Carlo Malana, President and CEO of ST Telemedia Global Data Centres (STT GDC Philippines), presents key highlights from the “Mind the Gap: Bridging the AI Infrastructure Readiness Divide” report, highlighting the country’s growing AI adoption alongside persistent infrastructure and scalability challenges.
A new study by ST Telemedia Global Data Centres (STT GDC) reveals that while Philippine organizations are rapidly adopting artificial intelligence, most are struggling to scale due to infrastructure and talent constraints.
According to the report “Mind the Gap: Bridging the AI Infrastructure Readiness Divide,” 79% of local organizations are already in the “Builder” stage—actively deploying early AI solutions. However, only 2% have advanced to the “Integrator” stage, and none have reached “Leader” status, highlighting a significant drop-off in maturity beyond initial adoption. Meanwhile, 19% remain in the exploratory phase.
The study points to infrastructure limitations as the primary bottleneck. About 71% of respondents cited insufficient compute capacity, storage, and network bandwidth as the biggest barrier to scaling AI initiatives. Even among organizations with functional systems, the same percentage reported performance issues due to latency, bandwidth constraints, and network bottlenecks—limiting their ability to run data-intensive or mission-critical AI workloads.
Talent shortages are further compounding the issue. Around 76% of organizations reported critical gaps in AI expertise, while 53% admitted lacking the in-house capability to manage complex AI infrastructure. Beyond technical challenges, organizational readiness remains uneven, with 94% describing internal attitudes toward AI as cautious or skeptical.
The findings suggest a widening readiness gap as demand accelerates. Nearly half (46%) of respondents expect AI workloads to grow by over 50% within the next one to three years, yet only 3% believe they are currently equipped to handle large-scale AI deployment. Investment levels also remain modest, with 86% allocating 5% or less of their total IT budgets to AI.
The research, conducted by Ecosystm, underscores the urgent need for aligned investments in infrastructure, talent development, and organizational transformation to unlock AI’s full potential in the Philippines.
As enterprises push forward with digital transformation, the report highlights a critical inflection point: without addressing foundational gaps in compute, connectivity, and skills, the country risks falling behind in the race to scale AI-driven innovation.
