ILOILO CITY – The Department of Science and Technology (DOST) is aiming to upskill at least one million Filipinos in artificial intelligence (AI) as it seeks to strengthen the country’s AI workforce and accelerate AI adoption across industries.
DOST Secretary Renato Solidum Jr. said developing the country’s AI workforce is one of the four key pillars of the government’s AI strategy.
Solidum likened the country’s AI ecosystem to a factory built on four pillars: computing infrastructure, human resources, partnerships, and beneficiaries, including the public and micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).
For the human resources component, Solidum said DOST is working with the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) and private sector partners to expand AI education and training across different sectors.
Solidum said the upskilling efforts will cover workers in industries such as business process outsourcing (BPO), as well as employees in government agencies that are beginning to integrate AI into their operations.
Alongside broad-based upskilling, DOST is also working to expand the country’s pool of advanced AI professionals.
The department is supporting master’s and doctoral studies to produce more engineers, scientists and researchers who can develop advanced AI technologies. Solidum said DOST is targeting around 1,000 highly skilled AI talents as part of the initiative.
He stressed, however, that AI expertise exists at different levels and that not everyone working with AI needs advanced academic credentials.
Asked whether the Philippines is producing enough AI researchers, engineers and specialists to support large-scale initiatives such as the proposed Pax Silica AI ecosystem, Solidum declined to comment on the project itself, saying negotiations are still ongoing.
“I’m not focused on the Pax Silica because we don’t have the details of what it plans to do. It’s still being negotiated, so I would not make any comment about it,” he said during the press conference held after the opening ceremony of AI Fest 2026 in Iloilo City.
Instead, Solidum reiterated the need to continue strengthening the country’s AI capabilities through education, research and international collaboration.
“We still need a lot of skilled staff and talented scientists and engineers to do that,” he said.
He said DOST has partnered with local and international universities to support training in frontier technologies, including AI, and established the National AI Center for Research and Innovation to advance AI research and applications across different sectors.
