FILIPINO workers are emerging as some of the world’s most advanced users of artificial intelligence (AI), but its rapid adoption is raising a more important question for educators and employers: What should people learn when AI can already do much of the work?
The 2026 Microsoft Work Trend Index Annual Report found that 25 percent of Filipino workers qualify as ‘Frontier Professionals:’ the most advanced category of AI users, compared with a global average of 16 percent. These workers use AI agents for multi-step workflows, rethink processes, and help establish quality standards for AI-assisted work.
The findings point to a shift in the skills that matter in an AI-enabled workplace. Among Filipino AI users, 77 percent said they are producing work they could not have produced a year ago, compared with 58 percent globally. Among Frontier Professionals, the figure rises to 86 percent.
But greater reliance on AI does not necessarily mean less need for human expertise. In fact, the report found that 65 percent of Filipino AI users consider critical thinking the most important human skill as AI takes on more work-the highest proportion among the markets surveyed and well above the 46-percent global average. The challenge for education, training and workplaces, therefore, is increasingly about teaching people how to assess, question and improve what AI produces.
Critical thinking in focus
THE emphasis on human judgment is also reflected in how Filipinos use AI. Sixty-five percent of Filipino AI users identified critical thinking as the most important human skill as AI takes on more work-the highest proportion among the markets surveyed and well above the 46-percent global average. Another 59 percent identified quality control of AI output as a top priority.
That caution is evident in how Filipino workers approach AI-generated content. Ninety-three percent said they treat AI output as a starting point rather than a final answer and ‘stay responsible for the thinking,’ compared with 86 percent globally. Among the country’s Frontier Professionals, 53 percent intentionally complete some work without AI to keep their skills sharp, while 61 percent deliberately pause before beginning a task to determine what should be handled by AI and what should remain human-led.
For schools, universities and training firms, the findings point to a broader definition of AI literacy. Knowing how to operate an AI tool is only part of the equation; learners also need to develop the ability to question outputs, verify information and make sound judgments about AI usage.
That principle extends into continuing education and the workplace. During his executive studies, PLDT and Smart First Vice President and Head of Information Technology and the Transformation Office Gilbert Gaw shared that he used AI to help narrow down research and references, but still had to do the actual work himself. The experience shows a key lesson of AI-assisted learning: The technology can accelerate the process, but it does not remove the need for human thinking.
Training must follow the work
THE report found that Filipino workers are ready to adapt, but organizational support has not fully kept pace. Only 35 percent said their leadership is clearly and consistently aligned on AI, while 25 percent said they are rewarded for reinventing how they work with the technology.
The experience of PLDT and Smart illustrates workplace learning helping close that gap. After initially deploying 200 Microsoft 365 Copilot licenses, the conglomerate required users to demonstrate concrete use cases and results before expanding access. Training was also designed with employees’ roles in mind, with programs developed for groups such as managers, project managers, finance, legal, and marketing.
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PLDT and Smart first vice president and head of information technology and Transformation Office Gilbert Gaw said: ‘AI training has to be relevant to the work employees actually perform.’
The company’s approach also reflects a broader principle in the report: Organizational factors-including culture, manager support and talent practices-account for more than twice the impact of individual mindset and behavior on AI adoption.
Building a learning system
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MICROSOFT’S report describes the next stage of organizational transformation as becoming a ‘Learning System’-an organization capable of capturing, sharing and scaling what its people learn from working with AI. The number of AI agents has increased 15-fold year over year across the Microsoft 365 ecosystem and 18 times in large enterprises.
For local educators and employers, this points to a larger shift in the meaning of skills development. The objective is no longer simply to prepare people to use today’s technology, but to help them remain capable of learning as tech changes.
The report’s central question may therefore apply as much to classrooms and training institutions as it does to companies: ‘The real question isn’t whether people have the right skills-it’s whether the organization is built to unlock them.’