The Philippine information technology-business process management (IT-BPM) industry needs to drill down on specific domains where it is strong – banking, financial services, healthcare and the creative sectors such as animation and gaming development – to stay ahead of the curve.
Jack Madrid, president of the Information Technology and Business Process Association of the Philippines (IBPAP) told Executive Insights last week while competitor-countries are poised to get a slice of the IT-BPM market, the Philippines has its strengths across the sectors mentioned.
“The Philippines is more renowned for customer service and the ability to adapt and be creative in the way that we resolve customer concerns,” said Madrid.
Compare that to India which, he said, is very strong in IT, digital and engineering.
“Every IT-BPM destination has their unique skill set and expertise,” Madrid added.
He said the Philippines remains a world capital in IT-BPM, which has 1.7 million full-time employees generating well over $35 billion in export revenue.
Madrid said the Philippine IT-BPM industry continues to earn investor-interest.
“There’s not a week where I entertain and address many investors who are still looking at establishing a footprint in the Philippines or increasing their operations here, “ Madrid said.
“To retain our market share, or even to try to increase it, we need to double down on what we’re good at, while addressing some of the maybe relative weaknesses that we have,” Madrid said.
He said while the Philippines is good at the foundational skills of communication, critical thinking, comprehension, “we can get better, especially with the advent of new technology such as artificial intelligence (AI). “
AI, Madrid said, is both an opportunity and a challenge.
“It’s an opportunity because AI has the potential to transform all our agents into super agents, because I view generative AI as a co-worker or a co- pilot beside you, making you better, making you faster, making you more efficient,” he added.
Madrid cited ease of doing business as a concern among investors. “We should allow our IT-BPM locators to run their businesses the way they should and not have to deal with
inconsistencies in the interpretation of laws and regulations. We need to continue to make it easier for investors to run their businesses here without having to deal with unclear policies, unclear incentives, red tape,” Madrid said.
