Plenary 3 · INNOVATHON 2026 21 July 2026 · MPC @ MATRADE · Kuala Lumpur
PLENARY 3 · INNOVATHON 2026

AI Transformation of Reward Culture
& Quick-Win Projects

Transparent rewards accelerate technical breakthroughs. Deployable by Monday.

Dr Ahmad Hakiim Jamaluddin
Ahmad Hakiim Jamaluddin (Ph.D.) Senior Lecturer · Statistics & Data Science · Universiti Putra Malaysia
Explore Rewards See Quick-Wins
2Hackhathons, MY
3Hackhathons, AU
3Hospital Pilots
SilverX-CIPTA Medal
189IDSC AI Teams
BestPresenter Awards
Speaker Profile

About Hakiim Jamaluddin

Dr Ahmad Hakiim Jamaluddin

Background. Pure Sciences to Statistics to Data Science route: SPM (7A+, 2As). Matriculation (CGPA 4.00). BSc Industrial Statistics (CGPA 3.87, Chancellor & VC Gold Medals). MSc Statistics (Statistical Pattern Recognition) (UUM).

Ph.D. Math & Stats (Statistical Data Science) (2021-2025), UNSW Sydney. uDASH & UNSW AI Institute. Nominated for Outstanding Thesis.

Current Roles. Senior Lecturer, UPM. Group Leader, UPM Statistical Data Science Group. Education Sector Lead, NAIO. AI Research Fellow: Sengkang General, HTPN, Hospital Dalat. External Reviewer, Health Services Academy Pakistan. Guest Lecturer at UNAIR, ITS, UB, UNMUL.

Previous Roles. OSRAM Optosemiconductors. RHB Bank. Monash University Malaysia. UNSW Sydney. UTS Sydney. Macquarie University. Canterbury Institute of Management.

Professional & Academic Networks

📧 Email 🎓 Google Scholar 🆔 ORCID 🔬 ResearchGate 📄 Scopus 💻 GitHub 💼 LinkedIn 🐦 X (Twitter)
Theme 1: Psychology of Reward

Rewards drive outputs

"Build it, score it, reward it publicly. Teams push boundaries. High-performance AI needs visibility."

Reward Framework determines success. Four pillars needed:

01

Clear Goal

Define clinical boundaries explicitly. Optimize for actual operations.

02

Fair Rules

Publish stable rubrics Day 1. Transparency protects trust.

03

Real Reward

Offer funding, credentials, podium space, and executive access.

04

Public Recognition

Provide national broadcasts and impact profiles. Drives absolute commitment.

Competition & Rewards

Operational milestones & track record

Derived from actual evaluations. Key hackathons and medals:

2023

1-Minute Thesis

Best for Math & Stats, UNSW. Postgrad presentation. AUD500 prize.

1MT Competition
2023

CHUBB Data Hackathon

2nd Place. 5-day hackathon. Optimized risk pipelines. AUD3000 + job offer.

CHUBB Data Hackathon
2023

Innovator Pro AI

3rd Place, UNSW. Real-world algorithms. Salesforce & IBM internships.

Innovator Pro AI Competition
2023

USYD AI Policy

3rd Place, USYD. AI Policy. Bridged code and safety. AUD200.

Think-Tank AI Policy Competition
2025

X-CIPTA Silver Medal

Silver Medal. Healthcare innovation with Hospital Dalat, UNSW, UPM. Copyrighted.

X-CIPTA Silver Medal
2025

7th ISM Conference

Best Presenter. Broke down Bayesian GMMs via SDA for clinical analytics.

7th ISM Statistical Conference 2025
Theme 2: Quick-Wins

Agile Deployment: Small, Fast, Visible, Useful

Grand strategies stall. Transformation needs fast, functional clinical code.

1. Radically Small Scope

Target specific workflow friction. Fix one isolated issue.

2. Rapid Delivery (2-4 Weeks)

Skip 18-month roadmaps. Build, validate, ship.

3. High Visibility

Medical Officers must interact with the tool immediately.

4. Immediate Utility

Focus on concrete value. E.g., save 12 minutes per shift.

5. Concise Documentation

Create a simple one-page summary for directors.

Real-World Blueprints

Medical AI Case Studies

Framework applied across major systems. Direct clinical value:

Hospital Dalat AI Projects

Hospital Dalat, MY

Implementation: AI Research Fellow. Automated manual data routing.

Outcome: Won X-CIPTA Silver (2025), copy-righted. Optimized systems without expensive infrastructure.

General Sengkang Hospital Projects

Sengkang General Hospital, SG

Implementation: Translated diagnostics into predictive podiatry engines.

Outcome: Top 10 poster ASEAN Statistical Forum (Sengkang General Hospital SG, Hospital Dalat MY, McGill University CA, UPM MY). Presented at Global Podiatry Summit.

MaHTAS Pre-conference Workshop

MaHTAS, MY

Implementation: NHTA workshop. Taught LLMs for ShinyR dashboards.

Outcome: Bypassed data backlogs. Enabled real-time clinical monitoring.

NAIO Education Lead

NAIO, MY

Implementation: Education Sector Lead, AI Talent Working Group.

Outcome: Validated Malaysian AI Literacy Framework with MoE and just recently published. Published AI policy paper (UPM, Universiti Malaya, Institut Integriti Malaysia, JR Statistics Research Centre).

Operational Scale

IDSC 2026: Mathematics for Hope

Tested transparent rewards at scale. Hosted by UPM. Co-organized by UNAIR, UNMUL, UB, PERSAMA.

Explore Official IDSC 2026 Website →

Global Reach

  • 189 Registered Teams
  • 605 Participants
  • 5 Countries (MY, ID, AU, IN, TJ)
  • 62 Institutions

Execution

  • 131 Advanced to Stage 1
  • 129 Completed final projects
  • 91% Undergraduate-led
  • 10 Grand Finalists

Clinical Datasets

  • 51.3% Glaucoma (HYGD)
  • 51.3% 12-Lead ECG
  • 23.3% BCI (EEG)
  • 20.6% SPECT Imaging

Evaluation Framework

Published Day 1. Prioritized safety over pure accuracy.

  • Math Rigor: 25%
  • Model Perf: 20%
  • Clinical Relevance: 15%
  • Innovation: 15%
  • Safety: 10%
  • "Hope" Impact: 10%
  • Presentation: 5%

33 preliminary judges. 5 Grand Final domain experts (Professor in Statistics (IDN), Associate Professor in Software Engineering (MY), Hospital Directors (MY), Senior Lecturer in Communication (MY)).

Top 5 Winners

RankTeamInstitution
1stBioinformersUM
2ndGAMA-BCIUGM
3rdMultiUUM, USM, UPM
4thBANG SADAUB
5thVentriculearn-11UKM, UNIB

Participant Impact & Benefits

96% reported increased desire to pursue Healthcare AI. Workshops rated 4.46 / 5.00.

"A single false negative in Brugada Syndrome could mean losing the opportunity to prevent sudden cardiac death. Patient safety over maximizing performance metrics." - Team Muadz
"Transforms hours of manual labor into a seamless 52-second process. Patients receive faster diagnoses. Cardiologists freed from cognitive overload." - Team Umarz

The Ultimate Reward: Publication

Beyond cash prizes (RM500 for Champion), the real reward is academic translation.

We are currently working with top finalist teams to formally publish their models. Turning a 4-week sprint into a permanent clinical asset.

"Data scientists in healthcare should not only focus on technical accuracy, but also consider clinical workflow." - Team 3S
"A false negative means a patient loses vision unnecessarily. The cost of being wrong is someone's quality of life." - Team GlaucoNet
Synthesis

Theory Meets Execution: IDSC 2026

How IDSC 2026 applied the frameworks from Theme 1 and Theme 2:

1. Driving the Reward Culture

2. Engineering the Quick-Win

  • Small Scope: Targeted isolated datasets (e.g., ECG, retinal scans).
  • Rapid Delivery: Built and shipped within a strict 4-week sprint.
  • High Visibility: Pitched directly to hospital directors (Urban and Remote) and Professors (Statistics, Software Engineering, Communications).
  • Immediate Utility: Delivered ready-to-use modular code, dashboards and GitHub repository.
  • Concise Documentation: Capped at 5-page reports and 3-minute videos.
Innovathon Playbook

Six actionable lessons

Core rules for hospital deployment:

Reward Publicly

Pair transparent funding with senior recognition.

Stable Rubrics

Define success explicitly early. Maintain consistent guidelines.

Mix Experts

Combine clinical, data, policy, and operations staff.

Open Mentorship

Run open workshops. Guidance eliminates dead ends.

Workflow Focus

Ignore abstract accuracy. Value operational outcomes.

Celebrate Milestones

Make project wrap-ups key events. High-visibility motivates teams.