Mahadhir Yunus is the Founder and CEO of Krenovator, a Malaysia-based AI-powered tech talent platform. Prior to starting Krenovator, Yunus spent 14 years in software and technology, from hands-on coding to leading enterprise digital transformations. Krenovator is trying something different in the crowded tech talent space, positioning itself at the intersection of two powerful trends: Southeast Asia's massive pool of underutilized tech talent and the emerging AI agent economy. The company says it has already built a community of over 30,000 developers and serves enterprise clients across Malaysia, Europe, and the Middle East.
In this fascinating interview, conducted over email, Yunus discusses why Southeast Asia's tech talent remains universally available but opportunity-limited, the origin of Krenovator, how Krenovator evolved from a basic talent matching service to an AI agent-focused ecosystem, the company's lean approach to growth, strategic decisions that helped navigate early challenges, and Krenovator’s ambition to power one million elite developers across Southeast Asia and build infrastructure for the AI workforce economy.
The interview comes with a ton of practical insights about building in emerging markets and how to scale a tech company without losing focus. Yunus also shares candid lessons about common founder mistakes and his philosophy on creating lasting impact through technology.
This is a fascinating read in its entirety for anyone interested in the future of work, AI agents, or building tech companies in Southeast Asia that offers both strategic insights and tactical advice from someone who is actively building. Enjoy!
Future Startup: Please briefly tell us about yourself and your journey to what you are doing.
Mahadhir Yunus: I'm Mahadhir Yunus, and I've spent over 14 years in the software and technology space. Starting from hands-on coding to leading enterprise-scale digital transformation projects.
My journey exposed me to a recurring theme: there's no shortage of talent in Southeast Asia, but there's a lack of access, upskilling, and global exposure.
This led me to found Krenovator, a platform designed to unlock the region’s tech potential and now, strategically focused on enabling the future of work through AI agents.
Future Startup: Tell us about how Krenovator got started. How did you come up with the idea and get started? What was the motivation behind starting Krenovator?
Mahadhir Yunus: Krenovator began as a solution to bridge the opportunity gap for talented tech professionals in Southeast Asia. We saw that despite their skills, many developers were disconnected from the high-value projects shaping the future of technology. It started with a conviction: talent is universal, but opportunity is not. We wanted to change that.
Over time, we saw that the tech landscape was shifting again this time toward intelligent, autonomous AI agents. This became our North Star: empower Southeast Asian talent to become builders and operators in the global AI agent economy.
The motivation today is not just to connect talent to jobs, but to the future of how work will be done. We’re expanding our original mission by focusing on the AI agent economy helping talents and enterprises build, deploy, and scale agentic AI systems.
Future Startup: Tell us about the thesis behind starting Krenovator.
Mahadhir Yunus: Our thesis is two-fold: One, tech talent is Southeast Asia’s most under-leveraged asset and two, AI agents are the next frontier of digital transformation.
By building an ecosystem that develops elite talent and equips them to build and operate agentic AI systems, we’re giving both enterprises and individuals a future-ready advantage.
We're solving two fundamental problems:
This is a multi-billion-dollar problem. The rise of AI agents is changing workflows across industries, and the need for skilled developers, AI operators, and integrators will explode. Our role is to be at the intersection of this need bridging talent and innovation.
Future Startup: Tell us about the launch story. What went into building the initial operation/first version of the platform/product/services?
Mahadhir Yunus: We started lean, matching developers with companies through manual screening and basic systems. The early platform was simple but focused on high-value outcomes.
As we scaled, we introduced our first AI tools: AI Career Match, CV Maker, and Interview Coach. These laid the foundation for where we are today building infrastructure for AI agent deployment and developer upskilling.
Future Startup: How did you put together initial investment and other resources to get started?
Mahadhir Yunus: It began with personal savings, support from early believers, and a strong internal team aligned with our mission.
We didn’t chase funding, we chased outcomes. That built credibility and allowed us to grow organically while setting the stage for our long-term AI agent vision.
Future Startup: Tell us about the major challenges you faced in the early days.
Mahadhir Yunus: Early on, the biggest challenge was perception. Companies were hesitant to trust remote teams, and developers lacked confidence in cross-border work. We spent a lot of time building credibility one successful project at a time.
Now, with the rise of AI tools and automation, we’re tackling a new challenge: preparing the talent to build with and for AI agents.
A few strategic decisions and activities helped us in those early days.
A remote-first strategy helped unlock cross-border placements. AI-powered tools helped us to scale developer growth and sourcing. And finally, shifting early into the AI agent space allowed us to align our platform and services with the future of work and intelligent systems.
Future Startup: Please tell us about Krenovator's business model. What do you sell, who are your customers and what is your pricing model?
Mahadhir Yunus: We’re a full-stack tech talent and solution provider with a growing specialization in AI agent systems. Our clients include enterprises in Malaysia, Europe, and the Middle East, looking for talent augmentation, managed services, or AI enablement.
We charge via monthly subscriptions for talent augmentation, and custom project rates for AI agent deployments, system integration, and digital transformation solutions.
Our revenue comes from B2B service contracts and enterprise solutions. Cost-wise, we invest heavily in AI R&D, developer community building, and talent operations. These are long-term bets to position us as the go-to partner in the AI agent economy.
Future Startup: Please tell us about the products and services you offer. How big is the business, how many users do you have today, what is the revenue number or any other number, etc?
Mahadhir Yunus: We have over 30,000 developers in our community, with active users across Malaysia, and Indonesia. We’ve worked with over 30 enterprise clients. AI Tools for developer on our platform:
AI Coding Assistant Enterprise services and product include:
Future Startup: How does your distribution and marketing work?
Mahadhir Yunus: We use a community-led GTM model supported by inbound content, SEO, partnerships, and B2B outreach. Developer trust is a major moat.
For enterprise sales, we work with channel partners and on-ground consultants in Malaysia, Europe, and the Middle East
Future Startup: What are the operational pillars? How big is the team? How is the company structured? What does the culture look like, etc?
Mahadhir Yunus: We are a 8 person team, mostly remote, with core hubs in Malaysia. Our structure is lean and agile, optimized for experimentation.
The culture is a blend of builder energy and community purpose.
We’re obsessed with learning fast, failing fast, executing simply, and enabling others to thrive in the AI-driven economy.
Future Startup: Give us a sense of the scale and competitive landscape of the industry in which Krenovator operates.
Mahadhir Yunus: We operate in the global tech and AI workforce market, which is already worth hundreds of billions and growing rapidly with the rise of AI agents.
While globally renowned companies are addressing the broader tech and AI workforce market, our strength lies in regional depth, personalized AI applications, and a dual focus on both community and capability-building. Most competitors are staffing platforms. We’re building an AI agent-powered ecosystem.
Future Startup: What competitive advantage does Krenovator hold over its competitors?
Mahadhir Yunus:
Future Startup: What are the major challenges of Krenovator today?
Mahadhir Yunus: We’re scaling in multiple markets while offering new services and products for a rapidly evolving industry.
Balancing speed, quality, and innovation is our biggest challenge. Educating both developers and enterprises on the potential of agentic AI also takes time.
Future Startup: Tell us about Krenovator's future plans: short-term priorities and long-term vision.
Mahadhir Yunus:
In the short-term, we plan to expand our Malaysian and Indonesian developer bases, deploy Ai agent product in the market, and close key enterprise partnerships in Europe and the Middle East.
In the long-term, we aim to become the leading AI agent talent and deployment partner in SEA, power 1 million elite developers across the SEA region, and build the infrastructure layer for the AI workforce economy.
Future Startup: 3 mistakes you would like other founders to avoid.
Mahadhir Yunus:
Future Startup: How do you stay productive as a founder?
Mahadhir Yunus: I block time for gym, deep work, and delegate with trust. Reflecting each morning helps me stay centered.
Future Startup: 5 books you would like to recommend to our readers.
Mahadhir Yunus:
Future Startup: What are some important lessons you have learned as a founder?
Mahadhir Yunus:
Future Startup: Tell us about how you think about life given that life is short and transient.
Mahadhir Yunus: I believe in legacy through impact. For me, the question is: How many lives did we elevate? If Krenovator can help even one developer build something extraordinary or help one company scale with the right tech, that's value that lives on.
That’s what I’m here for. Nothing more or less. Purely impact.
