PETALING JAYA: As businesses race to embrace artificial intelligence (AI), one technology company is urging organisations to take a step back and examine a more fundamental question: Are they getting enough value from the technology they already have?

For Dr. Salasiah Abbas, Chief Executive Officer of SOVA Intelligence (M) Sdn. Bhd., the answer often lies not in buying another technology platform, but in fixing the gaps between existing systems, processes and people.

Her experience engaging organisations across different industries has revealed a common pattern — businesses may already have ERP systems, databases, operational applications, dashboards and other digital platforms, yet significant parts of their operations remain manual and disconnected.

“There is still manual reporting, information being transferred from one system to another, different departments working separately, and management depending on people to consolidate information before they can see the overall picture,” Dr. Salasiah told Press KL.

That observation has shaped SOVA Intelligence’s focus on Operational Workflow Automation, an approach that starts with the business problem rather than the technology.

The Problem Between the Systems

The challenge, according to Dr. Salasiah, is often fragmentation.

Individual systems may be functioning properly, but they do not necessarily communicate with one another. Employees then become the bridge between systems, spending time extracting information, updating spreadsheets, preparing reports, reconciling data, tracking operational status and transferring information from one platform to another.

She describes this as an “invisible operational cost”.

The time spent on these activities may not appear as a separate expense on a company’s financial statements, but the cumulative effect on productivity can be substantial.

“Actually, we see all of them, and usually they are connected. One of the biggest issues is fragmentation,” she said.

The problem can take different forms depending on the industry. In fleet and asset-intensive operations, it can involve asset visibility, deployment, maintenance, equipment status and workforce coordination.

In engineering and project environments, businesses may struggle to connect project information with procurement, finance, HR, payroll, documents and management information. In manufacturing, the opportunity may extend from automation and integration into predictive maintenance, equipment intelligence and AI-supported decision-making.

Meanwhile, aviation and MRO operations can involve highly detailed inspection, maintenance, technical workflows and operational data. The technologies may differ, but the underlying challenge remains the same: making the operation work better.

From Knowing What Happened to Knowing What Comes Next

Dr. Salasiah believes the real value of digital transformation emerges when organisations move beyond simply recording what has already happened.

Management should eventually be able to understand what is happening now, why it is happening, what is likely to happen next and what action should be taken.

That is where she believes AI can become genuinely powerful.

Drone-based inspection and computer vision, for example, could potentially reduce the need for people to manually review large volumes of inspection data by supporting AI-assisted defect detection, analytics, reporting and asset management.

But the technology itself is only one part of the equation.

“The sectors and technologies may be different, but the underlying question is the same: how do we make the operation work better?” she said.

For SOVA, digital transformation is therefore not simply about adding another system.

“The real transformation happens when people, processes, systems and data start working together,” Dr. Salasiah said.

Why SOVA Does Not Start With AI

At a time when companies are under increasing pressure to demonstrate their AI strategies, SOVA takes a deliberately different approach.

Dr. Salasiah said the company does not begin by asking what AI product it can sell to a customer.

Instead, it looks at what is already working, what is not working, where information is disconnected, which processes remain manual and what management needs but cannot currently see.

Only then does it determine the appropriate technology. The solution could involve AI, automation, enterprise integration, computer vision, robotics, drones, data intelligence, specialised equipment or a combination of several technologies.

“We are not trying to sell one AI product to everybody,” she said.

“Our model is problem-led, technology-agnostic and ecosystem-driven.”

That approach also means SOVA does not automatically recommend that clients replace existing systems.

If an ERP, SQL database or operational platform is already doing its job, the company looks at whether it can be integrated, enhanced or made more intelligent.

“Our job is not to sell the client more technology; our job is to make the organisation work better through technology,” Dr. Salasiah said.

A Technology Ecosystem Without Borders

Another key element of SOVA’s strategy is its ecosystem approach.

Dr. Salasiah believes technology is evolving too quickly and becoming too specialised for any one organisation to possess every capability internally.

SOVA has therefore developed technology relationships across Malaysia, Singapore, China and the United States.

Its ecosystem includes a relationship with Graphen in the US, technology partners in Singapore, connections into the Zhejiang University innovation ecosystem in China, Malaysian universities and local technology partners.

Rather than attempting to develop everything internally, SOVA seeks to identify what a particular business problem requires and bring the right capabilities together.

“We don’t need to pretend we can do everything ourselves. Technology is moving too quickly and becoming too specialised for that,” she said.

This positions SOVA increasingly as an orchestrator of technology capabilities — connecting businesses with the appropriate technology, expertise and partners.

AI Still Needs Strong Industrial Foundations

While AI may dominate the headlines, Dr. Salasiah said businesses operating in real industrial environments cannot afford to overlook the fundamentals.

SOVA’s work with SIRIM Calibration has reinforced the importance of measurement accuracy, equipment reliability, standards, calibration and technical compliance.

“Everyone is excited about AI, but when you enter real industrial environments, fundamentals still matter,” she said.

“You cannot build intelligent industry and ignore the physical operation underneath it. AI has to work within that real operating environment.”

The message is particularly relevant as AI increasingly moves beyond office productivity tools and into factories, fleets, aviation, infrastructure, inspection and other asset-intensive environments.

In these sectors, an intelligent digital layer still has to interact with physical equipment, established processes and real-world operating conditions.

Technology Transfer, Not Just Technology Deployment

For SOVA, the technology journey should also leave behind knowledge and capability.

Dr. Salasiah said she does not want clients to remain dependent on the company indefinitely simply because SOVA implemented a particular solution.

Where appropriate, the company seeks to customise and localise technology, transfer knowledge and know-how, and upskill local personnel.

She sees Technology Transfer as a strategic component of developing Malaysia’s own technology capabilities.

“To me, Technology Transfer is not simply bringing foreign technology into Malaysia. It is bringing capability in, localising it, developing Malaysian people around it and making sure more knowledge stays here,” she said.

The approach brings together international technology capabilities with Malaysian industry knowledge, universities, technical institutions and local talent.

The Business Problem Comes First

Dr. Salasiah’s philosophy ultimately challenges the conventional narrative surrounding digital transformation.

The question is not necessarily how quickly a company can adopt the latest AI technology. It is whether the technology solves a genuine business problem.

An organisation may have sophisticated software, extensive databases and advanced equipment, but if employees still spend hours manually transferring information between systems, much of that investment may not be delivering its full potential.

Conversely, a relatively straightforward integration or automation project could produce a significant operational improvement.

For SOVA, that is where technology becomes meaningful. The company is not positioning itself simply as another AI provider, but as a partner that starts with understanding how an organisation operates and then identifies the technology required to improve it.

As Malaysia moves deeper into an AI-driven economy, Dr. Salasiah believes the winners will not necessarily be the organisations with the most technology.

They will be the organisations that know how to make their technology, people, processes and data work together.

“Technology by itself does not transform an organisation. Leadership has to know what needs to change and why, and technology gives us the capability to execute that transformation much more effectively,” she said.