Over 9,000 Malaysian students join AI Muda@NADI, winning Hackathon team builds AI-powered farming app

Secondary school students from across Malaysia have developed artificial intelligence (AI) solutions to tackle real-world challenges in the country’s plantations and commodities sector at the AI Muda@NADI Hackathon 2026.

The two-day hackathon featured 26 finalist teams and marked the culmination of a nationwide AI learning initiative that engaged more than 9,000 secondary school students.

Winning solution targets farm yields and operating costs

The two-day final featured 26 teams of Form 1 to Form 6 students representing schools nationwide. Each five-member team, comprising four students and a supervising teacher, pitched solutions targeting sustainability, plantation productivity, smart farming, environmental conservation and commodity innovation.

Team “INNOVIQ” from Kolej Vokasional Perdagangan Johor Bahru won first place and RM5,000 for “TerraScan,” an AI application that combines soil analysis, crop recommendations, weather forecasting, farm simulations and financial tracking. The tool aims to lower operating costs, improve crop yields and support food security. Second- and third- place teams received RM2,000 and RM1,000, respectively.

Cross-sector partnership drives AI literacy

The hackathon marked the culmination of AI Muda@NADI program, which launched in August under the AI@NADI Training Programme 2026 by the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) and CelcomDigi through the National Information Dissemination Centres (NADI). The initiative is conducted alongside Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia’s Faculty of Education, Google for Education, the Ministry of Education and Maktab Rendah Sains MARA (MRSM).

Participants completed six online modules covering prompt engineering, responsible AI usage, content creation and productivity tools. Finalists were selected through an online evaluation of four deliverables, which included applications built with vibe coding, AI videos, prompt trails and project cards assessed against industry relevance and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

Building skills for the digital economy

T. Kugan, Chief Enterprise Business Officer and Acting Chief Innovation Officer of CelcomDigi, said, “Through AI@NADI, CelcomDigi brings together public-sector leadership, academic expertise, technology capabilities and communities to translate AI ambitions into practical learning opportunities. By connecting these strengths, we can help more young Malaysians develop relevant skills and explore how AI can address real-world challenges, preparing them for opportunities ahead in a digital nation.”

MCMC and CelcomDigi plan to extend the AI@NADI training framework to tertiary students and working professionals to broaden digital upskilling across the workforce.