Philippine Exporters Progress in Digital Skills but Lag in AI Integration, Study Finds
A recent assessment of Filipino exporters' digitalization and artificial intelligence (AI) readiness indicates that while domestic exporters have moved beyond basic digital competencies, they still face significant challenges in strengthening internal systems to achieve AI-enabled operations. The study, commissioned by the Philippine Exporters Confederation Inc. (Philexport), was presented by consultant Janette Toral during a webinar on January 23, 2026.
Current State of Digital and AI Maturity
The report found that the majority of exporters have progressed from manual workflows and the digitally emergent stage to the digital expansion phase. At this level, companies are capable of partial tracking and documentation, early use of analytics, initial AI experimentation, and maintaining strong communication with buyers. However, only a few have advanced to the optimization stage, which is characterized by integrated digital workflows, AI-trained staff, and analytics-driven decision-making.
Toral noted that companies reaching the highest tier of AI readiness, featuring AI-embedded operations, automated documentation, optical character recognition (OCR) forecasting, and data-driven decisions, remain rare in the Philippines. "In a nutshell, exporters are AI-aware and curious, but not fully enabled," she explained.
Internal System Gaps and Barriers to Adoption
Exporters' current use of digital tools is largely external, with strengths in areas such as content creation, marketing, product mockups, and translation. However, AI integration in internal operations remains limited, with low adoption in core export functions including documentation, forecasting, chart-making, compliance checklists, and analytics dashboards.
"Exporters are digitally connected to buyers, but internal systems must mature to support automation, AI adoption, and compliance processes," Toral emphasized. She identified several barriers to AI adoption, such as fear of making mistakes, lack of training, and shortages in IT personnel. Targeted support is needed to help exporters move toward AI-assisted documentation, OCR-based form processing, market research, pricing analysis, design tools, and automated buyer documentation.
Key Areas for Improvement and Strategic Roadmap
Assessing the overall AI readiness gap, Toral described Filipino exporters as "digitally active but structurally constrained," stressing that foundational gaps must be addressed before AI adoption can be scaled. She outlined six critical areas requiring strengthening to advance toward AI-enabled exporting:
- Robust digital infrastructure for integrated systems
- Training programs to build digital- and AI-ready staff
- A shift toward automated and standardized documentation and operational workflows
- Enhanced AI-driven and multilingual marketing capabilities
- Stronger cybersecurity and business continuity planning (BCP)
- A more coordinated exporter support system
In response, Toral presented the three-year Philexport Digital, AI, Cybersecurity and Resilience Roadmap for 2026–2028, which is structured into three phases:
- Phase 1 (2026): Focus on building foundations through digital and AI capacity-building programs, an AI toolkit for exporters, standardized digital documentation, and basic cybersecurity and BCP templates.
- Phase 2 (2027): Center on integration and scaling, including documentation automation, multilingual content workflows, AI-assisted market research and design, cybersecurity monitoring trials, and buyer-matching initiatives with digital catalogs.
- Phase 3 (2028): Emphasize AI expansion and ecosystem development, with advanced AI skills such as forecasting and compliance analytics, digital export ecosystems, virtual trade fairs, market intelligence dashboards, and policy integration with national benchmarks.
Exporters' Willingness and Need for Guided Support
Meanwhile, focus group discussions revealed that exporters are willing and capable but constrained, with many being self-taught and in need of guided learning. "Exporters prefer incremental digital adoption supported by training, templates, and trusted guidance," Toral said, highlighting the importance of structured assistance to bridge the AI readiness gap in the Philippine export sector.
