Ayala group’s new batch of summer interns
Ayala group recently welcomed a new batch of interns into the refreshed Ayala Group Summer Internship Program (AGSIP), designed to identify and nurture promising young individuals who demonstrate exceptional potential to become future leaders in the industry.
Through AGSIP, over 90 students from top universities in the Philippines and abroad will have an opportunity to experience working in one of the country’s largest and most enduring conglomerates.
According to Francisco Romero Milán, chief human resources officer of Ayala Corp. , Ayala group refreshed AGSIP by widening its scope and making more aligned with Ayala’s objective of future-proofing its talent pool.
During the 8-week program, interns will be deployed to 20 different companies across the Ayala group. Each AGSIP intern will be deployed in critical functional units and will experience real-world missions, mentorship from seasoned professionals, and exposure to various aspects of the organization.
Participating companies include Ayala Corp,, Ayala Land, BPI, Globe, ACEN, AC Health, AC Logistics, ACMobility, GCash, and Asticom, among others.
Ayala Corp. president & CEO Cezar Consing said Ayala group is eyeing to make job offers to a third of the AGSIP interns.
AGSIP will run from June 20 to August 9, 2024.
Championing accountability, transparency
Executives from companies under the leadership of businessman Manuel V. Pangilinan and under the Gokongwei Group, along with students from the National Federation of Junior Philippine Institute of Accountants and the Institute of Internal Auditors Student Chapter of Far Eastern University gathered to discuss the valuable role of Internal Audit (IA) teams in achieving business goals in a special panel to mark this year’s celebration of International Internal Audit Awareness Month.
Leading the panel discussion “Navigating through Complex Business Environments” were Bernadine Siy, Audit Committee chairperson at PLDT and Cebu Air; Chaye Cabal-Revilla, chief finance, risk and sustainability officer of Metro Pacific Investments Corp; and Ramoncito Fernandez, president and CEO of Maynilad.
Siy noted that a key strength of IA teams is their unique mandate of reviewing the effectiveness of organizational processes, which requires them to work with the different departments in the organization.
In the case of Maynilad, IA teams have likewise enabled the company’s management to check for controls in priority areas, while functioning as the company’s “conscience”.
“IA is the conscience of the company, as they are able to see what the Management does not see, and they do so objectively and independently,” Fernandez said.
For MPIC, IA is not just a critical business partner but a “Good Shepherd” or a “guardian angel.”
Assistance to neighborhood stores
Regional insurtech Igloo together with Growsari, a leading B2B MSME enabler that powers Philippines sari-sari stores, introduced the Personal + Business Protection Plan that provides financial assistance to these neighborhood convenience stores in case of unwanted incidents arising from natural calamities such as floods due to heavy rain.
“Igloo and Growsari share the same goal of protecting MSMEs like sari-sari stores by offering innovative insurance solutions that will help them mitigate risks while ensuring they can continue to thrive and contribute to the growth of their communities,” said Roberto Vea, commercial lead at Igloo Philippines.
The Personal + Business Protection Plan provides up to P150,000 in financial coverage for accidents and up to P35,000 of cash assistance to help them protect their property or inventory in cases of flood and fire in more than 200,000 sari-sari stores in the country.
Etaily launches AI-Powered review management tool
Etaily’s cutting-edge AI-powered Custom Reply Tool is revolutionizing customer service since its deployment in September of last year.
This tool leverages OpenAI’s GPT models to automate responses to customer reviews, significantly reducing manual effort and enhancing efficiency.
The product will be available to its customers across Singapore and the Philippines and is part of Etaily’s suite of digital commerce managed services.
Handling the e-commerce operations of more than 70 global brands in the lifestyle and FMCG categories, the tool helps Etaily’s brands to handle large volumes of product reviews in online marketplaces, ultimately reducing manual efforts to 0.
Etaily’s Custom Reply Tool uses generative AI to analyze review context and generate personalized responses. By training the tool with historical data, it ensures consistency in customer communication. It focusses on Smarter Responses as it combines generative AI with a vast and ever-growing FAQ knowledge base to handle simple queries.
Since its deployment, the tool has processed 500,000 reviews, saving significant productive hours in just six months.
Cosco Capital makes it to Fortune’s Southeast Asia 500
Cosco Capital Inc. has made it to Fortune Magazine’s first Southeast Asia 500 after posting $3.858 billion in revenues for 2023.
Among the Philippine companies that entered the list, Cosco Capital which owns and operates the largest grocery retail chain in the country, Puregold, sits at the 10th spot.
“It’s an honor to be part of Fortune’s first-ever Southeast Asia 500 because this achievement means that our hard work and efforts have translated to sales and strong market support,” said Leonardo Dayao, president of Cosco Capital Inc.”We stand tall with the other Filipino companies and the rest of our neighbors in the region that made the list.”
Cosco Capital has a vast portfolio of investments, including Puregold, S&R, and The Keepers Holdings Inc., a major player in the imported spirits, wine, and specialty beverage distribution industry.
