Running a business built on local craft and grit is a cornerstone of Malaysian culture. But as the nation prepares for the massive influx of Visit Malaysia 2026, "passion" alone may no longer be enough to scale. While MSMEs represent 97% of all registered businesses and contribute 38% of the national GDP, many remain tethered to a cash-heavy past that limits their growth.



In this episode of Open For Business, we sit down with Previn Pillay, Country Manager of Visa Malaysia, to discuss the invisible infrastructure required to move a business from a simple roadside transaction to a total digital transformation.

Running a business built on local craft and grit is a cornerstone of Malaysian culture. But as the nation prepares for the massive influx of Visit Malaysia 2026, "passion" alone may no longer be enough to scale. While MSMEs represent 97% of all registered businesses and contribute 38% of the national GDP, many remain tethered to a cash-heavy past that limits their growth.In this episode of Open For Business, we sit down with Previn Pillay, Country Manager of Visa Malaysia, to discuss the invisible infrastructure required to move a business from a simple roadside transaction to a total digital transformation.

Helping you navigate the ever-changing universe of business, from headlines to the bottom line

Helping you navigate the ever-changing universe of business, from headlines to the bottom line

Enterprise Explores

Are Malaysian MSMEs Ready For Visit Malaysia 2026?

For decades, the internet ran on a simple economic contract: creators publish content, search engines organise it, and humans click on it. That click was the currency of the open web.

But in 2025, that contract is unraveling. Nan Hao Maguire of Cloudflare reveals that the internet is shifting from a human utility to a "Machine-to-Machine Economy." With AI crawlers like Google Bot consuming data without sending traffic back, we are seeing a 24-25% "referral deficit" that threatens to bankrupt the creator economy.

We also dive into the dark side of this shift: the rise of Agentic AI and autonomous cyber threats. Cloudflare’s data shows a terrifying escalation in brute force, with the Aisuru botnet hitting peak attack rates of 31.4 terabits per second, a scale that legacy infrastructure simply cannot survive.



We discuss:




The Broken Contract: How AI crawlers are creating a "referral deficit" by scraping answers without providing clicks, forcing creators toward "pay-per-crawl" licensing models.


The Machine Web: Why 31% of all internet traffic is now bot-originated, and how we are moving from "AI as a tool" to "AI as a teammate" (Agentic AI).


The Aisuru Escalation: The massive leap in cyber attack volume from 7.9 Tbps to 31.4 Tbps in just months, and why most providers fail past the 20 Tbps mark.


Malaysia’s Vulnerability: Why "People in Society" (individuals) have become the #1 cyber target in Malaysia, surpassing banks and government agencies.


Autonomous Defense: The shift toward "AI vs. AI" warfare, where autonomous defense systems are the only way to counter agentic attacks.


The Quantum Leap: The silent positive trend of Post-Quantum Encryption, which has jumped from 30% to 52% adoption on Cloudflare’s network.

For decades, the internet ran on a simple economic contract: creators publish content, search engines organise it, and humans click on it. That click was the currency of the open web.But in 2025, that contract is unraveling. Nan Hao Maguire of Cloudflare reveals that the internet is shifting from a human utility to a "Machine-to-Machine Economy." With AI crawlers like Google Bot consuming data without sending traffic back, we are seeing a 24-25% "referral deficit" that threatens to bankrupt the creator economy.We also dive into the dark side of this shift: the rise of Agentic AI and autonomous cyber threats. Cloudflare’s data shows a terrifying escalation in brute force, with the Aisuru botnet hitting peak attack rates of 31.4 terabits per second, a scale that legacy infrastructure simply cannot survive.We discuss:<ul><li>The Broken Contract: How AI crawlers are creating a "referral deficit" by scraping answers without providing clicks, forcing creators toward "pay-per-crawl" licensing models.</li><li>The Machine Web: Why 31% of all internet traffic is now bot-originated, and how we are moving from "AI as a tool" to "AI as a teammate" (Agentic AI).</li><li>The Aisuru Escalation: The massive leap in cyber attack volume from 7.9 Tbps to 31.4 Tbps in just months, and why most providers fail past the 20 Tbps mark.</li><li>Malaysia’s Vulnerability: Why "People in Society" (individuals) have become the #1 cyber target in Malaysia, surpassing banks and government agencies.</li><li>Autonomous Defense: The shift toward "AI vs. AI" warfare, where autonomous defense systems are the only way to counter agentic attacks.</li><li>The Quantum Leap: The silent positive trend of Post-Quantum Encryption, which has jumped from 30% to 52% adoption on Cloudflare’s network.</li></ul>

How AI is Starving the Internet

We often talk about AI disrupting jobs, but Peng T. Ong (Co-Founder of Monk's Hill Ventures) is talking about something far more absolute: a singularity.

In his essay, "The Economic Singularity: Life as Work Transforms," Peng argues we are approaching a tipping point where the marginal cost of labor and knowledge trends to zero. When AI can write code, draft contracts, and generate strategy decks faster and cheaper than humans, the traditional engine of the economy, trading labor for wages, breaks down.



So, what comes next? Will we live in a "Star Trek" utopia of exploration, or a "Wall-E" dystopia of consumption?



We discuss:




Defining the Singularity: Why the economy faces a "Blue Screen of Death" when infinite productivity meets zero-cost intelligence.


The 7 Future Worlds: From the "Star Trek" pursuit of discovery to the "Backup World" where communities preserve pre-tech skills for resiliency.


The Vulnerability Paradox: Why unregulated white-collar jobs (consultants, investors) are on the chopping block before blue-collar trade work.


UBC vs. UBI: The critical difference between giving people a salary (Income) versus giving them a stake in the means of production (Capital).


The "Entrepreneurial" Shift: How education must pivot from vocational training to teaching children how to create value in a post-labor world.


The Open Source Defense: Why the value of AI models themselves will drop to zero, preventing any single corporation from holding a monopoly on intelligence.

We often talk about AI disrupting jobs, but Peng T. Ong (Co-Founder of Monk's Hill Ventures) is talking about something far more absolute: a singularity.In his essay, "The Economic Singularity: Life as Work Transforms," Peng argues we are approaching a tipping point where the marginal cost of labor and knowledge trends to zero. When AI can write code, draft contracts, and generate strategy decks faster and cheaper than humans, the traditional engine of the economy, trading labor for wages, breaks down.So, what comes next? Will we live in a "Star Trek" utopia of exploration, or a "Wall-E" dystopia of consumption?We discuss:<ul><li>Defining the Singularity: Why the economy faces a "Blue Screen of Death" when infinite productivity meets zero-cost intelligence.</li><li>The 7 Future Worlds: From the "Star Trek" pursuit of discovery to the "Backup World" where communities preserve pre-tech skills for resiliency.</li><li>The Vulnerability Paradox: Why unregulated white-collar jobs (consultants, investors) are on the chopping block before blue-collar trade work.</li><li>UBC vs. UBI: The critical difference between giving people a salary (Income) versus giving them a stake in the means of production (Capital).</li><li>The "Entrepreneurial" Shift: How education must pivot from vocational training to teaching children how to create value in a post-labor world.</li><li>The Open Source Defense: Why the value of AI models themselves will drop to zero, preventing any single corporation from holding a monopoly on intelligence.</li></ul>

Star Trek or Wall-E? When AI Does Everything

Innovation is often talked about in terms of funding, but money alone rarely brings new technology to market. In this episode, we explore how Malaysia is supporting innovation beyond grants, and what it really takes to help companies move from research and early ideas into commercial reality.



We speak to MTDC GCEO Ts. Hj, Mohammad Hazani Hj. Hassan about de-risking new technologies, building supportive ecosystems, and shortening time to market through advisory, partnerships, and practical facilitation. From university research to startup growth and global expansion, this conversation looks at how founders can better navigate the journey from idea to impact.

Innovation is often talked about in terms of funding, but money alone rarely brings new technology to market. In this episode, we explore how Malaysia is supporting innovation beyond grants, and what it really takes to help companies move from research and early ideas into commercial reality.We speak to MTDC GCEO Ts. Hj, Mohammad Hazani Hj. Hassan about de-risking new technologies, building supportive ecosystems, and shortening time to market through advisory, partnerships, and practical facilitation. From university research to startup growth and global expansion, this conversation looks at how founders can better navigate the journey from idea to impact.

Are Malaysian MSMEs Ready For Visit Malaysia 2026?

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