All career pathsTechnology & AI
Build, create and solve real-world problems with technology.
For people who take things apart to see how they work, and want to build the next thing. See how software gets built and how AI is changing which tasks people do, and which ones they still own.
20–22 Dec 2026Kuala Lumpur
You might like this if…
- you'd rather fix the group's broken spreadsheet than complain about it
- you've asked an AI for help and then checked whether it was right
- you like a problem that has a clear answer, even if it takes ten tries
Tasks, not job titles
What the work is actually made of
Every job is a bundle of tasks. Here are six from this area. Try sorting them: which would you hand to AI?
Turn a user's complaint into a fix
Read what went wrong, reproduce it on your own screen, then find the one line that caused it.
Break a big feature into small steps
Before anyone writes code, someone decides what gets built first and what can wait.
Write and test code with an AI assistant
The assistant drafts; you read every line, run the tests and throw out what's wrong.
Clean a messy dataset
Real data has typos, gaps and duplicates. Most analysis time goes here, not on charts.
Explain a technical choice to someone who isn't technical
A manager or client needs the trade-off in two sentences, not the code.
Check a system is secure before it ships
Think like someone trying to break in, and close the gaps you find.
0 of 6 sorted
On Day 1 you do this for real with a job you choose, then a practitioner tells you where you were wrong.
Skills you practise
- Problem decomposition
- Working with AI tools
- Debugging
Who does this work
People you could meet
Practitioners are confirmed for each cohort. These are the kinds of roles in this area and what a day involves.
Software developer
Stand-up with the team, a few hours building and testing a feature, a review of a colleague's code, a bug that eats the afternoon.
Data analyst
Pulls numbers from a database, cleans them, finds the pattern and turns it into a chart a manager can act on.
Product designer
Sketches screens, tests them with real users, and argues for what users need when the team is in a hurry.
AI operations
Sets up AI tools for a team, checks their answers against the source, and writes the rules for when a person must decide.
Questions worth asking them
- “Walk us through yesterday: what did you actually do from start to finish?”
- “Which parts of your job does AI already do, and which do you still check by hand?”
- “What do you wish you had learned at our age that you had to pick up later?”
Day 2 · the taster
Where you try it
- Your task
- Prototype a small tool with an AI assistant, then break the job into tasks AI leaves alone, augments or automates.
- Halfway through
- the treasurer tells you she often has no data at training, so the tool must also print a list she can tick by hand. What changes?
You leave with the work you made, what you changed and why, linked to your Future Map.
Routes and money
How people get in, and what it pays
Routes in
- 01Degree in computing
- 02Bootcamp
- 03Tech startup, work-first
What each route asks for
- For 2026/27, a polytechnic diploma asked for 3 SPM credits and a pass in Bahasa Melayu and Sejarah.
- ADTEC Kuala Lumpur's SKM (Malaysian Skills Certificate) Level 3 computer systems course takes 21 months with free tuition, and takes Form 5 leavers with at least a G in Bahasa Melayu and Sejarah.
- Matrikulasi's Computer Science stream asks for at least a C in Bahasa Melayu, English, Mathematics, Additional Mathematics and Computer Science.
- Applications for the UP_TVET Perdana intake 1/2027 close on 16 November 2026.
- An SKM certificate alone does not get you into a degree through UPU, the central application for public universities. A diploma, DKM or DLKM does.
- Kementerian Pendidikan Tinggi (BKPA, Jabatan Pendidikan Tinggi), Pekeliling Kemasukan ke UA, Politeknik, Kolej Komuniti dan MARA BPT bagi Lepasan SPM Sesi Akademik 2026/2027 (2026)
- TVET Malaysia (UP_TVET), Sijil Teknologi Komputer (Sistem), ADTEC JTM Kampus Kuala Lumpur (ILP Kuala Lumpur)
- Kementerian Pendidikan Malaysia, Bahagian Matrikulasi, Program Matrikulasi: Meneraju Kejayaan Masa Depan (brochure) (2025-02-13)
- TVET Malaysia (UP_TVET), UP_TVET Perdana: Maklumat Ambilan Siri Perdana 1/2027 (2026)
- Kementerian Pendidikan Tinggi (BKPA, Jabatan Pendidikan Tinggi), Soalan Lazim (FAQ) Fasa Permohonan UPUOnline bagi Lepasan SPM dan STPM/Setaraf Sesi Akademik 2026/2027 (2026)
What it costs and pays
On Day 3 you price each route, compare how long it takes and look up first pay from official sources (the Graduate Tracer Study and DOSM). Sourced figures for this area appear here once the First Move team has reviewed them.
AI and this work
What AI is changing, and what it isn't
Examples to argue with, not forecasts. On Day 1 you test them against a practitioner.
AI can help
Writing a first draft of code: the assistant is fast, you still own every line.
Might be automated
Writing routine tests for code that already works.
Still needs a person
Deciding what to build, and saying no when a feature would hurt users.
New work
Checking AI answers for a team and setting the rules for when a person decides.
What the evidence says
- In US data published in March 2026, Anthropic found its AI model, Claude, was being used for 75% of the tasks listed for computer programmers, more than for any other job. US usage data, not Malaysian demand.
- On the ILO's 2025 index, software developers score 0.53 out of 1 (gradient 3) and web and multimedia developers 0.60 (gradient 4, the most exposed band). Global generative-AI task-exposure estimates; not a Malaysian forecast; not a job-security rating.
- Employers in the World Economic Forum (WEF) survey put big data specialists, AI and machine learning specialists and software developers among the fastest-growing jobs to 2030. Global employer expectation, published 2025.
- In Malaysia, the Human Resources Minister said in August 2025 that about 30,000 ICT jobs are expected to be significantly impacted within three to five years, based on a TalentCorp study. "Impacted" does not mean lost.
- Anthropic (Massenkoff and McCrory), Labor market impacts of AI: A new measure and early evidence (2026-03-05)
- International Labour Organization (Gmyrek, Berg and others), Generative AI and Jobs: A Refined Global Index of Occupational Exposure (ILO Working Paper 140) (2025-05-20)
- World Economic Forum, The Future of Jobs Report 2025 (including economy and industry profiles) (2025-01-07)
- The Star, Sim: Prepare to upskill (Human Resources Minister's written parliamentary reply on the TalentCorp impact study) (2025-08-20)
From the library
Read more about this area
Reviewed guides, each with its sources. Sign in to read them in the First Move library.
Technology & AI after SPM: the work, the routes in and how to try it
What people in tech jobs actually do each week, the routes in after SPM (an ADTEC skills course, a polytechnic IT diploma, matrikulasi Computer Science to a degree, an apprenticeship), the SPM results each asks for, and how to try the work now.
8 min read· 9 sources
AI and the future of Technology and AI work: what changes, what stays human
What US usage data, global estimates and Malaysian projections say AI may change in coding, data and IT support, what they cannot tell you, questions to test with a practitioner, and how to try the work on Day 2.
9 min read· 9 sources
Questioning AI output: seven checks before you trust an answer
Seven checks to run on any AI answer: does the source say that, how old is it, do the numbers add up, did the translation keep the meaning, who is left out, what you pasted in, and whether to accept, fix or reject it. With a printable checklist.
8 min read· 9 sources
First-salary simulation: the numbers to use
Sourced inputs for the Day 3 first-salary simulation: starting salaries by route, EPF/SOCSO/EIS and net pay, room rents, My50, food, BNPL rules and emergency-savings yardsticks, with a facilitator run sheet and CSV.
8 min read· 23 sources
Five shifts in work: what is happening, and what is only a guess
Five forces changing work in Malaysia and worldwide: AI, the green transition, an older population, a more divided world economy, and learning for longer. For each: what has been measured, what someone projects (who and when), and a question to ask a practitioner.
8 min read· 17 sources
Green and semiconductor jobs in Malaysia: the plans, the roles and the routes in
Malaysia is betting on chips and clean energy. What the national plans aim for and how far they have got, which related roles employers say are hard to fill, what qualifications they ask for, and the degree, diploma, SKM and solar routes in.
7 min read· 11 sources
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Try Technology & AI for real
After you book, you rank the eight areas. Your top picks shape your two Day 2 tasters; the team sets the final groups.