by Tan Aik Keong (AK)
I'm happy to share some good news — I've just been appointed n8n's AI Ambassador for Malaysia.
To me, this isn't just an honour, it's a responsibility: how do we get more Malaysians to actually touch automation, get comfortable with it, and turn AI into a real tool for improving how we live and work?
Over the past two years, Malaysians have started using ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and other AI tools heavily — drafting emails, translating documents, organising information, producing content. But most of the time, we're still just asking AI a question and waiting for an answer.
The next stage is for us to move from being AI users to being AI builders.
"Builder" here doesn't necessarily mean training a large language model, and it doesn't mean everyone has to become a programmer. The more practical version is learning to connect AI to the software, data and workflows we already use every day — so AI doesn't just answer questions, it takes action.
And n8n is one of the key tools for doing exactly that.
What is n8n?
n8n is a platform that combines workflow automation with AI capability. Users connect different pieces of software, databases, APIs and AI models together through something like a flowchart.
In simple terms, you can tell the system: "When a customer enquiry email comes in, have AI first work out what the customer needs, log the details to Google Sheets or a CRM, notify the right salesperson, and draft a reply automatically."
In the past, a system like that might have needed a technical team weeks to build. With n8n, much of it can be assembled visually, and anyone who can code can layer in more complex logic on top.
One of the most appealing things about n8n is that its source code is open and it offers a free, self-hostable community edition. More precisely, n8n runs on a "fair-code" sustainable-use licence rather than a fully unrestricted open-source one. Businesses can install the community edition on their own servers or cloud environment, giving them much more control over their data, configuration and how everything runs.
How can an ordinary person use n8n?
When people hear "automation," they usually picture large enterprise systems. In reality, automation can start with something very personal.
For example: automatically pulling the news you follow every morning and having AI summarise it in Chinese; auto-sorting incoming bills and receipts into a personal expense sheet; pulling together the relevant materials ahead of time based on your calendar; automatically backing up important email attachments; or turning one idea into the different content formats each social platform needs.
You can also build your own AI assistant — one that doesn't just chat with you, but connects to email, your calendar, Telegram, Google Drive and other tools. When you give it an instruction, it can find documents, organise information, update records, and send the results to the right person.
That's the shift from AI that can talk to AI that can actually do things.
Why do businesses need n8n?
For a business, the biggest value of n8n isn't saving a few clicks — it's redesigning the entire workflow.
Sales teams can automatically collect lead information, gauge intent, and update the CRM. Customer service teams can let AI triage a question first before routing it to the right staff member. Finance teams can automatically extract invoice data, check documents are complete, and prepare payment approvals. Management can receive regular reports pulled together automatically from data across different systems.
On the HR side, businesses can automatically sort job applications, schedule interviews and send reminders. On the marketing side, they can automate content planning, customer segmentation and post-campaign follow-up.
n8n can currently connect to hundreds of applications, combining traditional automation, AI models, human approval steps and custom code in a single workflow. That lets businesses move from simple repetitive tasks toward genuine AI agents and cross-department automation.
Automation doesn't mean handing every decision to AI, of course. Anything touching payments, contracts, hiring, healthcare or important client relationships still needs a human check in the loop. Good automation isn't chasing "no humans involved" for its own sake — it's letting machines handle the repetitive work so people can focus on judgment, creativity, communication and accountability.
Getting 10,000 Malaysians automation-literate
I've set myself a goal: get 10,000 Malaysians literate in automation, and help push Malaysia toward becoming a genuine AI nation by 2030.
An AI nation can't just be one with a lot of ChatGPT users. A real AI nation needs large numbers of people who actually know how to use AI to solve problems, improve their business, build products — and even export their own automation solutions abroad.
This skill shouldn't belong only to big companies or tech elites either. SME owners, accountants, salespeople, teachers, marketers, admin staff and university students can all benefit from automation.
Save 30 minutes a day, and it adds up to something substantial over a year. If a company can cut down on repeated data entry, duplicated files and back-and-forth follow-ups, what improves isn't just efficiency — it's data accuracy, customer experience and staff morale too.
Building Malaysia's own n8n community
Next, together with Brian Ho, founder of the n8n Malaysia community, we'll be running our first in-person meetup in the Klang Valley.
We want this community to be more than technical tutorials — a place where Malaysians can learn from each other, showcase real automation projects, find collaborators, and solve real problems together.
Whether this is the first time you've heard of n8n, or you're already deep into AI agents and enterprise automation, you're welcome to join us. Search "n8n Malaysia" on Facebook, or go straight to facebook.com/groups/n8nmalaysia.
The real opportunity in AI isn't just using a smarter chatbot — it's rethinking how we live day to day, how we work, and how we run a business.
The competition ahead won't necessarily be won by whoever has the most powerful AI model. It'll be won by whoever best understands how to connect AI to the real world and get it actually working.
Malaysia now has its own n8n ambassador. What we need next is more Malaysian automation builders.
Part of the AK AI Corner column. Originally published in Oriental Daily (东方日报) on Jul 18, 2026.