By DayakDaily Team
KUCHING, Sept 29: Business students are getting a taste of real-world consumer research through an AI-powered learning platform developed by a 25-year-old lecturer from Kuching, Sarawak.
According to a statement, the platform, known as Global Voices: AI Persona Lab, enables students to interact with simulated consumer personas representing different cultures, lifestyles and consumer behaviours.
Developed by Kuching-born lecturer and marketing researcher Galvin Lee Kuan Sian, the initiative allows students to question the simulated personas, interpret their responses and apply marketing and consumer behaviour concepts to different situations.
Rather than relying solely on textbook descriptions or conventional case studies, the platform gives students an opportunity to explore how consumers with different backgrounds may think, respond and make decisions.
Lee’s approach combines artificial intelligence, experiential learning and gamification to move students from passive content consumption towards active decision-making, application and reflection.
The initiative has received Gold recognition at teaching and learning innovation platforms, including the International University Carnival on E-Learning (IUCEL).
Over the past year, his teaching and learning initiatives have reached more than 1,000 students while his education innovations have received 32 Gold Awards across national and international platforms since 2025.
He said the increasing availability of AI in education should not mean adopting technology simply because it is new.
“AI, simulations and gamification should not be gimmicks.
“They should give students realistic spaces to practise, make decisions, make mistakes safely and connect what happens back to the theories they are learning,” he said.
Lee currently serves as a lecturer and programme coordinator in business education, teaching subjects including marketing, consumer behaviour, economics, international business and entrepreneurship.
Alongside his teaching and academic leadership responsibilities, he is pursuing a PhD in Marketing at the Asia-Europe Institute, Universiti Malaya, where his research focuses on consumer behaviour in Malaysia’s digital economy.
His work in higher education and educational innovation has now earned him recognition as a JCI Ten Outstanding Young Malaysians (TOYM) Honouree 2026 in the category of Academic Leadership and/or Accomplishment.
The recognition was presented at the 2026 JCI TOYM Awards Ceremony at Sheraton Johor Bahru on Sept 19.
The JCI Ten Outstanding Young Malaysians programme recognises young Malaysians for achievement and contribution across 10 fields. The 2026 edition was hosted by JCI South Key under the theme “One Nation, One Vision.”
Born and raised in Kuching, Lee grew up in a family of educators, with both his parents having served as teachers.
He said growing up in that environment shaped his understanding of education as something that extends beyond delivering academic content, with educators also playing a role in influencing how students approach opportunities, challenges and their own development.
“I’m grateful for the recognition, and it encourages me to continue improving the work I do with my students,” he said. — DayakDaily
