CendekiAwan Malaysia has now upskilled more than 15,500 Malaysian students since 2025; latest 2026 chapter with Asia Pacific University introduces structured pathway from generative AI foundations to production-ready development
KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA, MAY 22, 2026 — Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Elitery today announced the expansion of the CendekiAwan Malaysia Program with Asia Pacific University of Technology & Innovation (APU), where 2,500 students from its tech and non-tech disciplines completed a three-month generative AI development program.
The 2026 phase with APU deepens the program. For the first time, students who demonstrated strong prototyping skills with AWS’s gamified app-building tool, PartyRock, advanced to build production-ready applications using Amazon Bedrock and Kiro, two complementary AWS tools that give students both the AI models to power their applications and the development environment to write production-grade code.
“When we invest in infrastructure in a country, we also invest in its people and communities, we are powering infrastructure while empowering communities,” said Sergio M. Loureiro, Vice President of Global Data Center Operations at AWS who graced the launch event. “In the first phase of CendekiAwan, Malaysian students showed us they could build generative AI applications from scratch. In this second phase at APU, they went further, using Amazon Bedrock and Kiro to develop structured, production-ready applications that address real challenges in healthcare, education, and financial inclusion. That progression is what builds a true AI-ready workforce.
Showcase results
Judges assessed finalist projects on innovation, prompt development quality, relevance to theme, and potential impact. The winning teams are:
1. ‘GovTech’ (citizen services) and Social Impact: Team Viltrum with City Mind MY application
2. Smart Education: Team EC 1+1 with LangHub application
3. Financial Inclusion and SME Empowerment: Team Intelligence with SMEwise application
4. Digital Health: Team Mediguard with MediGuard application
5. Sustainable Environment and Climate: Team Whoopie with See You CO2 application
The 2026 phase with APU builds on the first phase of CendekiAwan Malaysia, where more than 13,000 students across six universities created their own generative AI applications using PartyRock. Winning innovations from that phase included Isihat+, a health-focused application that helps users optimize daily routines through physiological tracking and health metric analytics, and CashSmart Campus, a personal finance tool that helps students track expenses and build long-term financial literacy.
Sustained learning beyond the program
AWS provides APU students with 12 months of AWS Skill Builder access along with instructor-led training, including hands-on labs and certification preparation, through on-campus learning environments. To ensure the program is sustainable, Elitery has trained approximately 50 lecturers and student leaders as “AI Champions,” facilitators who will independently guide future cohorts of students through the learning pathway.
“Our role is to make this program operational at the university level: training lecturers to deliver the curriculum, supporting student teams through each phase, and ensuring the pathway runs consistently,” said Kresna Adiprawira, President Director of Elitery. “This collaboration is a testament to our commitment to bridging the gap between academia and industry needs, nurturing a future generation that is resilient and ready for the era of AI.”
“This program gives our students the experience of taking an AI application from idea to working, documented software in 12 weeks,” said Prof. Ir. EUR ING Dr. Vinesh Thiruchelvam, Chief Innovation and Enterprise Officer at APU. “The students who reached the finals using Amazon Bedrock and Kiro can now show a prospective employer not just a concept, but a functional application they built and shipped themselves.”
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About Amazon Web Services
Amazon Web Services (AWS) is guided by customer obsession, pace of innovation, commitment to operational excellence, and long-term thinking. By democratizing technology for nearly two decades and making cloud computing and generative AI accessible to organizations of every size and industry, AWS has built one of the fastest-growing enterprise technology businesses in history. Millions of customers trust AWS to accelerate innovation, transform their businesses, and shape the future. With the most comprehensive AI capabilities and global infrastructure footprint, AWS empowers builders to turn big ideas into reality. Learn more at aws.amazon.com and follow @AWSNewsroom.
About Elitery
Elitery (PT Data Sinergitama Jaya Tbk) is a premier IT managed services provider specializing in advanced cloud technology and digital infrastructure. With over 14 years of experience, Elitery has established itself as a leader in the region, recognized for its excellence in managing complex, mission-critical systems that serve tens of millions of users daily. Since 2011, the company has built a robust reputation for delivering high-tier security and operational efficiency across sectors such as financial services, healthcare, and government institutions. As a trusted and go-to-market partner for world-class cloud providers, Elitery continues to drive digital transformation by combining deep technical expertise with a commitment to empowering the next generation of technology leaders.
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For further information, please contact Astrid Erawan – Corporate Secretary of PT Data Sinergitama Jaya Tbk (Elitery) | Phone: +62 21 7511004 | Email: [email protected]
Fact sheet:
Competition Phase 1: Foundations and prototyping. All participants completed foundational training on Elitery’s learning platform covering responsible AI, prompt engineering, and core generative AI concepts from AWS. 60 teams then applied their learning by building working prototypes using PartyRock across five themes: GovTech and Social Impact, Smart Education, Financial Inclusion and SME Empowerment, Digital Health, and Sustainable Environment and Climate.
Competition Phase 2: Advanced development and final showcase. From the 60 teams, 20 were selected based on the quality of their PartyRock prototypes to develop their applications further using Amazon Bedrock and Kiro. These 20 teams completed their applications through an onsite hackathon and presented to a panel of judges. From the 20 teams, one winning team was shortlisted from each of the five themes.
· Amazon Bedrock is a managed service that provides access to foundation models from Amazon and third-party AI companies for building generative AI applications. Students use Amazon Bedrock in Phase 1 to add intelligent features such as natural language understanding, content generation, and data analysis to their prototypes.
· Kiro is an AI-powered coding tool that helps students turn their ideas into fully built applications. Students describe what they want to create in everyday language, and Kiro generates the code, documentation, and tests needed to bring it to life. Finalist teams completed their applications through an onsite hackathon and presented their solutions to a panel of judges from AWS, APU, and Elitery. A winning team was chosen in each of the five challenge themes.
The winning teams from APU are:
| Categories | Teams | Applications |
| ‘GovTech’ (citizen services) and Social Impact | Team Viltrum | City Mind MY application is an AI-powered urban mobility platform that helps authorities improve traffic management, walkability, and accessibility planning through data-driven insights and policy simulation tools. |
| Smart Education | Team EC 1+1 | LangHub application is an interactive language learning platform that preserves and teaches regional dialects through adaptive, real-world conversational experiences. |
| Financial Inclusion and SME Empowerment | Team Internelligence | SMEwise application is an AI assistant that helps Malaysian SMEs manage finances, optimize pricing, and navigate business growth challenges. |
| Digital Health | Team Mediguard | MediGuard application is a healthcare support platform designed for rural clinics and hospitals to help frontline health workers identify potential non-communicable disease risks using simple biometric inputs. |
| Sustainable Environment and Climate | Team Whoopie | See You CO2 application is an interactive sustainability platform that helps users track and reduce their carbon footprint based on daily lifestyle choices such as transport, diet, and energy use. |
