Microsoft is using AI to digitalize the Philippines, Cherry Kua tells CoinGeek Backstage

The COVID-19 pandemic led to a rapid paradigm shift in how enterprises use technology globally. In the Philippines, companies were forced to undertake years’ worth of digitalization in two months. Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) is now helping these firms to build on this foundation, says Cherry Kua, the financial controller for the tech giant’s Filipino operations.

“A lot of the companies that were not into technology before were forced [into digitalization], and they need to continue to be able to survive in this kind of environment,” Kua told CoinGeek Backstage reporter Claire Celdran.

Filipino firms have made significant strides in digitizing their operations, building on the systems they deployed during the pandemic. This includes offering their staff hybrid work environments that allow them to work from home.

Kua revealed that according to their survey, Filipino enterprises conducted “two years’ worth of digitalization in two months.”

Microsoft is working with local firms in the Southeast Asian country to advance their digitalization efforts. This includes assisting these enterprises in adopting artificial intelligence (AI) as technology grows globally. Microsoft is one of the biggest investors in OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT, and as Kua noted, the company is offering AI services in the Philippines.

A key application of AI for Microsoft is deploying systems that allow enterprises “to extract insights out of data. They’re overwhelmed with a lot of data, and so, we must have a tool that helps them make decisions for their companies.”

The company is also integrating other OpenAI tools. One of them is DALL-E, a deep learning model that generates images from natural language descriptions, and OpenAI Codex, an AI model that parses natural language to code.

The tech giant is also involved in the public sector. Its efforts include partnering with the Department of Education to “upskill millions of students and teachers. We teach them modern work” such as using tools like Microsoft Office and Excel.

In order for artificial intelligence (AI) to work right within the law and thrive in the face of growing challenges, it needs to integrate an enterprise blockchain system that ensures data input quality and ownership—allowing it to keep data safe while also guaranteeing the immutability of data. Check out CoinGeek’s coverage on this emerging tech to learn more why Enterprise blockchain will be the backbone of AI.

Watch: Turbocharging Philippines digitalization via blockchain