IBPAP forms  AI Council

CEBU, Philippines — The IT and Business Process Association of the Philippines (IBPAP) announced the establishment of an AI Council to be a step ahead of technological innovations, particularly the threat of Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI).

In a statement, IBPAP president and chief executive officer (CEO) Jack Madrid explained that the newly created council will partner and collaborate with learning academies and organizations like the Analytics Association of the Philippines (AAP) to focus on upskilling talent force in the areas of programming, data science, and data analytics, including data and AI ethics.

“Through partnerships like these, IBPAP intends to enable the industry and workforce to move up the value chain. We want our skilled talent to perform higher-value work rather than mundane and repetitive tasks, so they continue to be competitive and in demand,” Madrid said.

Consequently, Madrid noted that companies that are proactive in developing and revising talent strategies will be better positioned to flourish in an AI-driven economy.

“Our success in this endeavor will be critical in generating 1.1 million new jobs for Filipinos, a goal that we had set for the Philippine IT-BPM industry when we launched Roadmap 2028 last year.”

While it’s clear that the potential benefits of GenAI are immense, at this phase of its evolution, Madrid also acknowledged that there are still some limitations associated with its use, these include the (1) lack of context-specific data, (2) tendency for bias and other ethical concerns, (3) shortage of AI-versed talent, and (4) risk to data privacy and security.

According to Madrid, the outsourcing industry in particular through the IBPAP recognized early on that GenAI will inevitably change the way business services are performed and delivered, bringing in a significant shift in the dynamics between jobs, skills, and talent.

“We have since considered this both a daunting challenge and an exciting opportunity to dramatically strengthen the efficiency of global services delivery to customers by our current and future workforce,” Madrid underscored adding that IBPAP has been working with both the public and private sectors for several years now on comprehensive talent programs and career roadmaps with skill rating systems given the urgent need to continuously upskill existing talent and university students, and instill in them the importance of lifelong learning.

The impact of GenAI on human jobs has been a hot topic in the media as well as in discussions among industry, government, and academe leaders. Companies have long been doing proof-of-concept experiments to determine how they can leverage it in their business operations to improve employee productivity, enhance customer experience, reduce costs, and increase top-line growth. A good example is the use of chatbots to handle simple customer inquiries. — (FREEMAN)