HRD Corp Claimable AI Training: A Plan for Malaysian SMEs

HRD Corp registered employers can fund AI training through the HRD Corp Claimable Courses scheme, as long as the course comes from a registered training provider, runs for at least four hours and the grant is applied for in e-TRiS before training starts. The harder question is who should learn what. This guide gives Malaysian SMEs a role-by-role course map, a three-step plan and the mistakes that delay claims.

At a glance

• Who pays the levy: employers with 10 or more Malaysian employees must register with HRD Corp and pay 1% of monthly wages; employers with 5 to 9 may opt in at 0.5%
• Usual route for short AI courses: the HRD Corp Claimable Courses (HCC) scheme, in-house or public, minimum four hours
• Apply early: at least 14 days before in-house training; at least 3 days before public training held from 15 June to 31 December 2026, returning to 14 days from 1 January 2027
• Deadlines: training must start within 90 days after that advance period, and claims are due within six months of completion
• Plan in three waves: everyone first, then role specialists, then leaders and builders

How claimable training works, in brief

Under the Pembangunan Sumber Manusia Berhad (PSMB) Act 2001, registration is compulsory for employers with 10 or more Malaysian employees, and the monthly levy is 1% of employees' monthly wages. Employers with five to nine Malaysian employees can choose to register, at 0.5%. Since the expansion of the PSMB Act took effect on 1 March 2021, coverage extends across a long list of industries, so check yours on HRD Corp's site.

For short AI courses, most SMEs use the HRD Corp Claimable Courses scheme. The key points from HRD Corp's own page:

• The course is delivered by a registered training provider, in-house or public, and lasts at least four hours.
• The employer applies in e-TRiS with a quotation or invoice, the schedule or course content, and the trainer profile.
• The application must be submitted before the training start date, within the advance periods above.
• The employer does not pay the training fee to the provider upfront.
• Meals, daily allowance, consumable materials, venue and travel follow HRD Corp's Allowable Cost Matrix.

This article focuses on planning the training. For document checklists, allowances and the claim steps, read our HRD Corp claimable Microsoft training guide.

Which roles need which AI course

The most common mistake is one generic "AI awareness" session for the whole company. People learn faster when the examples match their own work, and a finance executive needs different practice from a marketing executive.

AI-3025 or AB-730 for the first wave?

Both are Microsoft courses for business users, but they start from different places.

• AI-3025, Work smarter with AI, is Microsoft's starting point for people new to AI. It covers what AI can do, why grounding it in your own work gives better answers, how agents handle multi-step tasks, and how to review AI output with sound judgement. Copilot appears as one example, so it suits companies that have not settled on tools.
• AB-730, Transform Business Workflows with Generative AI, is product-specific. It takes staff from Copilot Chat and effective prompting to using Copilot for drafting, data analysis, meetings and collaboration, with responsible AI and agents built in, and prepares them for the AB-730 AI Business Professional exam. It suits teams that already use Copilot through Microsoft 365. Some features it covers, such as Copilot Cowork, need the paid Microsoft 365 Copilot licence, so check what your staff have. Microsoft lists its course as the replacement for MS-4023, the earlier Copilot Chat course, which has a retirement date of 30 October 2026.

CT-AI-102 for the heavy users

Your second wave is the people who write all day: proposals, job descriptions, product copy, customer replies and SOPs. A prompt engineering course teaches them to build reusable prompt templates, set tone and structure, and check facts. These are the staff who turn a training day into hours saved every week.

Many Malaysian teams work in both Bahasa Melayu and English. Microsoft added Malay to the languages supported by Microsoft 365 Copilot in August 2025, so ask the trainer to include exercises in both languages.

A three-step AI training plan

Step 1: map tasks and set rules (weeks 1 to 2)

• Ask each team lead for three repetitive tasks that eat time, such as monthly reports, customer email replies, meeting minutes, quotation drafts or SOP updates.
• Check which AI tools staff already have. Copilot Chat is included with eligible Microsoft 365 plans, and a paid Copilot licence may not be needed for everyone yet.
• Write a one-page AI use rule with whoever handles personal data protection, ideally your data protection officer. Our PDPA and AI tools guide lists what staff must never paste into a prompt.
• Count heads per wave and decide in-house or public. A private in-house class lets the trainer use your documents and workflows as examples.

Step 2: train in waves (weeks 3 to 10)

• Wave 1, foundations for everyone. Keep groups to one level. Mixing senior managers with new staff often makes both groups quieter.
• Wave 2, role-based skills. Ask participants to bring a real task to the class and leave with a working prompt or template.
• Wave 3, leaders and builders. Managers learn to prioritise use cases and set governance. IT and process owners learn to manage Copilot and build simple agents.
• Timing. Submit each e-TRiS application well before the advance deadline, and avoid month-end closing, stock take and festive periods, when people are least able to attend.

Step 3: apply and measure (weeks 11 to 14)

• Thirty days after each wave, every participant shows one workflow they changed.
• Pick one AI champion per department to collect prompts that work and answer simple questions.
• Track a few measures you can actually collect: minutes per task before and after, the number of approved use cases, and errors caught in review.
• Use the results to decide next year's training budget and whether some staff now justify a paid Copilot licence.

What the plan can look like

Here is an illustration for a hypothetical company with 30 office staff. Adjust the numbers to your own headcount.

What to ask a training provider before you book

Most claim problems start before the class, so ask these questions while you are still choosing:

• Is this course registered for the HRD Corp Claimable Courses scheme, and is it at least four hours long?
• Will you send the quotation, schedule or course content and trainer profile we need for the e-TRiS application?
• Is the class in-house for our staff only, or public with other companies?
• Is delivery face-to-face or remote online, and how is attendance recorded?
• Can the exercises use our own documents and workflows, with personal data removed?
• Does the trainer hold current credentials for the product being taught, such as Microsoft Certified Trainer status for Microsoft courses?

Mistakes that delay claims or waste the budget

• Applying after the training has started. HRD Corp requires the application before the start date, and for in-house training at least 14 days ahead.
• Booking a short talk. HCC funding applies to training of at least four hours. HRD Corp's course registration guidance also says seminar and conference-type programmes are not eligible.
• Forgetting the 2027 change. The shorter three-day advance period for public training applies only from 15 June to 31 December 2026. From 1 January 2027, plan 14 days ahead for both.
• Training before setting rules. If staff learn AI before they know what data is off limits, the first thing someone pastes may be a customer list.
• One course for everyone. A single generic session satisfies the attendance list but rarely changes how people work.
• No follow-up. Without the Step 3 review, nobody can show management what the training achieved.

How CertTulen Academy can help

CertTulen Academy runs AI-3025, Transform Business Workflows with Generative AI (AB-730) and the Prompt Engineering Masterclass (CT-AI-102) as live, MCT-led classes, online or as private in-house cohorts with in-person delivery in Malaysia. CertTulen is an HRD Corp accredited training provider, and many of its professional courses can be claimed by HRD Corp registered employers, so ask us which courses are claimable for your team. Contact us or WhatsApp +60 16-241 8686 to map your roles to a plan.