First published in InfraTalks, Aboitiz InfraCapital’s monthly column in The Manila Times.
As the nation marked Labor Day earlier this month and reflected on the future of work, I have observed artificial intelligence (AI) rapidly reshaping industries across the world — and infrastructure will not be exempt from this transformation. In the Philippines, where infrastructure development continues to play a major role in economic growth, AI presents both a challenge and an opportunity for organizations managing talent.
The conversation around AI often focuses on job displacement or job enrichment. However, from my perspective, the more important question is how AI will change the nature of work and how organizations can leverage technology and people together to create what Deloitte’s 2026 Global Human Capital Trends refers to as “super teams” where humans and machines work together to enhance performance and outcomes.
In infrastructure, many roles remain highly dependent on technical expertise, operational experience, safety management, and human judgment. Engineers, project managers, operations specialists, technical operators, and compliance professionals remain critical in ensuring projects are delivered safely and sustainably.
What AI is likely to change is not necessarily the existence of these jobs, but the way work is performed.
Recent studies support this view. The International Labour Organization (ILO) noted that only around 3.6% of jobs in the Philippines fall into the highest generative AI exposure category with elevated displacement risk, suggesting that AI is more likely to augment work rather than completely replace professions.
However, despite advances in AI, the war for talent in infrastructure remains very real. The industry continues to face challenges in attracting and retaining specialized talent, particularly for niche and hard-to-fill roles.
This is where AI can significantly contribute.
First, AI can improve workforce planning. Infrastructure projects are long-term and highly dependent on manpower availability and specialized skills. AI-enabled workforce analytics and human resource (HR) systems can help organizations anticipate future talent gaps, identify critical capabilities, improve succession planning, and model workforce scenarios more efficiently.
Second, AI can support faster and more targeted upskilling.
There are two broad ways organizations may adopt AI in capability building.
The first is through individual-level augmentation. Employees can use large language models as personal tutors and digital librarians, helping them learn faster, deepen technical expertise, or broaden their knowledge beyond their core specialization.
The second is through AI-enabled systems that can support more scalable learning and workforce development. Over time, digital learning platforms, simulations, virtual coaching, and predictive learning systems may help organizations make training more accessible, personalized, and responsive to evolving business needs.
This is especially relevant in the Philippine setting, where organizations must continuously develop talent while balancing operational demands and resource limitations.
The World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs Report 2025 highlights that technology and digital transformation will continue reshaping skills requirements globally over the coming years.
In my view, future infrastructure professionals will need to combine technical expertise with the ability to work alongside technology.
Third, AI can improve operational efficiency and decision support.
Globally, AI is already being used for predictive maintenance, construction scheduling, safety monitoring, asset management, and operational analytics. These applications can improve productivity, reduce downtime, and support better decision-making.
However, infrastructure remains a people-driven industry. Many decisions still require human accountability, stakeholder management, risk assessment, and operational judgment.
AI can support professionals, but it cannot fully replace leadership, experience, and human decision-making, especially in industries where public safety and reliability are critical.
In the Philippine context, AI adoption should therefore be viewed not only as a technology initiative, but also as a talent strategy.
At Aboitiz Infrastructure Capital (AIC), for example, we have started exploring AI-enabled tools to better understand employee engagement drivers and gain deeper insights into organizational culture and workforce well-being. Used responsibly, AI can help organizations make more informed decisions and create better employee experiences.
For developing economies like the Philippines, the opportunity lies not simply in automation, but in using AI to enhance workforce capabilities and create higher-value work.
In my opinion, the organizations that will succeed are not necessarily those that automate the fastest, but those that prepare their people the best. A human-centric approach will continue to unlock the greatest long-term value.
AI should not be viewed purely as a cost-efficiency tool. It should also be viewed as a capability-building tool that can help organizations strengthen workforce planning, accelerate learning, improve talent decisions, and build a more future-ready infrastructure workforce.
At AIC, our culture encourages curiosity, continuous learning, and responsible AI adoption in everyday work. The goal is not simply efficiency, but discovering how technology can help people perform better, innovate faster, and reimagine future possibilities.
Technology may change the tools and processes, but human leadership, accountability, and expertise will remain at the center of nation-building.