KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian workers and business leaders are increasingly aligned in adopting artificial intelligence (AI)-powered tools, also known as intelligent agents, to enhance productivity and manage rising workloads, according to Microsoft’s 2025 Work Trend Index.
In a statement today, Microsoft said there is a growing capacity gap, with 61 per cent of Malaysian leaders acknowledging the need for increased productivity, while 83 per cent of the country’s workforce — including both employees and leaders — reporting that they lack sufficient time or energy to complete their work.
“This is supported by Microsoft 365 telemetry data, which shows that on average, employees are interrupted every two minutes by meetings, emails, or pings,” the company said.
Microsoft 365 telemetry data tracks how users interact with productivity tools like Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and Teams, providing insights into which features are used most frequently and how long users spend on tasks.
Microsoft emphasised that with the rise of agents capable of reasoning, planning, and acting as digital labour, roles and organisations are expected to evolve to scale capacity as needed.
“Already, 89 per cent of Malaysian leaders say this is a pivotal year to rethink core strategies and operations, and 86 per cent are confident they will use agents as digital team members to expand workforce capacity in the next 12 months to 18 months, both significantly above global averages,” it said.
AI transforming Malaysia’s work landscape
Microsoft Malaysia managing director Laurence Si stated that Malaysia is positioning itself as a regional leader in AI transformation, with the latest Work Trend Index findings underscoring this progress.
“With 86 per cent of business leaders confident in using AI agents to expand workforce capacity and more than half already automating entire workstreams, Malaysia is proving how organisations can turn ambition into action and scale impact through intelligent agents,” he said.
Microsoft also highlighted the shift from rigid organisational structures to more flexible “work charts”, where teams are formed around specific outcomes rather than traditional functions like marketing or finance.
It noted that with agents acting as research assistants, analysts, or creative partners, companies can deploy lean, high-impact teams on demand.
“More than half of Malaysian leaders (51 per cent) are already using agents to fully automate workstreams or business processes, above the global average of 46 per cent.
“To maximise impact, organisations must achieve the right balance of human and digital labour for specific tasks, with the report highlighting that employees in Malaysia rely on AI for capabilities humans cannot provide, such as 24/7 availability (44 per cent), machine-driven speed and quality (35 per cent), and unlimited ideas on demand (31 per cent),” it said.
The rise of frontier firms
Microsoft also pointed out the rise of “frontier firms,” organisations powered by hybrid teams of humans and agents, which are demonstrating how businesses can scale faster, move with greater agility, and create value in new ways.
“Workers and leaders at these frontier firms are more than twice as likely to say their companies are thriving, able to take on additional work, and report having opportunities to do meaningful work,” Microsoft said.
In Malaysia, workers at frontier firms report significantly higher levels of opportunity for meaningful work (92 per cent) and the ability to take on more work (58 per cent), far exceeding the Asia-Pacific average of 77 per cent and 21 per cent, respectively.
Adapting to the AI future
Microsoft said that within the next two to five years, every organisation is expected to begin the journey toward becoming a frontier firm.
“44 per cent of Malaysian leaders say expanding capacity with digital labour is a top priority in the next 12 months to 18 months, second only to upskilling (48 per cent).
Beyond agents, 84 per cent of Malaysian leaders also say their company is considering adding new AI-focused roles to prepare for the future, such as AI agent specialists, AI trainers, and AI workforce managers,” it said.
Building familiarity with AI agents
Microsoft said that both leaders and employees in Malaysia are fast becoming familiar with AI agents.
“Nonetheless, countering last year’s findings, which showed employees leading in AI adoption, 68 per cent of Malaysian business leaders this year report being highly familiar with AI agents, compared to just 39 per cent of employees.
“To bridge this gap, 59 per cent of Malaysian managers expect AI training to become a core responsibility for their teams in the next five years, with leaders expecting their teams to expand into areas like redesigning business processes with AI (40 per cent), building multi-agent systems (46 per cent), and training and managing agents (48 per cent and 44per cent, respectively),” said Microsoft.
AI adoption is a competitive edge
Microsoft concluded that Malaysia’s early adoption of AI agents could provide significant competitive advantages over the next decade.
“From the boardroom to the front line, success will increasingly rely on effectively managing and delegating tasks to teams of specialised AI agents,” Microsoft said.
