Malaysian technology company Pepper Labs is expanding into applied artificial intelligence (AI) solutioning, building on its talent development and community empowerment initiatives to develop locally built AI systems for government agencies, enterprises and underserved communities.
The expansion focuses on two key areas: agentic AI solutions to transform public-sector operations and bespoke sovereign AI platforms tailored to the data, workflows, language and governance requirements of Malaysian organisations.
Pepper Labs said the move marks a shift from AI education towards practical implementation, enabling organisations to identify use cases, prepare employees and deploy production-ready solutions that address operational needs.
Managing director Thanaselan Rajendran said Malaysia must go beyond adopting AI tools and develop the local expertise needed to build, govern and scale solutions suited to its institutional and economic priorities.
“Malaysia does not only need more users of artificial intelligence. We must also develop the local capability to design, build, govern and scale AI solutions that respond to our own institutional and economic needs,” he said.
Pepper Labs’ expansion builds on its AI learning initiatives, which have reached more than 400,000 learners nationwide through programmes including AI Ready Malaysia, AI for My Future Malaysia, Google Gemilang and initiatives delivered through the nationwide NADI network under the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC).
The company also works with global technology providers, including Microsoft, Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Google, to access AI technologies, cloud infrastructure and technical expertise.
Government agencies among key focus areas
Pepper Labs said it has more than 10 active government accounts and over 30 ongoing AI proofs-of-concept, with solutions designed to connect AI agents to institutional information and established workflows.
Its capabilities include Model Context Protocol (MCP) integrations and retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) systems tailored to government requirements, enabling AI applications to retrieve and work with relevant organisational documents and knowledge.
Potential applications span parliamentary-question management, policy research, document intelligence, media monitoring, meeting management, public-service counters, reporting and organisational knowledge retrieval.
The company is developing a coordinated suite of AI agents, including AI Pintar Dasar, AI Pintar Dokumen, AI Pintar Media, AI Pintar Mesyuarat and AI Pintar Parlimen. These tools are designed to address specific administrative functions within a unified environment, supported by appropriate organisational knowledge and governance controls.
Alongside public-sector applications, Pepper Labs is developing customised sovereign AI platforms for organisations seeking greater control over their data, internal knowledge and AI-enabled workflows.
Bisnes.AI targets Malaysia’s MSMEs
A key component of the expansion is Bisnes.AI, a Malaysian-built sovereign AI platform designed to help micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) adopt AI for everyday business operations.
Developed by a Malaysian team, the platform aims to address common barriers to adoption, including language accessibility, relevance to local business needs, data residency and ease of use.
Bisnes.AI draws on Pepper Labs’ experience working with entrepreneurs through its Dapur Digital network and is being integrated into Dapur Digital locations as an AI backbone for micro and small businesses.
The platform brings together specialised AI agents covering sales, operations, finance and compliance. These include Rakan Jualan for customer enquiries and lead engagement; Rakan Operasi for inventory and administrative tasks; Rakan Kewangan for financial summaries and business-performance insights; and Rakan Pematuhan for requirements such as e-Invoicing and company renewals.
Designed to support conversational interaction, particularly in Bahasa Malaysia and the everyday language used by local entrepreneurs, the platform seeks to make AI more accessible to business owners without requiring technical expertise or specialised prompting skills.
Pepper Labs plans to expand the platform with additional agents tailored to specific industries and business workflows.
Connecting AI talent with implementation
Despite its expansion into solution development, Pepper Labs said talent development will remain central to its business, with training and apprenticeship programmes increasingly linked to real-world AI implementation.
Its recently concluded AI Apprenticeship programme with Khazanah provided Malaysian participants with hands-on experience in industry-based projects, including capstone initiatives adopted by participating MSMEs.
The company said this approach is intended to bridge the gap between AI education and implementation by connecting emerging talent with practical business requirements.
“Our expansion into AI solutioning reflects Pepper Labs’ commitment to building technology in Malaysia, by Malaysians,” Thanaselan said.
“We are developing practical AI systems that understand local workflows, operate within appropriate data-residency requirements and create measurable value for public officers, businesses and communities.”
Pepper Labs said it will continue working with government institutions, technology partners, industry organisations, universities and local AI talent to develop solutions for public administration, policy delivery, enterprise productivity and inclusive economic development.
“Talent development remains central to our work, and AI solutioning extends what we can deliver with that talent,” Thanaselan added.
“Our role is to become a Malaysian AI transformation partner that can bring together people, process and platform — from developing talent to building the solutions that talent will use.”