The growth in Malaysia’s artificial intelligence (AI) economy is transforming its property market, according to data released on Tuesday by Kashif Ansari, Co-Founder and Group Chief Executive Officer of Juwai IQI.
“A new report from Stanford finds Malaysia leads on almost every measure of AI public readiness, trust, and enthusiasm, and the property market is showing the impact,” he said in a statement.
He estimated data center developers are investing at least MYR 1.4 billion ($350 million) annually into land alone. That’s based on the rule of thumb that land accounts for about 10 percent of data center construction costs.
“In that case, data center land purchases in 2025 would have equated to about 4.2 percent of the total value of all industrial property transactions, according to National Property Information Center (NAPIC),
“And remember, these land purchases are just one way in which artificial intelligence is driving growth for the economy and for property. Of course, it takes time for a data center project to come together, so the land for data centers that are coming online this year would have been purchased several years ago,” he said.
For him, every billion ringgit of AI-related investment has ripple effects in the larger property market, and Malaysia is attracting hundreds of billions of ringgit of investment.
“As a result, we will need more industrial facilities, commercial office space, and logistics, as well as residential housing and retail in surrounding areas,
“These are high-skilled, high-paid workers who want to buy homes and raise families. “The impact will only increase in the years ahead, as long as the current investment boom continues,” he added.
He also said AI is the biggest job creator in the information and communication sub-sector, and only a fraction of those jobs are in data centers.
It is noted that the Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) reported that AI created 12,600 roles last year, in addition to 2,600 data center and cloud services roles, 1,400 creative media technology jobs, and 1,100 Internet of Things roles.
“If you use a conservative estimate that each person requires an average of about 15 square meters of office space, then the 12,600 new AI jobs alone created about 190,000 square meters of new demand for office space,
“Given the pace of investment, we are likely to see a similar demand increase this year, next year, and every year until at least 2030,” said Ansari.
According to him, Malaysian-based businesses are rapidly adopting AI, which is leading to new hiring in companies in industries that are far removed from AI.
He also highlighted that Malaysians are world leaders in using AI at work, as nine out of ten Malaysians already do so, according to a report from EY, compared to just 43 percent of Chinese and 46 percent of Americans.
“And it’s not just in the office that Malaysians are talking with their AI chatbots. Ninety percent of Malaysian university students also use AI, up from fewer than half in 2023, according to the new ‘AI Index 2026 Annual Report’ by Stanford University,
“The next generation of Malaysia’s workforce is growing up with AI tools, and will be able to use them in ways their elders haven’t yet discovered. Perhaps that is why about 54 percent of Malaysians are positive about how AI might make their own, individual jobs better,” said Ansari.
The Stanford report also found that about 76 percent of Malaysians are excited about how AI will transform their lives.
“More than two thirds (70 percent) believe that products and services using AI have more benefits than drawbacks,
“Locally, we are much more positive about AI than people are overseas. Globally, only 59 percent feel the same way,” said Ansari.
He said Malaysians also trust their government, with 73 percent believing the government will regulate AI effectively.
The Malaysian government has earned this trust with its digital economy blueprint, data center and chip manufacturing investment drive, and engagement with global technology companies, he added.
“Malaysians are unusually positive about AI compared to the people of other nations, and as a result, investment is flowing in,
“That investment is boosting the market for industrial land and commercial property, and less directly for residential property and retail. AI will be the big property story of the next half decade,” he concluded.