Five business, tech predictions for PH

Zaza Soriano-Nicart—CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

The past decade saw the breadth of artificial intelligence (AI) use cases growing day by day. They were real but largely unseen. However, the public availability of generative AI tools has brought greater attention to the new possibilities of AI, which will only continue to gather pace this year.

This 2024, businesses in the Philippines will have to grapple with weaving AI into their organizations effectively, while taking advantage of other emerging trends impacting the business landscape. Here are some of the key business and technology trends that will open a new chapter for Filipino companies.

1. AI will move from a ‘nice-to-have’ to a ‘must-have’ technology … and not all organizations will be fully prepared to leverage it.

The AI industry, expected to grow from $95.6 billion to $1.8 trillion by 2030, will be one of the main drivers of the global economy over the next decade. But companies are not yet fully ready to take advantage of this opportunity. Cisco’s inaugural AI Readiness Index found that only 17 percent of organizations in the Philippines are fully prepared to deploy and leverage AI.

READ: AI will be everywhere in 2024

The good news is that there is urgency to embrace AI and most companies have taken the first step. Almost all (98 percent) organizations reported that their company’s urgency to deploy AI-powered technologies has increased in the past six months and 94 percent already have a robust AI strategy in place or are in the process of developing one.

However, considerable gaps exist across other key business pillars like infrastructure, data, governance, talent and culture. Filipino companies will need to wrestle with addressing AI across their organizations, not just from a technology perspective, but also among the humans who are ready or not to use that technology.

2. A movement for responsible, ethical AI will begin with governance underpinned by trust and transparency.

As regulatory frameworks evolve, it will be imperative for companies to stay updated on relevant local and international regulations and deploy timely internal policies that address data privacy, security and the responsible use of AI. This includes implementing cybersecurity measures that consider potential vulnerabilities introduced by AI systems and continuous training to ensure employees remain competent to handle risks.

Data privacy remains a key risk, with less than half (38 percent) of respondents saying they have highly comprehensive AI policies and protocols in place. Bias is another risk, with 23 percent of organizations not having systematic mechanisms to detect data biases. Companies building AI applications will have to think about embedding security, privacy and trust by design processes throughout their innovation lifecycle and its application in products, services and enterprise operations.

3. A new era of intuitive network infrastructure will emerge to deliver unmatched security and intelligence to businesses.

As companies continue to capitalize on emerging technologies like AI to deliver their business outcomes, their digital infrastructure will play a more important role than they think. Building a flexible, intelligent and powerful network that can support AI workloads or emerging technology could be the single differentiator in their success in leveraging AI and innovation.

Companies will realize the need for integrated security platforms that can provide end-to-end visibility for their organizations, especially when cybersecurity is becoming more complex, as employees work from anywhere. As the fundamental layer that has visibility into every person, thing or data that flow through the enterprise, the network will play a crucial role in detecting and remediating security threats. It will also serve as a control point for organizations to enforce consistent security policies.

4. This 2024 will be a year of reckoning and accounting for progress on climate action.

Sustainability is becoming a top priority for the Philippine government, with its recent issue of revised sustainability reporting guidelines for publicly listed companies. It has become increasingly clear that public-private partnerships are essential in creating a consistent and accurate way to measure progress, both within countries and industries and globally.

The demand for mandatory reporting will be a growing conversation as regulatory bodies step in to turn plans into concrete outcomes. Technology will play an important role in providing visibility and insights to help businesses accurately measure their emissions and create blueprints for smart buildings and intelligent workspaces. Service providers will increasingly look to modernize their infrastructures to power increasing workloads while reducing energy consumption.

5. People and their receptiveness to change will remain core to the success of digital transformation efforts.

As companies in the Philippines continue their digitization journeys, they must ensure that their talents keep pace with growth. This is where skills-to-job programs like Cisco Networking Academy can help bridge the current tech talent gap. The program has partnered with higher learning institutions to equip over 550,000 students in the Philippines with highly sought-after industry skills like cybersecurity, data science and networking.

READ: Skills gap preventing AI deployment in companies

It also aims to train 6.7 million people in Asia-Pacific in digital and cybersecurity skills by 2032. Apart from cultivating a strong pipeline of talent, organizations also need to ensure that they foster the right culture that is rooted in purpose. We have seen firsthand how this has helped teams stay connected to each other and the company as they navigate a complex macroeconomic environment. This also helps to build stakeholder support and receptivity toward change as companies adapt to an ever-changing world. —Contributed

The author is managing director at Cisco Philippines.