MDEC conceived the Global Acceleration and Innovation Network in 2014 to address a gap: foreign investment had built a local ecosystem, but Malaysian technology companies struggled to expand internationally, Digital News Asia reported. Gopi developed the programme around gateway access, amplification, investment and nurturing.
He noted few domestic tech firms then earned over RM20 million a year. “You’ve got your FDIs coming in. That was the problem statement,” he said.
Between 2015 and 2017, he organised three Silicon Valley visits for Malaysian entrepreneurs. GAIN expanded to Indonesia in November 2017 and now operates in 40 cities, he said.
"We knew we could not recreate their ecosystem but you can bring the thinking, the mindset back," he said, citing iPay88, N2N Bhd and ViTrox Technologies Bhd as Malaysian businesses that later achieved major successes.
We’re not good in branding. Our storytelling was weak,” he explained.
The related DEX CONNEX programme helped businesses reach international markets. More than 28 GAIN companies are listed on Bursa Malaysia.
Gopi said staying beyond a decade stifles progress. “I encourage senior leaders not to stay too long because you will stifle innovation, you will stifle growth,” he told Digital News Asia.
Eleven and a half years on—joining February 2015, departing October 2024 when his contract ended and returning July 2025—Gopi considers his departure overdue. “I overstayed,” he said, though his 10 years and eight months barely exceeded his own 10-year threshold.
He believes the agency must reshape for Malaysia Digital 2030’s AI Nation ambitions. “MDEC now needs to reshape to be part of the AI Nation agenda under MD2030,” he said. “Otherwise you’re putting old wine in a new bottle.”
His parting principle: “Because without the industry, there is no MDEC.”
Gopi is moving into board and strategic advisory roles focused on AI-driven business changes, exploring opportunities across Malaysia, ASEAN and Australia. “I am not retiring. I am actually pivoting,” he said.
His exit marks another shift in a career spanning finance, telecommunications, entrepreneurship and public-sector ecosystem building. On joining MDEC, he said, “That was the first change in a government agency, bringing in somebody from industry to help change the mindset of all the initiatives to be very industry driven.” He added, “Both Yasmin and I realised that MDEC was not very connected to the industry.”
How long did Gopi Ganesalingam serve at MDEC?
He joined in February 2015 and served almost 11 years before departing when his contract expired, Digital News Asia reported.
What did the GAIN programme achieve?
It grew from Silicon Valley visits between 2015 and 2017 to a network operating in 40 cities, and more than 28 participating companies are now listed on Bursa Malaysia.
What is DEX CONNEX’s reported impact?
MDEC reported more than RM1 billion in potential digital export opportunities through the programme in September 2025.
When then-CEO Datuk Yasmin Mahmood recruited him in 2015, her target was to grow Malaysian technology companies from RM20 million to RM200 million in annual revenue; Gopi’s departure closes a chapter that began with that ambition, Digital News Asia reported.
PIKOM chairman Alex Liew called Gopi a “passionate champion of our technology companies, entrepreneurs and innovators” in a LinkedIn tribute. Rajen Dorairaj, an MDEC executive until end-2019 who has known Gopi since 2015, praised his work through GAIN and DEX CONNEX. When then-CEO Datuk Yasmin Mahmood hired him, she said, “I need to put the right person in charge.”