MPHS AI Power Day: Prompts → Prototypes → Productivity

On 25 Sept 2025, ~40 MPHS officers dived into a one-day, lab-first AI sprint tailored to council workflows, moving from smart prompting and source-aware research to Google Workspace AI and Canva outputs, then rapid prototyping with simple APIs and local models on Ollama—all wrapped with practical guardrails for safe rollout; everyone left with prompt packs, on-brand templates, starter code and a governance checklist to turn ideas into working results, fast.

9/25/20252 min read

Date: 25 September 2025
Location: MPHS, Selangor
Participants: ~40 officers

We just wrapped a focused, hands-on one-day AI training with Majlis Perbandaran Hulu Selangor (MPHS)—the same battle-tested programme we run for public-sector teams, tailored specifically for MPHS workflows so staff can turn ideas into working outputs fast. No fluff—just repeatable workflows you can use the very next day.

What we covered

GenAI toolbelt for daily work — Practical prompting and research with leading models and platforms (ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, Perplexity, etc.) to draft memos, summarise long reads, compare sources, and structure briefs.
Google Workspace AI, end-to-end — Gmail, Docs, Sheets, Slides, Gemini, NotebookLM, and Google AI Studio: from inbox triage to circulars and simple data analysis—all inside tools MPHS already uses.
Canva AI for communications — Magic-assisted design (Magic Write, “Design for me”, image generation) to ship on-brand banners, social posts, and notices quickly.
Prototyping drills — API basics, a minimal feature calling an AI API, a tiny chatbot on Replit, local LLMs with Ollama, and lightweight orchestration with n8n/Flowise.
Safety, governance, and rollout — Prompt hygiene, data handling, red-teaming, evaluation, and a simple adoption plan that scales responsibly across units.

Why it matters for local-government teams

Speed with traceability — Faster turnarounds for briefs, responses, and talking points, with sources and attributions kept in view.
Consistency at scale — Shared prompts, templates, and checklists to standardise outputs across departments (licensing, enforcement, communications, ICT).
Right-sized innovation — Start with low-risk wins in existing tools; expand to prototypes once workflows are stable and governed.

In-room wins we loved

Turning a rough prompt into a well-structured memo/circular—with citations to verify every claim.
Converting briefing notes into a clean council-update slide deck in minutes.
Summarising heavy inbox threads (permohonan/aduan) into clear action items and next steps.
Spinning up a tiny chatbot and testing a local model, enough to demystify “how it all works”.
Using BM/English prompt patterns to keep outputs consistent across units.

What participants took home

Prompt packs & playbooks for day-to-day tasks (research, drafting, summarising, meeting notes, Q&A).
Templates for Docs/Slides/Sheets and design presets for quick public-facing comms.
Starter snippets for API calls and local-model experiments.
A governance checklist to keep outputs accurate, secure, and compliant.

Want this for your team?

We tailor one-day or two-day, lab-first programmes to your workflows—policy, comms, or IT. If you’re ready to move from slides to working results, let’s talk. We’ll bring the prompts, labs, and guardrails; your team brings the problems that matter.