The rise of AI in the
Philippines
Sheilla D.S. Habab, MACDDS
• Many enterprises and organizations
already consider data science and
artificial intelligence (DSAI) as
strategic capabilities.
• They are no longer optional, “nice-to-
have” capabilities, but necessary,
“must-have” — a matter of
organizational survival.
• Leaders across the world have realized
that if they want their organizations to
stay relevant, or even to survive, they
have to be competitive and
innovative.
• As a result, the embrace of technology
has become a necessity, particularly
analytics, because of its predictive
power.
• In recent years,
governments have also
started to recognize the
same thing, and the
Philippines is no
exception. Like military
capabilities, AI is now
widely considered a
nation-defining
capability, especially
since AI cuts across
industries and sectors.
National Artificial Intelligence Strategic Framework
Launched on May 5, 2021
• The goal is to increase
the worldwide Gross
Domestic Product by 14%
by 2023 from the
increasing AI industry.
• The roadmap describes
the implementation,
infrastructure, and
investments needed to
cover the four (4)
important dimensions for
AI readiness namely:
1.Digitization &
Infrastructure
2.Research &
Development
3.Workforce
Development
4.Regulation
• These have been
defined so as to
ensure that there are
clear metrics in terms
of tracking progress of
the efforts towards a
competitive AI
Economy with respect
to the global arena.
• We advocate for ethical and
responsible AI.
• Thus, the Philippine National
AI Roadmap design also
highlights the importance of
building an AI ecosystem
“conscience,” which has its
own strategic dimension in
the plan.
• The dimension covers data
privacy and the more
contentious ethical issues in
DSAI, pushing for reliable,
safe and secure, trustworthy,
inclusive, accountable, and
transparent predictive
platforms.
• Therefore, the recommendation
to the Department of Trade and
Industry is to establish a
Commission or advisory board
that focuses on responsible data
and AI technologies.
• Ideally, the Commission would be
composed of policymakers, legal
experts, ethicists, academics, and
DSAI practitioners.
• Further, efforts to this end would
be convergent with other
responsible and ethical guidelines
for data and AI fashioned by other
countries.
• Microsoft Corp. and LinkedIn released the
Philippine data of their global 2024 Work
Trend Index on the use of Artificial
Intelligence (AI) in the workplace, with new
findings revealing that Filipino knowledge
workers use AI more than their global and
regional counterparts.
• The research, entitled “AI at work is here.
Now comes the hard part,” is based on a
survey of 31,000 people across 31 countries,
labor and hiring trends on LinkedIn, trillions
of Microsoft 365 productivity signals, and
research with Fortune 500 customers.
• 2023 will be remembered as the year
of AI, but this year we will start to see
real impact as we move from potential
applications to living innovations.
• The current state of AI adoption in the
Philippines is very promising.
• We’re seeing innovation at scale
across industries through our
customers, who are unlocking
efficiency, personalization, security
and sustainability by applying AI
solutions to their challenges and
priorities,” said Peter Maquera,
Microsoft Philippines CEO.
• In terms of the workforce, our
2024 Work Trend Index shows
Filipino employees are leading
not just Asia, but the world, in
leveraging AI to help boost
productivity, efficiency and
creativity.
• More and more, the AI
business imperative is
becoming clear, but there are
still opportunities to explore
and imperatives to take.
The Work Trend Index
highlights what
leaders and
professionals need to
know, one year since
AI made shockwaves
in the workplace and
labor market:
Employees want AI at work—and won’t
wait for companies to catch up:
86% of Filipino knowledge workers use AI at work,
higher than the global average of 75% and regional
average of 83%.
The value of AI is recognized at the leadership level. 89% of Filipino leaders
believe their company needs to adopt AI to stay competitive, putting the
Philippines ahead of global and regional counterparts at 79% and 84%.
Meanwhile, 55% of Filipino leaders are worried that their organization lacks a plan and
vision for implementing AI. While this may be lower than the global and regional
averages of 78% and 61%, respectively, there are consequences when demand outpaces
the capacity of local companies to provide the needed resources.
83% of Filipino AI users bring their tools to work—Bring Your
Own AI (BYOAI)—which poses privacy, security, and legal risks to
companies. Globally, 78% of employees engage in BYOAI, and
regionally, 79%.
70% of Filipino leaders say they will only
hire someone with AI skills, a preference
that is seen in 66% and 70% of global and
regional leaders, respectively.
However, a smaller percentage of Filipino leaders
(68%) will hire a less experienced employee with AI
skills than a more experienced candidate, compared
to the global and regional averages of 71% and 76%.
Because of the growing demand for AI
in the hiring market, mentions in
LinkedIn job posts grew by 17%, and
142x more users globally added AI
skills to their profiles as of last year.
Filipino AI power users
An AI power user can Demand is high among
are more likely to hear
be defined as someone AI power users in the
from their leadership
who uses the Philippines. They are
about the importance
technology several 52% more likely to ask
of generative AI—57%
times a week, saving 30 co-workers what
The rise of the AI power more likely from their
minutes of work daily. prompts they find most
user—and what they CEO, 41% from their
In the Philippines, 86% useful (40% for global
reveal about the future: function/department
of power users users, and 65% more
head, and 107% from
frequently start their likely to experiment
their manager’s
day with AI, while with different ways of
manager. (vs. 61%, 40%,
another 86% use it to using AI. (68% for global
and 42% more likely for
plan for the next. users)
global AI power users)
While Filipino power users are
increasingly interested in learning
about technology, the Work Trend
Index reveals that they aren’t being
trained enough.
Only Filipino AI users are 30% more
likely to get training, especially on
prompts (23% more likely) and using AI
for their specific role or function (37%
more likely). Globally, the percentage
of AI power users likely to get training
is 42%, and regionally, it is 36%.
