MSMEs should tap AI to bolster business

MANILA – Even with limited capital resources of many micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs), they can harness artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance operational efficiency and boost profitability.

This was stressed by Ambe Tierro, Country Managing Director and Technology Lead of global professional services and technology firm Accenture in the Philippines, on Wednesday.

She said there are free services that MSMEs can utilize to benefit their core business.

READ MORE: PH MSMEs urged to learn Asean growth formula

“There are a lot of technologies now that are very specific, very niche. Depending on whether it’s sales, using AIR for their marketing, using AI for their supply chain, it can already help,” she said.

MSMEs account for around 99 percent of business establishments in the Philippines and employ around 65 percent of the workers.

However, their share in the country’s annual domestic output remains low at around 35 percent.

Thus, the government measures to provide capitalization and other ways to help expand their operations and their contribution to gross domestic product (GDP).

One of these measures is the National AI Strategy Roadmap 2.0, implemented by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI).

Tierro said the program is being implemented partly based on the recommendations shared by the Private Sector Advisory Council, a government body established in 2022 by President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. to help the government with strategic, real-world ideas to help drive the domestic economy, accelerate infrastructure, create employment opportunities, and ensure a sustainable business environment.

She explained that with AI, MSMEs will be equipped to successfully manage their operations, given their numbers nationwide.

“It becomes an instrument for diffusion. So, rather than AI being concentrated in NCR (National Capital Region) or on the big enterprises, if you have more SMEs participating, using, and applying it, then you can use the technology. So, it’s not exclusive,” she said.

“If more people can use it, first of all, you demystify it because if you know AI, you know it cannot do everything. Because sometimes, there’s this notion that AI will solve everything, will do anything. Of course, it can’t. So, you kind of demystify it. So, everybody gets more fluent. That’s also part of the literacy,” she added.

READ MORE: ‘Stay in the game’: Women entrepreneurs in Cebu urged to pivot through crisis

Your subscription could not be saved. Please try again.

Your subscription has been successful.