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Malaysia is going to need 1,500 data scientists by 2020, says Sharala Axyrd, founder and Managing Director of The Center Of Applied Data Science (CADS) and approximately 190,000 more who will be supporting jobs in terms of analysts, mathematicians, programmers and others.

“I have been tasked to produce 150 candidates per year with the support of HRDF and MDEC. It’s no easy task but I will try my best. At least I can say I tried!”. Although it was said in jest, one can tell those were words filled with determination.

She began her endeavour to make Malaysia the foremost authority on Big Data Analytics in 2014 with a passion to make Malaysia the go-to for Data Scientists and to bring Malaysians back to their home country.

“I grew up in Bukit Mertajam and studied in Malaysia before going abroad. In other countries, Malaysians are viewed very highly. But I want to bring our very capable Malaysians out there, back home.”

She said this in an interview after giving a talk on “What Does Data Scientist Do” in UiTM Shah Alam here this morning.

In terms of infrastructure, Malaysia is already capable and moving forward towards its goal. However, she says she is looking at the SME’s more than the MNC’s to take the lead role. Simply because SME’s are more versatile and able to try out new and innovative ideas without the bureaucracy holding them back.

“Many MNC’s have started their 3 year plan. But their change will be sluggish at best. SME’s on the other hand have huge potential in terms of their ability to move quickly which is how Big Data works.”

With MDEC’s generous support for SME’s, they should be quick to take this opportunity and position themselves as trend leaders.

Meanwhile, CADS is already on its fourth cycle in training Data Scientists.

“The interview process is a difficult process with only 40 candidates selected from 200 applications. But this is necessary if we want to have quality professionals wanted the world over” she adds.

By turning Malaysia into a hub for the ASEAN regions’ Big Data Analytics, and supported by MDEC and HRDF, job opportunities will become more abundant. Perhaps the “Sexiest Job of the 21^st Century”, the Data Scientist, is just what is needed to make Sharala Axryd’s dream come true.

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