More than 9,000 Malaysian secondary school students took part in a nationwide artificial intelligence learning programme this year, and 26 finalist teams carried it all the way to the national finals of the AI Muda@NADI Hackathon 2026.
The finals were built around the theme "AI Innovation for the Future of Plantations and Commodities", asking students from Form 1 to Form 6 to point AI at real problems in one of Malaysia's biggest industries. The winning team, INNOVIQ from Kolej Vokasional Perdagangan Johor Bahru, took home RM5,000.
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Quick facts
- Event: AI Muda@NADI Hackathon 2026 national finals, run by the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) with CelcomDigi.
- Scale: over 9,000 students completed the AI@NADI learning modules; 26 teams reached the finals, from every state.
- Winner: INNOVIQ, Kolej Vokasional Perdagangan Johor Bahru, RM5,000.
- Runners-up: RM2,000 for second place, RM1,000 for third.
An AI app that reads the soil before you plant
INNOVIQ's winning build, "TerraScan", is a smart agriculture app that pulls several jobs into one place: soil analysis, crop recommendations, weather forecasting, a farm simulator and basic financial management. The idea is to help a farmer make a smarter decision before planting, with the goal of lifting crop yields, trimming running costs and supporting food security.
The second and third placed teams took home RM2,000 and RM1,000. This is the same kind of hands-on push we saw when CelcomDigi brought AI to 200 students at its Junior Innovathon earlier this year.
From a nationwide class to a national final
The hackathon was the finish line of AI Muda@NADI, part of the AI@NADI Training Programme that MCMC and CelcomDigi rolled out in August through the National Information Dissemination Centres (NADI). More than 9,000 students worked through six online modules covering prompt engineering, responsible AI use, creative content and using AI in learning and productivity, then submitted their work through a dedicated online assessment.
Finalists were picked on four pieces of work: an AI app built using vibe coding, an AI video, AI prompt trails and an AI project card. Each team was four students and one supervising teacher from the same school. The programme ran with Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia's Faculty of Education and Google for Education, backed by the Ministry of Education and Maktab Rendah Sains MARA. MCMC has also trained 126 Malaysian digital leaders in a separate push this year.
What comes next
MCMC and CelcomDigi say they plan to widen the AI@NADI Training Programme to tertiary students and working professionals, giving more Malaysians a route into practical AI skills for study and work.
"Through AI@NADI, CelcomDigi brings together public-sector leadership, academic expertise, technology capabilities and communities to translate AI ambitions into practical learning opportunities," said T. Kugan, CelcomDigi's Chief Enterprise Business Officer and Acting Chief Innovation Officer. "By connecting these strengths, we can help more young Malaysians develop relevant skills and explore how AI can address real-world challenges."
