PH executives continue investing in digital transformation

MANILA – An IBM study showed top executives of Philippine-based firms will continue investing in digital technology in the next two years, accelerating their digital transformation amid the pandemic. 

In a virtual media roundtable Friday, IBM Philippines president and country general manager Aileen Judan Jiao said companies will continue to roll out digital transformation initiatives even if coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) vaccines come out.

“One out of two executives we interviewed, which is practically 51 percent to be exact, shared in the study that digital transformation is increasing priority not only today but also for the next two years,” she said 

Jiao added businesses now realize the need for operational scalability and flexibility that can be addressed by investing in digital technology.

“From a technology standpoint as well, many of them mentioned they will now prioritize cloud (computing) more than ever. This is a technology that allows you to do a dynamic delivery of your operations without seeing physically all your servers right in front of you, but it’s going to be hybrid,” she said. 

Likewise, outlook for investments on artificial intelligence (AI), automation like robotics process automation, and cybersecurity is increasing.

“People will continue to apply AI automation and other exponential technologies to make all their workflows happen in a very intelligent way,” Jiao said.

Filipino executives have also said prioritizing AI is going to happen between now and the next two years, she said.

“They’re also saying they will be permanent changes… They have said that whatever it is we’re doing today it is very unlikely that we’ll go back exactly from we were at before,” she added. (PNA)