The Philippines is often described as well placed to benefit from artificial intelligence.
We have a young workforce, a large technology and business process services sector, high exposure to global companies, and a population that tends to adapt quickly to new digital tools.
But having the right starting point is different from being ready.
That was the central argument of a recent talk by Ambe Tierro, country managing director and technology lead at Accenture Philippines. The country has a significant opportunity in front of it, but realizing that opportunity will depend on how seriously it invests in people and responsible adoption.
Accenture estimates that AI could unlock as much as $79 billion in productive capacity in the Philippines, equivalent to around one-fifth of the country’s 2022 GDP.
Now, what needs to happen for that value to reach all kinds of workers and businesses across the country?
Before entering the workforce
Tierro described AI readiness as a talent pipeline that begins in school and continues throughout a person’s career.
At the earliest stages, that means improving literacy, numeracy, STEM education, and basic digital skills. From there, students can move into technical training, AI certifications, data science, engineering, and machine learning. Once they enter the workforce, training needs to become more closely connected to the jobs they perform.
The presentation mapped this journey from K-12 education and technical training from higher education and industry onboarding to lifelong learning.
“AI training cannot be limited to developers or technology teams,” Tierro said. Employees in HR, finance, marketing, operations, and customer service also need to understand how to use the technology within their own work.
In the case of Accenture, Tierro mentioned, it’s to “educate people first, give them access to the tools, then embed those tools into everyday workflows.” The company has also worked with De La Salle University on a 20-week elective that gives computer science students practical exposure to agentic AI.
Digital access remains a major constraint
Skills alone will not be enough if large parts of the country cannot reliably access the technology.
The presentation showed that fixed broadband penetration in the Philippines stood at 30% of households in 2023. Vietnam was at 81%, Malaysia at 55%, and Thailand at 51%.
That gap affects much more than internet speed. It limits access to online education, remote work, cloud platforms, and the tools businesses need to adopt AI.
It also risks concentrating the benefits of AI in Metro Manila and sectors that already have stronger digital infrastructure.
Reliable and affordable internet, together with dependable power, therefore needs to be treated as part of the country’s AI strategy. Without it, discussions about widespread adoption remain detached from the reality faced by many workers and businesses outside major cities.
The country needs builders, not only users
Widespread AI literacy would help people use existing tools more effectively. But the Philippines also needs a smaller group of specialists capable of building AI systems.
Tierro pointed to the growing importance of skills in data engineering, machine learning, cybersecurity, cloud infrastructure, and digital risk management.
These are the capabilities companies need before they can move from small experiments to AI systems that operate across the business. Universities and employers will need to work more closely to develop this talent. The presentation called for co-designed curricula, faculty development, apprenticeships, and clearer pathways from academic projects into employment.
That collaboration can help ensure students are learning skills that reflect how AI is being used in practice, rather than graduating with knowledge that is already behind the market.
Innovation also needs to move beyond large organizations. Small and midsize enterprises make up most businesses in the Philippines. Wider access to AI could help them improve marketing, customer service, sales, operations, and supply chain decisions.
If adoption remains concentrated among large companies, the economic gains will remain concentrated too.
Human judgment cannot be designed out
One of Tierro’s most practical points was that AI output should be treated as a draft, not a finished product. The technology can automate repetitive tasks, among others, but “it cannot fully understand empathy, organizational history, or how a decision will affect different people,” she emphasized during the talk as a clear footnote.
Organizations need to know what data their systems use, whether they have permission to use it and which decisions require human review. This puts Accenture’s framework that prioritizes safe deployment and human oversight at the center of responsible adoption.
“The level of control should match the level of risk,” Tierro said. One analogy she used was using AI for legal processes and organizational policies: summarizing an internal meeting is not the same as using it to approve a loan or make a decision that affects a customer.
Tierro’s argument leaves the Philippines with a real opportunity to use AI to create an economy where AI supports higher-value work. Getting there, however, requires stronger education, continuous reskilling, better infrastructure, deeper technical expertise, and clear safeguards.
AI will not wait for the Philippines to be ready. The foundations being built now will determine whether the country merely adopts it or truly benefits from it.
Photo by BoliviaInteligente on Unsplash
