Philippine tech summit focuses on moving AI from pilots to production
Scores of enterprise IT professionals attend the VST ECS CXO Tech Summit in Boracay Island, Malay, Aklan. Arthur Fuentes, ABS-CBN News MALAY, Aklan — Philippine enterprise IT leaders gathered in Boracay on Tuesday for the 9th VST ECS CXO Tech Summit, with discussions focused on accelerating artificial intelligence from experimental pilots into active operational deployment.
The four-day, invitation-only summit at Shangri-La Boracay runs from October 20 to 23 under the theme “Rethinking IT: Powering the AI-Driven Enterprise”.
Organized by ICT distributor VST ECS Phils., Inc., the gathering brings together chief information officers, security heads, and executives from major banks, BPOs, healthcare providers, telcos, universities, manufacturers, retailers, energy firms, hospitality and logistics companies, along with leaders from several government agencies
VST ECS President and CEO Jimmy Go said the timeframe for testing AI tools has already closed as market leaders push ahead in demand forecasting, software development, and customer service.
“Two years ago, AI was a demo. Last year, it was a pilot. This year, the leaders who are pulling ahead have moved it into production,” Go said in a statement, adding that “technology is now the business itself”.
A fireside chat on tech infrastructure at the VST ECS CXO Tech Summit in Boracay Island, Malay, Aklan. Arthur Fuentes, ABS-CBN News Go noted that Philippine businesses are making this transition alongside operational hurdles, including global shortages in memory and storage that threaten to delay hardware deployments into 2027. Local enterprises must also comply with Executive Order 119, which raises data residency and sovereignty standards for handling sensitive data.
Amid workplace automation concerns, Go said that the country’s digital workforce remains a primary asset. He said that AI will not replace talent, but talent that uses AI will replace talent that does not.
The conference program includes 24 technical breakout sessions covering cybersecurity and cloud infrastructure.
Among the speakers are experts from Nutanix, Fortinet, Dell Technologies, Cisco, H3C, HPE, Huawei, HP and
AMD, APC by Schneider Electric, VMware by Broadcom, Adobe, Autodesk, AWS, Archer, Fastly, TrendAI,
Lenovo and Synology.
A CIO panel meanwhile features executives from firms such as BDO Unibank, Energy Development
Corporation, St. Luke’s Medical Center, Enshored, Monde Nissin, Miriam College and K-Logistikus, as well as demonstrations across 52 technology partner booths.