These Malaysian companies are building the ecosystem powering AI growth, here's how

[This is a sponsored article with MDEC, but the editorial team had full control over the content. ]

If you haven’t been living under a rock, you’d know that Malaysia is now at the centre of Southeast Asia’s AI infrastructure boom.

New data centres are continuously being announced across Johor and the Klang Valley, with the most recent ones being China’s Alibaba and Singapore-based Digital Decarbonization Solutions Platform (DDSP). 

As more and more global technology firms expand their cloud and AI capabilities here, it’s easy to get awed by the billion-ringgit investment flowing into our digital economy. These investments also reflect Malaysia’s growing strengths under the Malaysia Digital (MD) national strategic initiative, which is accelerating the development of a robust digital and AI ecosystem.

But have you ever wondered why Malaysia is chosen for these expansions?

Out of all our SEA-blings, why Malaysia?

Today, Malaysia is one of the few countries in the Southeast Asia region that has built something worth betting on before the hyperscalers arrived.

NationGate, a Penang-based manufacturer, had spent years quietly qualifying for one of NVIDIA’s most exclusive global partnerships. They’re currently one of only four companies across all of Asia that have earned the right to assemble NVIDIA’s most advanced AI servers. 

Similarly, SNS Network in Cyberjaya is making high-performance GPU computing accessible to businesses that would otherwise struggle to afford the hardware themselves.

MDEC’s Founders Center of Excellence (FOX) programme has also assembled a cohort of high-growth Malaysia Digital (MD) status software companies, giving them the strategic support to scale, expand regionally and contribute to Malaysia’s growing AI ecosystem.

So how does each layer actually work? Let’s break it down.

The hardware layer: Building the machines that power AI

You probably won’t see NationGate’s name on your AI tools, but their systems run on the infrastructure the firm helped build.

Founded in 2010 by Datuk Ooi Eng Leong and his wife Tan Ah Geok, NationGate started as a general electronics manufacturing services provider before pivoting into AI server assembly. That pivot proved timely. 

As demand for AI infrastructure accelerated worldwide, NationGate emerged as one of its beneficiaries. In just 2024 alone, the firm’s revenue reportedly surged from RM638 million to RM5.27 billion, an increase of more than eightfold.

Beyond the NVIDIA partnership, what makes NationGate’s position defensible is its operational depth. The company assembles servers using NVIDIA’s H200 and B200 AI GPU chips—among the most sought-after in the world—and ships them primarily to Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand. 

It also offers servers using the older H100 chips and Intel rack servers, positioning NationGate to serve both cutting-edge AI workloads and more cost-sensitive enterprise deployments. This diversification is highly important as AI infrastructure demand continues to expand faster than supply can keep up.

The access layer: Putting GPU power within local (and global) reach

As one of Malaysia’s leading ICT distributors and super server suppliers, SNS Network is far from a new player in the AI boom.

The Ipoh-founded company built its name in the local tech supply chain as a distributor of hardware and servers to businesses. But as competition in AI server distribution grew, SNS Network shifted its focus into GPU-as-a-Service (GPUaaS).

Called SNS AI Factory, it’s a fully managed AI cloud infrastructure service built with NVIDIA and Dell Technologies. Instead of buying expensive hardware, companies can rent computing power for workloads across industries like financial services, healthcare, retail, manufacturing, and telecommunications. 

Its GPUaaS also addresses another challenge facing AI adoption: data sovereignty.

For banks, hospitals, and government agencies, sensitive data often cannot be freely stored or processed overseas due to regulatory and security requirements. By keeping the infrastructure in Malaysia, companies can easily overcome these barriers to adopting AI.

Pricing starts at around RM35,000 per GPU per month, as SNS Network aims to offer more companies access to AI infrastructure without large upfront costs. “[This] allows (companies) flexibility to scale their computing needs on demand,” stated its Managing Director, Ko Yun Hung.

The intelligence layer: What gets plugged in

Hardware alone doesn’t build an AI economy. Data centres and GPU clusters are only the foundation. What matters is what gets built on top of them.

That’s where Malaysia’s MD status ecosystem and the MDEC Founders Centre of Excellence (FOX) programme come in. An invitation-only initiative, FOX provides Malaysian companies with strategic support, investor access, and regional expansion opportunities to scale up.

Three MD status companies show how this plays out.

Glem.ai tackles the deployment gap. Its AI platform helps large organisations, regulated industries, and government users scale AI deployments without being locked into a single vendor. 

This addresses the practical roadblocks that often prevent AI projects from moving past the pilot stage. As its CEO, Ryan Tay, puts it plainly: “Our focus has always been on solving the real barriers that stop enterprises and institutions from deploying AI at scale: data sovereignty, governance, and production reliability.” 

Since its launch last year, the company has won the Talent Innovation Award at ITEC 2025 in Beijing, showing what’s possible when local innovation is nurtured with the right support and opportunities to scale internationally.

On the other hand, DeltaSpike addresses the blind spot that tends to get discovered too late. As AI becomes more integrated in critical business workflows, it also becomes a target. This gap is what DeltaSpike aims to fill with its Agentic SOC: an intelligence-drive, automation-first security operations model designed to proactively contain security threats.

“Our goal is to embed intelligent, proactive protection into the DNA of business growth. This investment serves as a mandate to accelerate Malaysia’s cybersecurity capability while providing a robust security anchor for Southeast Asia,” shared its Chairman,Taufik Othman.

DeltaSpike’s vision has since attracted institutional backing. In April 2026, DeltaSpike secured a strategic investment from VentureTECH to accelerate its capabilities and regional expansion across Southeast Asia.

Last but not least is Cloud Space, a cloud and AI infrastructure solutions provider focused on helping businesses deploy scalable digital systems across regional markets.

As Malaysia’s 2025 Google Cloud Country Partner of the Year, Cloud Space helps enterprises modernise legacy systems, migrate to cloud infrastructure, and deploy AI-enabled applications at scale.

Google Cloud’s President of Global Partner Ecosystem, Kevin Ichhpurani, commended the firm in 2025, stating, “Cloud Space’s commitment to delivering innovative cloud solutions and measurable outcomes for clients has made a significant impact over the past year.”

Taken on their own, NationGate, SNS Network and MD status companies Glem.ai, DeltaSpike, and Cloud Space are already strong stories. But what makes Malaysia’s position interesting is how they connect.

Each layer feeds the next. Easier access to GPU infrastructure lowers the barrier for enterprises to experiment with AI, which drives demand for local AI applications. As adoption grows, it increases the need for more computing capacity underneath. 

Over time, this builds a full ecosystem that continues to attract foreign investment, accelerate AI adoption and reinforce Malaysia’s position as a regional digital hub.

As Malaysia’s AI ecosystem continues to grow, the capabilities being built today will help advance the aspirations of Malaysia Digital 2030 (MD2030) while laying the foundations for Malaysia’s vision of becoming an AI Nation by 2030.

Featured Image Credit: NationGate / Pixabay

...