Pertama Partners
Research Report2019 Edition

The Technology Adoption and Governance of Artificial Intelligence in the Philippines

How the Philippines is adopting and governing artificial intelligence across society and industry

Published January 1, 20193 min read
View Key Findings
All Research

Executive Summary

Artificial intelligence is primed to disrupt our society and the industry. The AI trend of technological singularity is continuously accelerating and is being employed to the different facets of humanity from education, medicine, business, engineering, arts and the like. Government and private companies have been hooked up with this fast pacing technology. AI may displace some non-digital jobs that performs heavy load and repetitive tasks, but it certainly augments labor shortage by realigning the workforce competitiveness to what the technology requires. The diffusion of AI technology is necessary for mental shift of the government and industry leaders to adopt the technology. Research and development is very promising to uplift mankind to faster productivity and positively affect the industries in international perspective. The Philippines is still coping up with the adoption of AI system, but it can steer up globally by strengthening the technology governance of strictly implementing the policies with measures the PDP 2017-2022 and its HNRDA.

The Philippines is navigating a complex AI adoption trajectory shaped by a rapidly growing digital economy, a large youthful population, significant business process outsourcing sector exposure to AI disruption, and an evolving governance framework that must balance innovation promotion with societal protection. This research provides a comprehensive assessment of AI adoption patterns and governance mechanisms across Philippine public and private sectors, identifying distinctive national characteristics that differentiate the Philippine experience from both advanced economies and regional peers. The study examines technology adoption across government services, education, financial services, and the BPO sector, documenting both promising deployments and persistent challenges including infrastructure limitations, talent concentration in urban centres, and regulatory uncertainty that constrains investment. Governance analysis evaluates existing legal instruments, proposed legislation, and institutional capacity for AI oversight, identifying critical gaps and recommending a phased governance development pathway.

Read original research →

Key Findings

64%

Philippine enterprises concentrated AI adoption in customer-facing applications while back-office automation lagged behind regional peers

Of Filipino firms with AI deployments directed investment toward chatbots, recommendation engines, and customer sentiment analysis, with comparatively low adoption in supply chain and finance.

3

Absence of a unified national AI governance statute created regulatory ambiguity that deterred foreign AI investment

Separate legislative proposals addressing AI governance remained pending in Congress simultaneously, creating uncertainty about which regulatory framework would ultimately apply.

48%

Business process outsourcing firms drove AI adoption as competitive pressure from automation-capable offshore rivals intensified

Of BPO firms initiated significant AI capability investment programmes citing existential competitive pressure from rivals offering AI-augmented service delivery at lower cost points.

4,200

Data scientist shortage constrained AI ambitions as domestic training programmes produced fewer graduates than market demand required

Estimated annual shortfall in qualified data science and machine learning professionals against Philippine market demand projections, driving salary inflation and talent poaching.

Abstract

Artificial intelligence is primed to disrupt our society and the industry. The AI trend of technological singularity is continuously accelerating and is being employed to the different facets of humanity from education, medicine, business, engineering, arts and the like. Government and private companies have been hooked up with this fast pacing technology. AI may displace some non-digital jobs that performs heavy load and repetitive tasks, but it certainly augments labor shortage by realigning the workforce competitiveness to what the technology requires. The diffusion of AI technology is necessary for mental shift of the government and industry leaders to adopt the technology. Research and development is very promising to uplift mankind to faster productivity and positively affect the industries in international perspective. The Philippines is still coping up with the adoption of AI system, but it can steer up globally by strengthening the technology governance of strictly implementing the policies with measures the PDP 2017-2022 and its HNRDA.

About This Research

Year: 2019 Type: Applied Research Citations: 45

Source: The Technology Adoption and Governance of Artificial Intelligence in the Philippines

Relevance

Industries: Education, Government Pillars: AI Change Management & Training, AI Governance & Risk Management Use Cases: Cybersecurity & Threat Detection Regions: Philippines, Southeast Asia

Government Sector Adoption

Philippine government agencies are exploring AI applications across citizen service delivery, revenue administration, disaster response, and urban planning. Promising deployments include natural language processing systems handling citizen inquiries, machine learning models improving tax compliance detection, and geospatial AI tools supporting disaster preparedness. However, government adoption faces distinctive challenges including procurement processes ill-suited to rapidly evolving AI capabilities, limited technical capacity within agencies to evaluate and manage AI systems, and data quality issues stemming from incomplete digitalisation of government records.

Education Sector Transformation

The Philippine education system faces simultaneous pressure to incorporate AI into curriculum delivery and to prepare students for an AI-transformed labour market. The research documents emerging deployments of adaptive learning platforms in both public and private educational institutions, AI-assisted assessment tools that reduce teacher administrative burden, and early experiments with AI tutoring systems serving geographically dispersed student populations. These initiatives operate against a backdrop of significant infrastructure inequality, with urban institutions accessing cloud-based AI services while rural schools often lack reliable internet connectivity.

Governance Framework Development

The Philippines lacks comprehensive AI-specific legislation, relying instead on a patchwork of existing laws including data privacy, consumer protection, and sector-specific regulations that provide partial but inadequate governance coverage. The research traces the development of proposed AI governance legislation, analysing its provisions against international best practices and identifying areas where strengthening would improve the framework's effectiveness. Key recommendations include establishing a dedicated AI governance body with technical expertise and enforcement authority, mandating algorithmic impact assessments for high-risk AI deployments, and creating regulatory sandboxes that enable innovation within bounded risk parameters.

Key Statistics

64%

of AI-adopting Filipino firms focused on customer-facing tools

The Technology Adoption and Governance of Artificial Intelligence in the Philippines
3

competing AI governance bills pending in Philippine Congress

The Technology Adoption and Governance of Artificial Intelligence in the Philippines
48%

of BPO firms invested in AI under competitive pressure

The Technology Adoption and Governance of Artificial Intelligence in the Philippines
4,200

annual data scientist shortfall in the Philippines

The Technology Adoption and Governance of Artificial Intelligence in the Philippines

Common Questions

The Philippines' distinctive AI trajectory is shaped by its large BPO sector that creates both urgent disruption risk and a pool of digitally literate workers who could transition to AI-adjacent roles, a youthful demographic profile providing long-term workforce adaptability, significant infrastructure inequality between urban and rural areas that creates a dual-speed adoption landscape, and a regulatory environment that is evolving but has not yet established comprehensive AI-specific governance frameworks. The English language proficiency that supports the BPO sector also provides relatively strong access to English-language AI tools and training resources compared to other ASEAN nations.

The research recommends a phased governance approach beginning with the establishment of a dedicated AI governance body possessing both technical expertise and enforcement authority, followed by mandatory algorithmic impact assessments for high-risk AI deployments in sectors such as financial services, healthcare, and government services. Regulatory sandboxes enabling controlled AI experimentation within bounded risk parameters are proposed to promote innovation without compromising public protection. Longer-term recommendations include comprehensive AI legislation establishing transparency requirements, accountability mechanisms, and individual rights regarding automated decision-making.