Artificial intelligence is gaining ground among Filipino marketers, but its use has yet to become fully embedded in everyday campaign work, with many teams still relying heavily on manual processes.
In an email interview with PhilSTAR Tech, DoubleVerify Philippines senior business director Tinee Cruz said awareness and experimentation with AI tools are increasing in the local market, but overall adoption remains in the early-to-mid stages compared with other Southeast Asian countries.
“Many teams are exploring AI-powered tools for audience targeting and creative optimization, but manual processes still dominate day-to-day campaign work, ” Cruz wrote.
This reliance on manual optimization carries a measurable productivity cost. Citing DoubleVerify’s 2025 Global Insights on AI, Automation and the Future of Digital Advertising, Cruz said manual campaign optimization accounts for about 27.5 percent of marketers’ time across the Asia-Pacific region.
It amounts to almost ₱850,000 in work hours lost annually to repetitive tasks for each marketer, she said.
With this, Cruz said the slower pace of adoption in the Philippines is partly due to structural challenges in the digital advertising ecosystem, which is fragmented across multiple platforms, formats and so-called walled gardens.
She added that local marketing teams are often lean, making it harder to balance real-time optimization with long-term strategy.
“This is where automation becomes crucial. AI can take on the heavy lifting, such as bid adjustments, performance tuning, and quality checks, so marketers can focus more on strategic planning and creative work,” the senior business director said.
Despite these challenges, Cruz emphasized that AI is meant to support and not replace human judgment.
Looking ahead, Cruz said wider adoption of AI and automation will be critical as digital advertising grows more complex, particularly in markets like the Philippines where teams are often managing multiple platforms at once.
She added that DoubleVerify is focusing on helping marketers navigate this shift by using AI to automate labor-intensive tasks such as bidding, performance optimization, and quality checks.
DoubleVerify is a global software platform that helps marketers ensure their digital advertising campaigns are effective and fraud-free.
