20 Finalist Teams from Four Top Malaysian Universities Reach the Grand Finale of AWS CendekiAwan
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, Nov. 4, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Elitery recently celebrated the Grand Finale of AWS CendekiAwan at Universiti Malaya (UM).
The event brings together 20 student finalist teams from four top Malaysian universities to pitch cutting-edge Generative AI solutions powered by Amazon Bedrock, tackling critical societal and enterprise challenges. Competing across five categories, the finalists will demonstrate how AI can be applied to address real-world challenges across education, healthcare, sustainability, financial inclusion, government technology, and social impact.
The CendekiAwan Malaysia program is a collaborative digital talent initiative by AWS and Elitery designed to bridge academic learning with practical industry requirements. Moving beyond theoretical AI concepts, the hands-on curriculum equipped participants from tech and non-tech backgrounds with practical skills in cloud computing, application development, and Generative AI.
Beginning at Asia Pacific University of Technology & Innovation (APU), the initiative expanded through self-learning, hands-on workshops, and showcase sessions across Multimedia University (MMU), Nilai University, and Universiti Malaya (UM). Utilizing AWS developer tools including PartyRock, Kiro, and Amazon Bedrock, students built functional prototypes from scratch. The program encouraged students to move beyond learning AI concepts and gain practical experience developing technology-driven solutions for real-world needs.
"CendekiAwan reflects our belief that AI should be built and deployed by hands and minds like these students to solve real challenges facing communities across Malaysia," said Daniel Zhang, Regional Data Center Operations Leader Malaysia, AWS. "Together with Elitery and our partner universities, we are proud to see these students turn skills in Kiro and Amazon Bedrock into practical solutions for education, healthcare, sustainability, financial inclusion and public services."
The showcase brings together key decision-makers across government, higher education, and industry, including representatives from Dewan Bandaraya Kuala Lumpur (DBKL). Beyond the competition, the event underscores Elitery and AWS's shared commitment to building a resilient, future-ready AI workforce across Southeast Asia. "The CendekiAwan training programme supports Kuala Lumpur's vision of 'A Prosperous City for All by 2030' by investing in talent development, strengthening capabilities, and fostering knowledge exchange. Through sustained training and collaboration, the programme seeks to contribute to a more dynamic, inclusive, and future-ready Kuala Lumpur, in line with DBKL's commitment to the city's socioeconomic progress and well-being," said Ts. Kamariah binti Kamarudin, Representative of DBKL.
Representing Elitery, President Director Kresna Adiprawira said, "Through CendekiAwan, we help students move beyond learning AI concepts to building practical applications that address real-world challenges. We are proud to see their ideas turn into meaningful innovations and help shape the next generation of digital talent."
Finalists showcase projects across five categories:
- Smart Education: Enhancing learning and accessibility.
- Digital Health: Improving healthcare and wellbeing.
- Sustainable Environment & Climate: Advancing sustainability and climate resilience.
- Financial Inclusion & SME: Supporting business growth and financial access.
- GovTech & Social Impact: Improving public services and community inclusion.
Through these categories, students demonstrate how Generative AI can translate into practical applications that address challenges faced by communities, institutions, businesses, and society.
"The development process was seamless thanks to the comprehensive technology provided by AWS. For students looking to build AI-powered solutions, the most vital factor is the core idea focus on solving real-world problems." Dewan AI — Winner, GovTech & Social Impact, Multimedia University (MMU).
As Generative AI transforms industries, CendekiAwan equips students with practical skills and innovation capabilities to develop impactful, real-world solutions through collaboration between AWS, Elitery, and Malaysian universities.
CendekiAwan Malaysia is an AWS and Elitery initiative with partner universities, equipping students from four Malaysian universities with practical cloud computing and Generative AI skills through hands-on learning, culminating in 20 finalist teams competing across five categories using Amazon Bedrock.
PT Data Sinergitama Jaya Tbk (Elitery, IDX: ELIT) is an Indonesian publicly listed technology company specializing in IT Managed Services, AI, and cloud solutions, serving over 200 customers across three countries. In 2026, Elitery earned the AWS Migration Competency Designation.
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Empowering Malaysia's Digital Future: AWS and Elitery Celebrate Grand Finale of AWS CendekiAwan
