A High Impact Industry Institute Interaction Event
Location
Holiday Inn Kuala Lumpur, Bangsar, Malaysia
Date
03 July 2025
Empowering Tomorrow: AI, Skills, and Global Competence
As Artificial Intelligence (AI) reshapes every industry, the demand for a future-ready, AI-literate workforce has never been greater. According to the World Economic Forum, AI is expected to create 97 million new jobs globally by 2025, yet a significant talent gap persists—particularly in emerging economies like Malaysia. A 2023 Microsoft-IDC report highlights that over 83% of Malaysian businesses are accelerating AI adoption, but over 70% face challenges in finding skilled talent.
"Empowering Tomorrow: AI, Skills, and Global Competence" explores how academia and industry can collaborate to bridge this gap. The first ever ICT Academy BRIDGE at Malaysia convenes educators, policymakers, and business text-pers to address education transformation, workforce upskilling, and global certification pathways. The focus is on equipping youth with cutting-edge AI skills while nurturing the soft skills and global mindset needed to thrive in a borderless, technology-driven economy. This event is a vital step toward positioning Malaysia as a regional AI talent hub.
Focus Areas
Driving Economic Growth through AI
Women in AI: Inclusion by Design
Industry-Academia Talent Alignment
Future Careers for Digital Natives
Digital Startups and Entrepreneurship
Event Format
Keynote Session by Policymakers
Keynote Session by Industry Experts
Focused Panel Discussions
Networking Session
Motivational Talks
Partnerships & MoU exchanges
Participants
Academia
Chairmen, Secretaries, Principals, Training & Placement Directors, Department Heads & Faculty Members
Government
Policymakers, Senior Officials & Bureaucrats
Corporate
CXOs, Industry Experts & HR text-pers
Chief Guest
Dr Palanivel Thiaga Rajan
Hon'ble Minister for Information Technology and Digital Services, Government of Tamil NaduGuest of Honour
Speakers
Mike Muralidharan
Board Director, Bahwan CyberTek Group, CEO, BCT Consulting & Chairman - Ethiraj College for Women
Bala MS
GCC Leader. CEO STRATINFINITY INC, Chairman - Southern Regional Commitee of AICTE, Innovation Center, Deputy Chairman of the Steering Committee of Ministry of Education and AICTE Investor Network
Gopalakrishnan Kolandai
Secretary General, Data Science Association (DSA Malaysia) & CEO, Thulija Technologies Sdn Bhd
Prof Dr David Asirvatham
Professor of Practice - AI & Technology, Asia Business School (ABS) (MIT Sloan and Bank Negara Malaysia)
Dr Mahiswaran Selvanathan
Senior Lecturer – Perdana Center, Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM)
Prof Ir Ts Dr Mohammed Reyasudin Basir Khan
Deputy Vice Chancellor (Research) & URIMPACT (UNIRAZAK Innovative Methods & Projects Powered by AI & Cutting-Edge Technology)
TAN Chun Sheng
Group Vice-President & General Manager, STMicroelectronics Malaysia, and Board Member of SEMI Southeast Asia, Singapore, Adjunct Professor, UTeM’s Faculty of Electrical and Electronics Engineering
J Philip Vincent
Group Director of GSH Precision Technology, Committee Member of MSIA (Malaysia Semiconductor Industry Association)
Sponsors & Partners
Supported by
Platinum Sponsors
Knowledge Partner
Gold Sponsors
Silver Sponsors
Design Thinking Partner
Event Partner
Academic Partners
Ecosystem Partners
Skilling Partners
About BRIDGE
BRIDGE a flagship conference of ICT Academy aims to bridge the industry-academia gap. BRIDGE is a confluence of Educators, Researchers, Corporate, Solution Providers, NGOs and Policy Makers to find possible solutions and answers to some of the most challenging, critical and relevant challenges in shaping the future of education and workforce development.
The conference serves as a platform in providing a strategic view on the trends that shape the educational ecosystem. The conference engages various stakeholders to seize opportunities to transform from theories to practice and become indispensable in the new digital world. Started in the year 2011, BRIDGE has completed 62 impactful editions in India, fostering strong academia-industry collaboration. Now, it marks a global milestone with its debut in Malaysia. This international edition aims to expand knowledge exchange and innovation, emerging as a high-impact industry-institute interaction platform that drives educational and economic transformation beyond borders
Bridge So Far
