KUCHING: Sarawak Information Systems Sdn Bhd (SAINS) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Malaysian voice AI firm 8nabler to widen voice AI use in ICT customer support services.
The MoU was signed at the recent Digital Government Exchange 2026 (DGX26) here, attended by SAINS chief executive officer Busiai Seman and 8nabler chief executive officer Benjamin Foong.
8nabler’s Panacea platform combines speech generation, reasoning models and telephone networks into one system, built for secure and governed voice and chat deployments across major Asean languages, according to the statement.
Over two months, the platform handled 4,056 ICT support calls for civil servants without human assistance and automated 4,702 minutes of call time, running around the clock in mixed Bahasa Malaysia and English, the statement said.
Paired with SAINS’ reach across state and federal agencies, the platform gives 8nabler a path to deploy voice AI at government scale, according to the statement.
Busiai said digital services should make life easier, not harder, for the public.
“Our proof of concept showed voice AI could handle routine ICT queries reliably at scale, including outside office hours,” he said.
He added that under the MoU, SAINS will study how the model can widen access for citizens in rural areas or those less comfortable with digital forms.
Foong said voice remains the most natural way for people to ask for help.
“Almost everyone knows how to speak. Our goal is to make that simple human ability the gateway for reporting ICT-related problems,” he said.
He added that accessibility and sovereignty must go together, with agencies retaining control over their data and how the AI behaves.
Under the MoU, SAINS and 8nabler will run a scoping and testing phase to find use cases across SAINS-supported application systems and services.
