The IT and Business Process Association of the Philippines (IBPAP) is making the “AI-Enabled Digital Filipino Worker” central to the final stretch of its Roadmap 2028, pairing workforce training and a shift into higher-value services with a voluntary AI-governance framework.
IBPAP previewed the strategy at the International IT-BPM Summit 2026 this week, as reported by Daily Tribune and Newsbytes.PH. The full updated roadmap is scheduled for release in October.
IBPAP first disclosed the revenue and employment scenarios in July, when it projected that annual revenue could reach between USD 43.3 billion, or about PHP 2.72 trillion, and USD 50.5 billion, or about PHP 3.17 trillion, by 2028. Full-time employment could range from 1.85 million to 2.14 million.
The lower scenario is particularly significant for employment. Revenue would still grow by 2028, but the workforce would fall slightly from about 1.89 million people in 2025 to 1.85 million. The accelerated scenario would instead take employment to 2.14 million.
At the summit, IBPAP described the AI-enabled worker as combining AI fluency and domain expertise with human capabilities such as judgment, empathy, and leadership.
Outgoing president and CEO Jack Madrid said the challenge for the industry is to turn that strategy into “capability at scale” as it moves toward higher-value work.
Workforce training is already part of that effort. IBPAP said its Enterprise-Based Education and Training framework, implemented with the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority and Department of Information and Communications Technology, has reached 25,500 learners through 164 programs across 24 companies. More than PHP 100 million has been secured for industry training.
IBPAP is also pairing wider AI adoption with governance. Its voluntary Ethical AI Use and Risk Governance Policy Framework covers governance, data protection, workforce transition, and incident response.
The association said organizations should establish responsible AI practices and that the framework will be updated as the regulatory environment changes.
The industry group expects growth to come from global capability centers, healthcare information management, banking and financial services, and newer areas including AI operations, model evaluation, data services, animation, and game development.
The full Roadmap 2028 update is due in October, when IBPAP is expected to provide more detail on the assumptions and recommendations behind the scenarios previewed so far.