June 16, 2026 l Manila Bulletin
The conversation around artificial intelligence (AI) in the Philippines often creates the impression that organizations are already far along in their journey. Press releases talk about AI pilots. Executives speak about transformation. Vendors showcase impressive demonstrations. Yet when I recently moderated a roundtable discussion with senior executives from different industries, a simple question revealed a very different reality.
I asked the participants to describe the AI maturity of their organizations using the life cycle of a butterfly. Were they still an egg, a larva, a pupa or a butterfly?
It was a simple, visual analogy that immediately resonated with the group. An egg is an organization just beginning to get acquainted with AI. A larva is a company experimenting with use cases, eating information, but still building capabilities. A pupa is an organization that has moved beyond experimentation and is restructuring processes, skills and operating models around AI. The butterfly is an enterprise where AI is already embedded in how people work, make decisions, serve customers and create value.
What surprised me was not the diversity of answers. What surprised me was how few organizations considered themselves close to the butterfly stage.
Most executives described their companies as either eggs or larvae. A handful believed they had reached the pupa stage. Nobody confidently claimed to be a butterfly.
These were not small organizations. The participants came from banking, insurance, retail, telecommunications, manufacturing, healthcare, and professional services. Many had ongoing AI projects. Several had invested in AI platforms. Some had already deployed chatbots, copilots, and automation tools.
Yet when the discussion moved beyond technology and into business impact, confidence started to fade.
Many said AI adoption remained limited to a few willing departments, with others saying that employees were experimenting with public AI tools with no formal direction. Some companies had policies in place, but found it hard to translate those into real business value. Several executives said they were still trying to figure out where AI could deliver tangible returns.
The discussion reminded me of a pattern I have observed across many Philippine organizations. We often mistake AI exposure for AI maturity.
Using ChatGPT does not make an organization AI mature. Buying an AI platform does not make a company AI-driven. Running a pilot project does not mean transformation has happened.
Real maturity begins when AI changes how work gets done.
An egg-stage organization is still discovering what’s possible. Leadership discussions are about awareness. Employees are curious, but unsure Governance is absent or a work in progress AI projects are siloed and experimental
A larva-stage organization is more active. Teams are testing use cases. Employees are in training sessions. Small wins are beginning to emerge. But efforts are still fragmented. Different departments move at different paces. Success depends a lot on a few champions.
Many Philippine organizations currently occupy this stage. There is motion but no common direction. The next step is the pupa stage which is often the most challenging phase. It is here that organizations begin to change processes, structures, and ways of working. AI is no longer a side project. Leaders begin to ask how jobs will change. Workforce development becomes a priority. Governance frameworks are not theoretical anymore; they are operational. It’s uncomfortable during the pupa stage because organizations are changing from the inside. Old practices are challenged. New skills become necessary. Decision-making models begin to change. Only after successfully navigating this stage can an organization become a butterfly. A butterfly-stage organization doesn’t talk about AI all the time because AI has become part of normal business operations. Employees use AI tools in natural ways. Leaders make decisions based on AI insights. Customer experiences are personalized at scale. Processes are faster, more accurate and more efficient. Innovation is continuous, not episodic.
This requires more than just investing in technology.
The first step is leadership commitment. AI cannot be an IT project, it has to be a business priority owned by the whole leadership team. CEOs, business unit heads, HR leaders and operations executives all have crucial roles to play.
The second step is to develop AI literacy across the workforce. You don’t need every employee to be a data scientist. But every employee should understand what AI can do, what it cannot do and how it can improve their work.
The third step is selecting business problems before selecting technology. Many organizations start with tools and then search for applications. The better approach is the opposite. First, identify the customer pain points, operational bottlenecks or growth opportunities. The fourth step is governance. Responsible AI practice is increasingly important. Then discover where AI can help. Organizations need clear policies around privacy, security, transparency and accountability.
The fifth step is measurement. Leaders need to move beyond counting pilots and training participants. They should measure productivity gains, improvements in customer satisfaction, reductions in costs, revenue growth and risk mitigation.
Most importantly, organizations need patience.
A butterfly does not emerge overnight. Nature does not allow shortcuts, and neither does transformation. Every stage has a purpose. The egg learns. The larva grows. The pupa transforms. The butterfly flourishes.
The encouraging news from the roundtable was that every executive recognized the opportunity. There was no resistance to AI. There was only an honest acknowledgment that much work remains ahead.
That honesty may be exactly what Philippine organizations need right now. The path to AI maturity starts with understanding where we really are. Only then can we proceed with clarity and purpose.
The good news is that the journey has already begun. The challenge now is making sure we do not remain eggs and larvae for too long.
***The views expressed herein are his own and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of his office as well as FINEX. For comments, email rey.lugtu@hungryworkhorse.com. Photo is from Pinterest.