left) Hassan, Chin, Boo and Ganesh discussing how AI is reshaping advertising, from creative production to hyper-localised campaigns, during the MAA AI Marketing and Advertising Sharing Session. —SAMUEL ONG/The Star
PETALING JAYA: With the government allocating RM5.9bil to strengthen Malaysia’s artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities and digital structure in Budget 2026, the message to the advertising industry is clear: adapt to AI or lose out.
The Malaysian Advertisers Association (MAA) believes the time for tentative experiments is over.
Through its Knowledge Series, the association is pushing the industry to stop treating AI as a mere cost-cutting tool and start using it as a driver for business expansion.
This strategic shift was the focus of the AI Marketing and Advertising Sharing Session held at Menara Star, Petaling Jaya, on Jan 27.
MAA vice-president Hassan Alsagoff, who is also Grab’s loyalty and marketing regional head, observed that while local companies have begun embracing the technology, the initial focus has been narrow.
“What we’ve noticed is that conversations tend to centre around productivity,” Hassan said.
“But we want to reframe those discussions to be around growth.”
He argued that the real value of AI lies not in replacing workers, but in future-proofing them. The goal is to move talent away from repetitive tasks so they can focus on high-level creative direction.
Real-world proof
To move beyond theory, MAA invited Future Studios Sdn Bhd, a pioneer in AI content, to demonstrate exactly what is possible today.
Future Studios president Professor Yoki Chin presented a significant proof of concept: Pirate Queen: Zheng Yi Sao, the world’s first AI-generated feature film to receive a theatrical release.
For him, the project was about breaking new ground in a space where no established playbook existed. “Nobody dared to challenge doing the first AI movie, so we thought we should try,” he said. “If you don’t do it, you never learn.”
He noted that Malaysia is already in the global top five for animation and believes it can achieve the same status in AI content.
“If we rank high globally, it is easier for us to attract collaboration from other countries,” he explained.
Chin added that efficiency is improving rapidly. While Pirate Queen took a year to produce, future films could be completed in a fraction of that time, allowing Malaysia to take a front-row seat in the global creative process.
Localising at scale
Following that, Future Studios creative director Ganesh Saminadthan conducted a live demonstration to address a key headache for advertisers.
“The biggest problem today is not creativity; it is speed and scale,” he said.
Ganesh presented how AI tools allowed creative teams to take a single campaign and generate variations to present clients with options.
He illustrated a scenario where a brand could take one hero product and use AI to tailor the content for each of the 14 states across the country, adapting to different cultures or dialects – a level of hyper-localisation that would traditionally be cost-prohibitive.
This ability to create thousands of permutations means brands can ensure campaigns resonate deeply with diverse audiences without blowing their budget.
Beyond the hype
During the panel discussion, Boost Holdings chief marketing officer Diana Boo, who also serves as an MAA council member, provided a perspective from the highly regulated fintech sector.
She shared that her organisation has implemented a “tech buffet” programme where staff from any department can pick AI training relevant to their role, actively encouraging employees to constantly upskill and explore new possibilities.
Boo also touched on the return on investment, citing Boost’s experience over the past year where AI adoption reduced marketing production costs by up to 75%.
Crucially, she noted that these savings are not just about cutting corners.
In her experience, the funds saved on production were reinvested into media, allowing the brand to reach a significantly wider audience.
The event underscores the MAA’s broader mission to empower the industry, demonstrating that responsible AI adoption is no longer optional, it is essential for survival in the digital economy.
