How to Embed AI in Your Organisational DNA: 5 Insights for 2025 (Part 1)

Explore the speaker decks from Malaysia Leadership Summit 2025 here.

AI is dominating every leadership conversation today. But for many organisations, the journey stops at adopting the latest tool or platform. Real transformation? That demands something deeper.

At the Malaysia Leadership Summit 2025, sponsored by Sime Darby Property and organised by Leaderonomics and Together We Can Change the World, experts from across industries came together to unpack what it really takes to embed AI into the fabric of an organisation. With the theme “Embedding AI in Your Organisational DNA”, the summit made one thing clear: the future belongs to organisations that align people, culture, and technology. 

Here are 10 practical insights drawn from the summit speakers to help leaders like you take meaningful steps forward:

1. Without Vision, There’s No Trust

Albern Murty, Deputy CEO of CelcomDigi

When Digi merged with Celcom, a historic moment was made in Malaysia’s telecom industry.

At the heart of that transformation was Albern Murty, a leader who didn’t just drive numbers, but focused on people. From growing subscriber base to expanding its services, Albern knew real change doesn’t happen in boardrooms. It happens in everyday conversations, in how people feel about the direction they’re headed.

He understood that transformation begins behind the scenes: in how a vision is defined, shared, and lived. He made it a priority to communicate with clarity, even about things leaders often avoid like cost and financial literacy. Because when people understand the “why” behind tough decisions, they don’t just follow—they believe.

That same mindset now shapes his approach to AI. Leaders, Albern says, must answer the hard questions upfront:

• What is AI for?
• What problems will it solve?
• How does it support our long-term goals?
• What support systems do our people need?

Because without vision, there’s no trust. And without trust, there’s no transformation.

2. Own Your Authentic Voice

Paul N. Larsen, Executive Mindset Coach at The Wharton School

Have you ever asked AI to write something for you, but it just didn’t feel right? It might have been technically correct, but it lacked the you factor.

That’s what Paul Larsen, a certified mindset coach, warns us about both Artificial Intelligence and Authentic Intelligence. In a world increasingly shaped by technology, true leadership still starts from within.

As someone who has personally battled imposter syndrome, Paul notes that up to 80-90% of people feel inadequate at some point in their lives. These feelings are common, especially among leaders. And when we feel that we’re not enough, our instinct is often to hide those vulnerabilities or try to “fix” them—either by improving ourselves or more recently, turning to AI for help.

But relying too much on AI can strip away the very thing that makes leadership powerful: authenticity.

Paul shares the story of a client who was extremely nervous before a major speech. To cope with his anxiety, the client asked AI to write the entire speech and ended up reading it word-for-word. The result? He knew it didn’t feel right. It wasn’t him speaking. And he didn’t like it one bit.

This is where true leadership comes in: the courage to be vulnerable and to speak with your own voice even when it’s uncomfortable. Paul believes that each of us has a unique superpower, and that leaders must learn to use it. Not trade it for convenience or “perfection”.

Yes, AI is powerful. Yes, it’s changing how we work. But leadership is still about who you are, not just what you deliver.

To help leaders navigate this, Paul introduces his DNA framework for using AI:

• Discover – Be curious about who you are and what you bring.
• Narrate – Tell your story in your own voice.
• Adapt – Embrace change, but don’t lose yourself in it.

Read: How AI Can Change the Way Companies Go Global

3. Bridge the AI Readiness Gap

Nur Hamurcu, Managing Director of &samhoud Asia

Even with a solid strategy, transformation often fails because it ignores one crucial factor: human behavior.

It’s like building a new habit. You wouldn’t expect yourself to start exercising daily if you’ve rarely done it before. Instead, you start small, slowly integrate it into your routine, and eventually it becomes a habit.

Transformation works the same way. Most importantly, not all people have the same starting point. Leaders often focus on process redesign, but overlook how real change happens through habitual behavior, psychological safety, and cultural adaptation.

Nur outlines the four stages of human behavioral change for successful transformation:

• Awareness –  Do employees know what AI is?
• Attitude – Are they optimistic, fearful, skeptical?
• Behavior – Are they using AI tools in daily work?
• Change Champions – Who is driving and modeling this change?

Remember: people cannot embrace what they don't trust, and this uncertainty is often a major roadblock.

4. Innovation Starts with People, Not Products

Dr. Andrew Ma, Founder of Chorev Consulting International

Many assume that innovation is about chasing the newest technology or coming up with the flashiest ideas. But in the rush to adopt AI, we often skip the most critical step: making sure innovation is rooted in solving real problems—not just moving fast.

Dr. Andrew Ma emphasizes that culture is more important than strategy when it comes to AI transformation. Strategy may serve as the skeleton, but culture is the muscle, blood, and heart that brings everything to life. At the core of innovation is empathy: understanding customer pain points and using technology as a smart tool to address them.

That said, even with AI enabling faster decisions, Dr. Andrew reminds us that decisive leadership doesn’t mean skipping collaboration. Leaders must balance speed with input, taking into account the process of testing, learning, and refining decisions through feedback.

To build a culture that actively practices innovation, he shares three key elements:

• 360-Degree Innovation Alignment – Align both top-down strategy and bottom-up innovation (like hackathons or AI bootcamps). When everyone from C-suite to frontline is engaged, fear turns into curiosity and participation.
• Two Types of Collaboration – Foster both human-to-human collaboration and human-AI collaboration to combine strengths rather than compete.
• Positive-Sum Mindset – Encourage a growth mindset where AI is used to “make the pie bigger”, not reduce opportunities.

Ultimately, AI transformation succeeds when innovation becomes a lived culture—not just a strategy deck. As Dr. Andrew puts it, “Don’t just talk about innovation. Create the conditions where it can actually happen.”

Read: Are You Leading AI or is AI Leading You?

5. Grit is the Edge AI Can’t Replace

Danny Kim, Founder of FullArmor Corp

We often worry about upskilling ourselves to become “AI-proof”. As if success were a binary choice between human and machine. But Danny challenges this mindset. He argues that the most important success factor is deeply human: grit. The resilience to face the unknown, solve complex problems, and keep going when others quit.

Drawing from decades of experience as a cybersecurity entrepreneur and educator, Danny shared powerful examples of what grit looks like in action:

• As a parent volunteer, he revamped a space experiment program. NASA initially dismissed his plan to permanently install experiments on the ISS as impossible. After four years of hard work, it launched—reducing costs from $180,000 to $2 per experiment. This project led 13-year-old students to earn patents and recognition from Microsoft.
• Danny led a junior high team to the finals of the $7M XPRIZE Ocean Discovery challenge, outperforming national and corporate teams. They became the only youth team to win a bonus prize.
• Most recently, Danny helped form a Malaysian high school team to compete in the $100M XPRIZE Healthspan competition. Despite only having 10 days to prepare, they became the youngest Asian team in the top 40—winning $250,000 by combining science with cultural practices.

Danny’s core message is clear: AI can help us go faster, but grit helps us go further.

Whatever role you're in or have been, you’ve likely experienced firsthand how grit has shaped your journey. It’s often the quiet force behind breakthroughs.

That’s why investing in a “can-do” mindset doesn’t just prepare us for the future. It empowers people to shape it.

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