The Prompt Challenge That Stole the Show at SME AI Fest 2025
Kuala Lumpur, 6 August 2025 – Among the panel discussions, keynote speeches, and industry insights at SME AI Fest 2025, one segment stood out for its energy and creativity: the AI Prompt Contest. Designed and hosted by T42 Academy, the training arm of TRINITY42 Digital, the contest gave participants a chance to experience artificial intelligence in a way that was anything but ordinary.
While much of the Fest explored strategy and ecosystem readiness, the contest took a different approach, showing that AI can be playful, practical, and surprisingly accessible. Participants were asked to tackle challenges using generative AI tools, ranging from welcoming alien visitors to pitching unconventional products like durian-flavoured toothpaste.
“It was refreshing,” said one SME owner who joined the challenge. “Instead of hearing about AI from a distance, we got to test it ourselves. I realised AI isn’t something to be afraid of — it’s something we can use right now.”
More Than a Game
Though the prompts were lighthearted, the learning was serious. By guiding participants through real-time exercises, T42 Academy demonstrated how prompts (the instructions given to AI tools) are the foundation of practical adoption. The exercise also highlighted a wider point: SMEs don’t need massive budgets to begin experimenting with AI. Sometimes, it starts with knowing how to ask the right question.
Observers noted that the contest brought a different kind of buzz to the event hall. “The panels gave us the big picture, but the Prompt Contest gave us the hands-on feel,” said another participant. “It made AI seem less distant, more like a tool we can actually play with and apply.” The contest was evaluated by a panel that brought together exceptional expertise from across the industry. It included a key member of the T42 Academy team, alongside Dr. Halimahton from the Malaysia Productivity Corporation (MPC), Christine Tee from Turing, and Ashley Tan, T42 Academy’s Director of Learning & Digital Transformation. Their diverse perspectives ensured that contestants were judged not just on technical merit but also on real-world business applicability. Judges remarked on the creativity and practicality of the entries, noting that Malaysian SMEs are not only ready to adopt AI but are also poised to become innovators in their own right.
A Signal for What’s Ahead
The Prompt Contest was also a reflection of T42 Academy’s broader mission — making AI skills approachable for SMEs that may otherwise feel left behind in the digital economy. By turning abstract concepts into practical exercises, the Academy showed how training and exposure can close the gap between awareness and action.
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