By Aubrey Rose A. Inosante, Reporter

SINGAPORE — Philippine organizations can improve their artificial intelligence (AI) readiness by tapping technology partners, putting in place governance frameworks, and upskilling their workforce, International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) officials said.

“While the outlook is promising, Philippine organizations will need to collaborate with the right technology partner to effectively navigate the challenges and scale responsible AI adoption,” Catherine Lian, general manager and technology leader for IBM ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations), told BusinessWorld in an interview at the sidelines of the annual IBM Think Singapore 2024 conference held last week.

“In order to harness the potential of AI and advance their business priorities, it is highly critical for business leaders to implement strategies that include robust governance frameworks and skill development initiatives for their teams,” she said.

Ms. Lian said the ASEAN region as a whole still faces challenges in terms of AI use, but companies in the Philippines are making “significant strides” to boost their AI readiness, she added.

In the 2024 AI Readiness Barometer: ASEAN’s AI Landscape survey conducted by Ecosystm on behalf of IBM, the Philippines ranked last among countries in the region, with 16% of respondents saying their organizations ready to leverage AI.

Meanwhile, Singapore led with 23%, followed by Indonesia with 22%, Thailand with 20%, and Malaysia with 19%.

Still, the study found that 64% of Philippine businesses’ chief executive officers (CEOs) said they were confident in their team’s skills and knowledge to incorporate generative AI (GenAI) in their operations.

“While you pivot through the Philippine CEOs, I think they are quite consistent. Their point of view is that generative AI is fast in terms of the generation of growth, technologies, and strategies. Organizations’ readiness must engage with knowledge, skill sets and the workforce readiness,” Ms. Lian said.

“The Philippine CEOs are worried that the GenAI cannot spin to the next level because of the lack of expertise, knowledge and skillsets. We are bringing our expertise to Philippines to drive the digital talents workforce… [and] drive the use cases that we have done in the ASEAN region to the Philippines in hopes that the adoption of the generative AI can be able to drive the key technology roles in their workforces,” she said.

Digital talents refer to skilled professionals trained in AI, cloud computing, data analytics, and cybersecurity, among others.

“We are also engaging with Philippines to drive the similar ecosystem so that we can select our partners that can be leveraged to drive the use cases to the end users,” Ms. Lian said.

Abraham Thomas, managing partner for IBM Consulting in ASEAN, said there are a lot of skills available in the Philippines.

“You see a lot of Filipinos who are working not just in the Philippines but in the rest of ASEAN. So, there is no lack of available skills,” Mr. Thomas told BusinessWorld at the sidelines of last week’s conference.

“It’s not just the technical skills, data skills, programming skills — these are skills that can be taught. It is also important that when you are embracing AI, you have to be a change agent,” he added.

Being an agent for change includes having the attitude, mindset, and aptitude to apply one’s skills to help the organization implement a new technology solution, Mr. Thomas noted.

IBM has committed to helping equip 30 million people of all ages with new skills needed for the “jobs of tomorrow” through its IBM SkillsBuild program, Ms. Lian said.

Mr. Thomas said IBM, along with the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), recently launched a train-the-trainers program via IBM SkillsBuild training partner SkillUp to prepare TESDA trainers and trainees on cybersecurity competencies.

IBM also has an ongoing partnership with the Department of Labor and Employment to provide digital skills training to Filipinos. Its SkillsBuild platform will be linked to their automated job and applicant matching system PhilJobNet and the TESDA online program to provide Filipinos with free skills training and micro-credentials.