While skeptics dismiss the current wave of startups as mere AI 'wrappers,' a grassroots movement in Kuala Lumpur is ignoring the noise and building anyway. It begs the question: is it really just an 'AI wrapper' if it solves a fundamental business problem?

Joseph Chin, City Organizer for AI Tinkerers Kuala Lumpur, joins BFM’s Open For Business to discuss how a small meetup grew into a thriving network of nearly 2,000 members. A former software engineer turned solo founder, Joseph also shares the journey of bootstrapping DocuAsk.ai to profitability, acquiring nearly 300,000 users along the way.

We discuss:

The "Wrapper" Debate: Joseph argues that while some AI products are lazy wrappers, others (like his own) act as essential bridges, making complex models palatable for end-users, much like Uber is an "AWS wrapper."
Distribution as the Moat: Why building great software is no longer enough. Joseph explains his painful pivot from engineer to operator, realising that mediocre software with great distribution beats the alternative every time.
The Pivot to Profit: How he saved his bootstrapped startup by firing marketing agencies and learning digital ads himself, a move that tripled performance and led to profitability.
The AI Tinkerers Explosion: Inside the rapid growth of the KL chapter. Joseph shares how loneliness as a solo founder sparked a community that now inspires members to quit their jobs and launch startups.
Shattering Talent Myths: We discuss the massive turnout for recent local hackathons (almost 2,000 RSVPs), debunking the long-held assumption that Malaysia lacks the deep tech talent or hunger to build world-class products.

The Value of "Tinkering": Why action beats theory. Joseph advocates for hackathons not just for product creation, but as a forcing function to break self-imposed limitations and accelerate learning velocity.