Universiti Kuala Lumpur (UniKL) is poised to lead Artificial Intelligence (AI) research and application in Southeast Asia through a strategic partnership with the Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence (MBZUAI).
The collaboration with one of the world’s top 10 AI research universities, expected in May 2025, will encompass research, technology transfer, adjunct professorships, research attachments, and student mobility.
This partnership follows an official UniKL delegation visit to MBZUAI on 27 February 2025, led by a member of the UniKL Board of Directors, En. Zairul Amri Adam; President and Chief Executive Officer, Prof. Ir. Dr. Azman Senin; and the Dean of UniKL Malaysian Institute of Information Technology (UniKL MIIT), Assoc. Prof. Ts. Dr. Mohd Nizam Husen.
The Abu Dhabi-based research university was represented by its Provost, Prof. Timothy Baldwin, and Vice President of Global Engagement, Lily Burns.
A key focus of this collaboration will be AI-driven research in the palm oil sector, aimed at enhancing Malaysia’s crop yields, improving rice production forecasts, and supporting palm tree replanting efforts.
Additionally, the partnership will focus on AI technologies for Nusantara languages, leveraging MBZUAI’s expertise in Large Language Models (LLMs).
In 2024, UniKL took a proactive step by training and upskilling 22 lecturers in AI and Machine Learning.
Advancing this initiative, the plan to send selected lecturers for a two-week research attachment at MBZUAI is in the pipeline.
Meanwhile, MBZUAI is expanding its academic offerings with the introduction of new undergraduate programmes in AI, focusing on Business and Engineering tracks.
Currently, the university hosts 365 postgraduate students specialising in Robotics, Computer Vision, Natural Language Processing (NLP), Computer Science, Machine Learning, and Data Science.
With this collaboration, UniKL reaffirms its commitment to driving AI innovation in the region, aligning with Malaysia’s broader aspirations to become a global technology hub.
