LEARNING AI has been a long journey for me. Even after working with it over time, I still find it challenging — not because AI is impossible to access, but because the real question is: What should we learn, for what purpose, and how can we use AI effectively?

Many business leaders may remember the early days of the internet. Years ago, if you wanted an attractive and interactive business website, you usually needed a skilled webmaster. Today, AI is creating a similar shift. To benefit from it, we need the willingness to learn, practise, and grow along our own learning curve. The good news is that support is everywhere — even younger digital-native generations, including Gen Z, can help business leaders get started with AI platforms. All they need is a co-pilot for their executive tasks. Possibly 24/7.

This is especially relevant for business leaders, professionals, entrepreneurs, educators, and young talent in Malaysia. AI is no longer only about writing better prompts for ChatGPT. Prompting was an important starting point, but AI now reaches much further. It is becoming part of business strategy, operations, customer experience, employee productivity, innovation, and decision-making across the board.

That is why this updated AI Learning Stream has moved beyond a narrow focus on “prompt engineering” into a broader introduction to AI itself. Prompting remains important, but it is only one part of a much bigger journey.

AI will continue to expand beyond what we currently understand. To use it well, we first need a clear foundation.

Before asking how to use AI, we should first ask: What is AI?

Artificial Intelligence is a field of computer science that enables machines to perform tasks normally linked to human intelligence. These tasks include learning, reasoning, problem-solving, understanding language, recognising patterns, and supporting decisions.

In practical business terms, AI can automate repetitive work, analyse large volumes of data, generate text, images, code or ideas, personalise customer experiences, and support better decisions through insights and predictions.

This is why AI is not going away. Like the internet, it is becoming a foundational technology. It helps organisations solve problems faster, improve efficiency, and discover new opportunities.

A few basic concepts are useful. Machine learning allows systems to learn from data and identify patterns without being manually programmed for every rule. Deep learning, which uses neural networks, supports more complex tasks such as image recognition, speech processing, and natural language understanding.

We should also understand different types of AI:

- Descriptive AI helps answer: What happened?

  For example, dashboards that analyse sales performance or customer behaviour, as well as customer experience.

- Decision-making AI helps answer: What should we do?

  For example, systems that recommend credit decisions, logistics routes, or inventory actions.

- Generative AI helps answer: What can we create?

  For example, tools that produce text, images, presentations, code, music, or marketing content.

Another important development is the rise of AI agents. These systems go beyond answering questions. They can perform tasks, use tools, follow multi-step instructions, and work towards a goal with less human supervision. A simple example is a customer service chatbot that answers questions and processes refunds. A more advanced agent could research a topic, analyse documents, compare options, and prepare a report.

Once we understand the basics, we can return to the practical skill many people know as prompting.

Good AI use begins with better questions. Instead of simply asking, “What can AI do?”, we should ask:

- What problem am I trying to solve?

- What would a successful outcome look like?

- How can AI support this task?

- What information must I provide?

- What type of answer do I need — a summary, analysis, idea, strategy, code, or action plan?

A good AI interaction is not a one-way command. It is a dialogue. AI can help us clarify goals, audiences, constraints, details, and preferred formats.

1. Ask better questions. 

   Good prompts include context, objectives, constraints, format, and examples.

2. Observe patterns. 

   AI can help identify trends, relationships, and signals that humans may overlook.

3. Prototype quickly.   

   AI allows us to test ideas, generate alternatives, and explore options within minutes.

4. Work with large data volumes.

   AI can analyse information at scale and highlight insights, risks, and opportunities.

5. Connect the dots. 

   AI can combine ideas across departments, industries, and information sources.

6. Explore hidden signals. 

   AI can help us consider indirect effects, emerging trends, and secondary consequences.

7. Understand AI compounding. 

   Better questions lead to better outputs. Better outputs improve understanding. Better understanding improves decisions. Over time,  these benefits multiply.

For beginners, I suggest this process:

1. Ask: What do I need to achieve? 

2. Clarify: What context must AI know? 

3. Expand: What are several possible options? 

4. Analyse: What patterns, risks, or opportunities exist? 

5. Refine: How can this be improved based on clear criteria? 

6. Apply: What are the practical action steps? 

7. Reflect: What did I learn, and what should I ask next?

AI is not a replacement for human thinking. It is a thinking partner.

You remain the decision-maker, ethical guide, creative director, strategic thinker, and executive doer. AI accelerates the process, but humans choose the direction based on real business needs.

For Malaysian businesses, this is an encouraging moment. We do not need to know everything before we begin. We need curiosity, discipline, experimentation, reflection, and self-encouragement.

Stay curious. Ask better questions. Improve step by step. Treat AI as a dialogue partner. Experiment often and reflect on the results.

AI rewards engagement. The more thoughtfully we interact with it, the more powerful it becomes for our work, our organisations, and our future.

Let’s move forward with AI.

Tan Sri Rainer Althoff is a strategic consultant on global digital transformation and a former CEO of Siemens Malaysia.