From the research lab to the ministries Dr. Behrang (Hani) Parhizkar on making AI work for Malaysia

When the World AI Tech Summit in Dubai presented its awards in November 2025, a Malaysian technologist came home with two of them. Dr. Behrang (Hani) Parhizkar, Group CEO of Cyberjaya-based Chamrun Digital, was named Best Speaker, and the company was recognised as Outstanding AI Solution Provider, Malay Mail reported.

His talk, “Agentic AI Framework for Public Sectors”, argued that governments can put AI agents to work safely by combining several specialised agents with smaller, domain-specific language models. For Dr. Behrang, the awards confirmed that an approach built with Malaysian agencies could travel.

A builder first

Dr. Behrang holds a PhD in Computer Science, specialising in artificial intelligence, from the University of Nottingham. He began in AI and human-computer interaction research before co-founding Chamrun in Cyberjaya in 2015. He is also an Adjunct Professor at UNIRAZAK and a registered Professional Technologist (Ts.).

What sets this Malaysian AI consultant and keynote speaker apart is that he builds what he talks about. Since 2023 he has focused on public-sector AI, first training senior officers and then building systems with them. That work has produced 20 working agentic AI prototypes developed alongside senior public officers.

[Quote from Dr. Behrang, to be supplied: why he chose to build with officers rather than for them.]

Connecting the silos

Speaking at the Malaysia Digital Expo (MDX) Summit 2025, Dr. Behrang described agentic AI as a “smart connector” that can join up the fragmented data and workflows that slow decisions between ministries. Chamrun has also partnered with the Public Service Department (JPA) on a six-month AI and Digital Leadership Programme for senior officers.

At the ASEAN AI Malaysia Summit 2025, the company presented projects in design and early implementation. They included crop intelligence to support food-security planning, an AI assistant for tourism and events, and welfare-monitoring tools that flag early warning signs so officers can act sooner.

Secure and sovereign by default

A theme that runs through his keynotes is sovereignty. In his view, public-sector AI has to respect national data, policy and compliance from the start, not as an afterthought. That means approved infrastructure, models suited to the task and a clear record of what every agent does.

It is also why Chamrun builds across three areas: real AI projects, digital transformation and leadership training through Chamrun Academy. The group now has offices in Cyberjaya, Sydney, London and Jakarta.

From Kuala Lumpur to Dubai

His speaking work now spans the region. He has given keynotes at the ASEAN AI Malaysia Summit, CDAO Malaysia, the TM Annual Conference and the Selangor Techsphere Summit, joined panels at GITEX Asia Singapore and run a public-sector AI programme in Korea.

Event organisers tend to book him for one reason: audiences leave with a practical plan rather than predictions. Each keynote is tailored to the audience and its AI maturity, with examples drawn from projects his team has actually built.

“The future of public service is intelligent, automated, and citizen-first,” he says. For a growing number of Malaysian agencies, Dr. Behrang is the person showing what that looks like in practice.