HRD Corp Claimable AI Training in 2026: What Malaysian HR Heads Need to Know

If you sit in HR or L&D for a Malaysian company, you have probably been asked the same question two or three times this quarter: can we put our HRDF levy to work on AI training? The short answer is yes — but the long answer is the part that decides whether your claim sails through eTRiS or comes back with queries.

Yes — AI training is claimable. Here is the structure that matters.

Under HRD Corp, AI training is delivered as a regular HRD Corp Claimable Course, most commonly under the Skim Bantuan Latihan-Khas (SBL-Khas) scheme. SBL-Khas is the employer-driven scheme: you pick the programme, pick a registered provider, and submit the application via eTRiS.

Three things make a programme claimable in practice:

• It is delivered by an HRD Corp registered training provider with a registered course code.
• It is named, scoped, and outcome-based — not a vague "AI awareness" workshop.
• It produces auditable artefacts: attendance, evaluations, and competency outputs.

Indicative 2026 caps to plan around

Use these as planning numbers, but always confirm against your scheme circular before you build a budget for your CFO.

• Group training: up to RM10,000 / day / trainer.
• Individual training: up to RM1,750 / day / participant.
• SMEs (≤200 staff): up to 100% subsidy on SBL-Khas.
• Larger employers: typically 50–80% subsidy, scheme-dependent.

Two timelines you cannot miss

HRD Corp enforces two six-month windows that will quietly sink a claim if you ignore them:

1. The training programme must commence within six months of the date the grant application is approved.
2. The claim must be submitted within six months of the training programme completion date.

Designing a programme that actually clears claim review

From running cohorts across Malaysian SMEs and enterprises, three habits separate clean claims from messy ones:

1. Pick a course code and stick to it

Once a course code is approved, do not rebrand the cohort mid-flight. "AI for HR Operations" and "Generative AI for HR" are not the same line item to a reviewer.

2. Capture competency artefacts, not just attendance

Reviewers love to see what each trainee actually produced — a Copilot workflow, an agent brief, a decision document. These belong in your claim pack.

3. Keep the trainer named and consistent

If you replace the named trainer mid-cohort, notify HRD Corp in writing and update the eTRiS record. Otherwise the claim will get pulled for review.

Where to start

The fastest first move is to scope a single 2- or 3-day cohort against a real workflow your team is already trying to fix. That gives you a defensible course code, a clear outcome, and a claim you can use as a template for the rest of the year.

Want a TrainHRDF consultant to scope your first claimable AI cohort? Request a proposal — we come back with a registered course code, indicative claim amount, and a draft eTRiS application within one working day.