MOHE Targets 30,000 AI-Skilled Graduates by 2030 and AI in 80% of Degrees

Malaysia’s Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE) aims to produce 30,000 graduates skilled in artificial intelligence between 2025 and 2030, Minister Zambry Abdul Kadir told the Dewan Rakyat on Thursday, Malay Mail reported, citing Bernama. He said the target is meant to address the challenges of automation and meet future workforce needs.

The goal rests on 30 specialised AI programmes at bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral levels now offered at 11 public universities. To keep courses current, 455 programmes at various levels had been reviewed as of September 30. Specialised AI programmes are developed and accredited under the Programme Standards: Artificial Intelligence (PS:AI) set by the Malaysian Qualifications Agency, which Zambry said ensures they meet the required quality standards.

He also pointed to new faculties: the Faculty of Artificial Intelligence at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, the Faculty of Artificial Intelligence and Cybersecurity at Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka and the Faculty of Intelligent Computing at Universiti Malaysia Perlis. MOHE plans to integrate AI elements into 80 per cent of bachelor’s degree courses at public universities, alongside upskilling, work-based learning and stackable programmes.

What it means in practice

MOHE Targets 30,000 AI-Skilled Graduates by 2030 and AI in 80% of Degrees — contextual photo

Zambry was answering Shahidan Kassim (PN-Arau), who asked how graduates would cope as automation threatens jobs. A supplementary question from Shahelmey Yahya (BN-Putatan) raised a different worry: that an “ask ChatGPT” habit is eroding students’ critical thinking. Zambry said the biggest challenge for universities is to use AI as a learning aid without letting it take over human thinking, and described agentic AI as able to think and solve problems for people. “This is very dangerous,” he said, adding that the measures aim to produce well-rounded, holistic graduates.

The pipeline links to infrastructure already on campuses, such as the Blackwell GPU supercomputer at UTM’s Faculty of AI and the ILMUcode platform launched at Universiti Malaya, and complements the Digital Ministry’s nationwide AI literacy drive aimed at 100,000 youths.

What to watch: how MOHE defines an “AI-skilled” graduate, how fast the 80 per cent target is met across public universities, and whether employers find that new graduates arrive with both AI skills and the critical thinking the minister says must be protected.