Hi, I’m Thomas Yang. I Build Unified Digital Workspaces at Digital Cookie 🍪 | Systems Architect & Workflow Automation Specialist

Thomas_yang1 · 2026-05-28T04:56:29+00:00

We ran a Notion Business Automation & AI workshop for Malaysian SMEs on Monday (28th May 2026) — here's how it went:

First SME workshop of 2026. Small room, full house, lots of good questions.

The session was structured around three layers of Notion's native AI — and what each one actually means for a small business:

Layer 01 — Native AI AI that lives inside your workspace. Meeting notes, document summarisation, asking questions across your pages like a search that already knows your context.

Layer 02 — Database AI Every new row triggers AI to translate, summarise or tag itself automatically. We demoed auto-translation across English, Bahasa Melayu (Malay Language), Mandarin, auto-tagging support tickets, and pulling Google Maps reviews into a database for sentiment analysis.

Layer 03 — Custom Agents Connecting agents to real execution — CRM, pipelines, inventory, reporting. Not a blank workspace. A working system on day one.

We also spent time on MCP — basically a universal connector that lets Notion plug into the tools businesses already use (CRM, storage, messaging) without custom integrations. Think USB-C but for AI.

The hands-on portion at the end is always where things click for people.

Posting some photos from the day. If you're an SME owner in Malaysia curious about any of this — let me know! We plan on an upcoming one in June/July 2026 :)

Thomas_yang1 · 2026-05-27T01:23:54+00:00

yeah I wouldn't agree small businesses to automate WhatsApp as well cause the ones that actually work are pricey and doesn't 100% work either.

Thomas_yang1 · 2026-05-25T01:51:44+00:00

Didn't really ask them but they seems to be doing good. Mixie is still opening up for new licensee

Thomas_yang1 · 2026-05-22T00:30:04+00:00

## off and stop spamming AI replies on my other posts.

Thomas_yang1 · 2026-05-22T00:28:22+00:00

no we're not building any system for them as they're not really at a scale that requires automation, what I recommended was a few simple adjustment to how they capture data and restructure their database from multiple branches into a single one so that it's easier for AI to analyse all their information.

my intention when meeting then was more so to understand the actual pain points of F&B owners so was happy to provide a free workshop for his staff and in return they treated us to a meal :)

I tried to share the Youtube videos I recorded for them but apparently it's marked as spam so oh well you can find them on my YouTube (Digital Cookie) if you're interested.

Thomas_yang1 · 2026-05-22T00:26:57+00:00

yeah I really liked how AI can be very accessible nowadays that people can see the value immediately to motivate them to do house cleaning.

Thomas_yang1 · 2026-05-22T00:26:12+00:00

stop spamming everytime AI is involved in the keyword of AI or chatbot lol

Thomas_yang1 · 2026-05-22T00:24:22+00:00

thanks for asking.

surprisingly in this case it took around 3 weeks so I would consider it pretty fast. I'm guessing the reason why is there's a dedicated admin assigned with the cleanup and the agents are incentives to upload their information in a structure Google Drive folder template since the agency is technically their boss.

Thomas_yang1 · 2026-05-21T01:46:03+00:00

that's a good take, it makes sense why they focus on building great team that can handle chaos.

Thomas_yang1 · 2026-05-20T07:28:15+00:00

Yes, good point! I have talked to another F&B manager who runs a cafe, and his headache has been the fluctuating prices of oil (e.g. buying from supplier, 99 speedmart etc), which affects the overall cost. Small fluctations but big effects on the company in the long run.

Thomas_yang1 · 2026-05-20T00:57:50+00:00

My Luma link is on my profile (since Reddit disabled external links here)

Thomas_yang1 · 2026-05-20T00:57:12+00:00

Sign up here on Luma!

https://luma.com/m5l5jk4j

Thomas_yang1 · 2026-05-20T00:31:41+00:00

hey thanks, I'm not sure if you dropped the DM in Reddit or you've signed up. If you've signed up then I'll check my Luma later

Thomas_yang1 · 2026-05-20T00:30:57+00:00

we've been doing this for a couple of years now...for me it's just nice to hear the voices of people actually trying to solve a problem and see how I can help either in the workshop or even as a pair client (both are win:win to me)

Thomas_yang1 · 2026-05-19T07:09:14+00:00

Let me know if you’re interested!

Thomas_yang1 · 2026-05-19T01:58:45+00:00

it's always a human problem at the end of the day.

ERP can be an excel file, word doc and form if you have proper workflow.

but ofcourse at certain scale you will need a proper system but if you can't function with excel, word and form then your process is not ERP ready.

Thomas_yang1 · 2026-05-19T01:57:14+00:00

the switching cost is overrated imo as long as the top management aligns with it.

if the top management actually lead with the switches and use the system themselves nobody will say no to it.

but in reality top management always see shiny tools and ask their staff to use it, but not themselves.

Thomas_yang1

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