The PLDT Group has received the 2026 ASEAN Enterprise Innovation Award in the Philippines – Data and AI Category for its Enterprise Risk Intelligence Companion Agent (ERICA), an artificial intelligence solution designed to make enterprise risk management faster and more efficient.
Presented by the ASEAN Innovation Business Platform (AIBP), the award recognizes organizations across Southeast Asia for digital initiatives that demonstrate business impact, scalability, and strong governance. ERICA’s recognition highlights the PLDT Group’s use of agentic AI to improve how risks are identified, assessed, and managed across the organization.
Developed in-house by the PLDT Group’s Enterprise Risk Management and Information Technology teams in close collaboration with UiPath, ERICA streamlines risk assessment processes that previously took days, completing them in minutes. By reducing the time spent on assessments, the solution enables teams to focus more on analyzing risk insights and making informed decisions.
“We are honored to receive this recognition from AIBP. When we built ERICA, our goal was simple: to explore how risk management could better support and enable the different lines of business with risk intelligence,” said Leah B. Jimenez, PLDT and Smart FVP and Group Head for Enterprise Risk Management and Chief Data Privacy Officer.
“Seeing ERICA adopted and applied across the organization is the greatest validation of that vision. More than an award, it reflects the value that AI can create when it is designed to solve real business challenges,” she added.
Keeping Human Judgment At The Center Of AI
While ERICA automates and accelerates key steps in risk assessment, human expertise remains central to its design. Every assessment must be reviewed and signed off by a risk professional before action is taken, reinforcing the PLDT Group’s commitment to responsible AI adoption.
This approach combines the efficiency of agentic AI with the judgment and oversight of experienced professionals, helping ensure that technology supports rather than replaces human decision-making in a critical business function.
The award was presented during the AIBP Conference and Exhibition Philippines at the Manila Marriott Hotel, with support from the Department of Science and Technology (DOST).
Advancing AI Across The PLDT Group
ERICA’s recognition marks another milestone in the PLDT Group’s broader AI journey. The organization continues to explore applications of artificial intelligence across its operations, with the goal of improving efficiency, strengthening decision-making, and creating meaningful value for customers, communities, and the country.
By applying AI to practical business challenges such as enterprise risk management, the PLDT Group is demonstrating how technology can help organizations improve internal processes while maintaining the governance and human oversight needed for responsible innovation.
