PHL organizations must accelerate AI adoption

Philippine businesses have mostly transitioned from experimentation to application of artificial intelligence (AI) solutions, but adoption needs to be accelerated as these technologies continue to evolve, with agentic AI now on the rise, IBM said.

- By Charmaine A. Tadalan

“There was a lot of experimentation last year. To me, the very big change moving on to this year is really testing it for... their own organizations,” IBM Philippines Country General Manager and Technology Leader Aileen Judan-Jiao told reporters on the sidelines of IBM Think 2025 held here on Aug. 20.

Ms. Jiao said leaders have shifted from asking whether AI is relevant to their organizations to finding out how it can be integrated into their operations.

“Last year, you meta lot of business leaders [who'd say] ‘I want to do AI, but my team is not ready. I don’t know when they will be ready,” she said.

“This year, you see that whether or not they’re ready, [they'll say] ‘I’m going to learn anyway They will learn anyway because they know the window of opportunity is now”

Hans Dekkers, IBM General Manager for Asia-Pacific, likewise noted a significant change in board-level discussions around technology.

“There is a vast difference between then and now at the C-level,” he said ata briefing.

“Now, where are many companies struggling, especially the big ones? It’s the processes, the complexities, the bureaucracy that was built. But technology has a huge ability to cut through it with the right leadership.”

In its 2025 Global chief executive officer Study, IBM found that 55% of Philippine executives are actively adopting Al agents and preparing to implement at scale. While business leaders are pressured to deliver returns on their investments, around 60% said it’s better to be “fast and wrong” than “right and slow.”

‘The growth of AI adoption in the Philippines is picking up compared to last year, Ms. Jiao said, adding that fear of using AI has subsided, with businesses getting more clarity on how to approach it.