PETALING JAYA: Entrepreneur-ship may often feel like a solitary journey, but the Star Outstanding Business Awards (SOBA) Elevate 2026 proved that local business leaders need not navigate the shifting economic tides alone.
Anchored on the theme “Empowering Tomorrow, Driving Sustainable Growth,” the latest iteration of SOBA Elevate brought together Malaysia’s top entrepreneurs, industry experts and change-makers for actionable insights and valuable peer learning.
Organised by Star Media Group (SMG) at Menara Star, the full-day event served as a springboard for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to move past trial-and-error and chart their resilient growth.
Demystifying the AI playbook
Kicking off the morning discussions, the first panel session, “Winning the AI Race: How Malaysian Businesses Can Grow Faster with Technology,” addressed the current dilemma of where SMEs should begin amidst rapid artificial intelligence (AI) advancements.
Moderated by National Tech Association of Malaysia (PIKOM) advisor Thomas Woon, the panel urged entrepreneurs to treat AI not as a silver bullet, but as an operational lever.
Dynatrace Malaysia regional director for Malaysia and Philippines Alex Loh reminded business owners that they must focus on outcomes over trends.
“AI without measurement is just an expensive guessing tool.” He added that tools should solve real pain points, like cutting response times and freeing staff for higher-value work.
Innergia Labs Sdn Bhd technology director Wayne Ch’ng said the fastest return on investment for SMEs lies in back-office automation. Advocating a pragmatic “human-in-the-loop” model, where AI acts as the task maker, while human workers serve as the final checkers to maintain quality and accuracy.
However, it was cautioned that digital tools are only as sound as the foundation underneath them. SRKK AI Bhd group chief technology officer Phang Wai Yin warned against feeding unstructured or unvetted data into AI models, highlighting that data readiness, strict security boundaries and governance are essential to prevent data leaks and AI hallucinations.
Emphasising workforce readiness, PEOPLElogy founder Allen Lee asserted, ‘“Technology doesn’t transform organisations; people transform organisations – but AI accelerates the transformation process.”
Urging founders to build AI literacy across all tiers of their workforce and cultivate adaptable leaders who give themselves the “permission to dream” and pivot into higher-value business models.
Winning customers across the region
The second panel, “Beyond Malaysia: Winning Customers Across Asean,” explored cross-border scaling across the regional trade bloc.
Moderated by Malaysia Retail Chain Association (MRCA) vice president Dr Afendi Dahlan, the session examined the strategy, mindset and funding needed to succeed abroad.
Associated Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry of Malaysia (ACCCIM) treasurer Datuk Koong Lin Loong said that overseas success requires deep market adaptation.
“A successful company doesn’t just export – they localise the product for each foreign target market.”
Koong outlined an actionable “4M” expansion checklist:
Money: Use bank facilities and external funding rather than draining own company capital.
Man: Work with trusted, local partners who understand the domestic market, consumer habits and regulatory nuances.
Machine: Conducting thorough pre-entry market research before committing.
Market: Pick accessible, receptive and with clear customer demand.
He added that long-term cross-border trust relies on the CTR principle: building consumer Confidence, earning business Trust, and maintaining a strong home Reputation.
Echoing the need to localise, Mega Fortris Bhd group chief executive officer Datuk Adrian Ng shared his experience in navigating global supply chains, urging businesses to avoid race-to-the-bottom price wars with mass manufacturers.
“The product itself is not sold on cost. We offer a total solution,” he shared, highlighting that defending margins through specialised, high-quality security solutions is key to long-term survival.
On financial discipline, CGC Malaysia chief business officer Sean Tan cautioned against overexpansion; to safeguard domestic cash-flow liquidity while pursuing regional ventures, noting that Development Finance Institutions (DFIs) and credit guarantee mechanisms exist to help viable enterprises mitigate cross-border capital strain.
Rounding off the discussion, Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation (Matrade) strategic planning division director Noor Hayati Abu Noh urged entrepreneurs to tap into the agency’s nine Asean trade offices and tools like the Export Readiness Assessment Tool (ERAT) and Market Development Grants (MDG) to test market demand, gauge competitors and navigate local regulatory frameworks before committing capital.
Personal experiences
After a lunch break, the programme resumed with a sharing session called “SOBA Chat: SOBA up close”, with moderator and SMG sales and events assistant general manager Katy K’ng leading a lively discussion on how to prepare a winning SOBA award submission.
Panel speakers include SOBA judge and the Malaysian Retail Chain Association deputy president Datuk Vincent Choo, SOBA 2025 Malaysian Business of the Year award for RM25mil and above Ice Holidays Sdn Bhd managing director Mita Lim and SOBA 2024 Female Entrepreneur of the Year for RM25mil and above Kanika (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd chief executive officer Vinnie Ang.
Choo stressed that when participants submit their entries, they must be prepared to sell their company and themselves as a business.
“When you submit, the important thing is that you have to submit your strength, the things that you want us to see.”
Ang related from her experience, advising participants that their presentations should be structured on the information they want to showcase to the judges.
“As entrepreneurs, we have the DNA that [makes us] resilient and enthusiastic in our own industry. No one knows your business better than you do.”
Mita said that as a business, there are successes but, “sometimes you will lose. But never give up.”
Nurturing reliable talents
In the next and final panel discussion on “The talent advantage: Building teams that scale your business” moderated by KSI Strategic Institute for Asia Pacific’s external relations senior director Zaim Mohzani, the panel consisting of ICE Holidays Sdn Bhd chief operating officer Charles Lim, PKT Logistics Group Sdn Bhd human resources and administration general manager Ng Kwee Kim and VHR managing director Low Fang Kai.
The panel argues that businesses can gain a talent advantage – especially with the younger generation – not by simply paying more, but by creating a culture where the right people can be attracted, developed, trusted and given the flexibility and opportunities to grow with the organisation.
Charles, whose father is Mita from the third panel discussion group, pointed out that employees nowadays feel the need to feel appreciated, especially if they are with a company for a while.
“More important is you make yourself a good culture inside the company. Also, you need to strengthen your employee’s benefit.”
Ng opined that salary remains as a baseline requirement due to living cost pressures.
“However,” she said, “money alone is no longer enough to retain top talent. [Employees] look for healthy work-life balance and, of course, mental well-being.”
Low advises SMEs that rather than targeting individuals who are considered highly intelligent or hardworking that would normally be absorbed by multinational companies, they should instead nurture the ones with knowledge and attitude via training and development programmes.
Empowering growth through ecosystem support
Between panel sessions, event sponsors took the stage to share practical business solutions and support programmes tailored for growing enterprises.
CGC Malaysia SME advisory and strategic alliances head Mike Wong highlighted how guarantee schemes help viable micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) overcome collateral shortages.
RHB Bank Bhd’s SME business development head Kelvin Chin gave a presentation on how businesses can prepare for their applications for financing.
He also reminded that Bank Negara Malaysia has injected RM5bil in the SME Stabilisation Relief Facility (SRF), in working capital assistance at a maximum rate of 3.75% per annum, while fixed deposit rate for SME is at 3.6%.
Corinne Chieng, PKT Logistics Group’s corporate affairs and strategy head, also gave a presentation on the company’s community engagement and sustainability practices.
These cover four pillars, being community development, education and skills enhancement, arts and culture, and sports and recreation.
SOBA 2026 is organised by SMG with CGC Bhd, PKT Logistics Group Sdn Bhd, RHB Bank Bhd,
U Mobile Sdn Bhd as main sponsors while GWM Malaysia is co-sponsor, with Matrade being the official trade promotion partner. It is audited by BDO while radio stations 988 and Suria are official media partners.
For more information, call the SOBA Hotline at 017-231 1789, or go to www.soba.com.my.
