The Department of Trade and Industry’s (DTI) National AI Strategy Roadmap 2.0 is set to serve as the primary vehicle for elevating local micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs), equipping them with artificial intelligence to optimize daily operations and drive profitability despite limited capital.
The updated state roadmap (initially launched in 2024) was shaped in part by recommendations from the Private Sector Advisory Council, a governmental body formed to inject real-world corporate insights into state infrastructure and economic policy.
According to Ambe Tierro, Country Managing Director and Technology Lead of professional services firm Accenture, the revised strategy serves as a critical instrument. By actively pushing AI integration into the MSME sector, the roadmap aims to decentralize technological growth away from large conglomerates and just Metro Manila, ensuring that advanced digital tools such as AI automations are not exclusive to top-tier enterprises in the city.
The strategic focus on small businesses carries massive economic weight. According to the PNA, MSMEs make up roughly 99% of all business establishments in the Philippines and employ about 65% of the national workforce. However, their combined contribution to the country’s annual gross domestic product (GDP) sits at only around 35%.
The roadmap specifically outlines avenues to bridge this gap, leveraging free, highly-targeted technologies to streamline core business functions like supply chain management, sales tracking, and digital marketing.
Beyond boosting economic output, Tierro emphasized that the state-led rollout plays a vital role in building national digital literacy. By placing accessible AI tools directly into the hands of smaller business owners, the National AI Strategy Roadmap 2.0 helps make the technology more approachable a grassroots level. This widespread fluency allows everyday merchants to build hands-on familiarity with automation.
The Philippines is seen as a viable AI powerhouse due to a huge pool of college-educated individuals, fluency in English, and strengths in the IT-BPM fields.
Of course, there are challenges as well. AI deepfakes, insufficient capacity to incorporate AI strategies on both the human and tech sides, cybersecurity threats, regulatory uncertainties, and others.
The government has committed to combat these through its roadmap consisting of AI education, workforce upskilling, the establishment of the Center for AI Research (CAIR) for R&D, as well as allocating funds to support AI startups. Regulators such as the National Privacy Commission (NPC) have been tasked to ensure that even with widespread adoption of AI, it is still used ethically.
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