The PLDT Group’s Enterprise Risk Intelligence Companion Agent (ERICA) has won the 2026 ASEAN Enterprise Innovation Award, Philippines – Data and AI Category. The award, presented by the ASEAN Innovation Business Platform (AIBP), recognizes organizations across Southeast Asia for transformative digital initiatives that demonstrate business impact, scalability, and strong governance.

The award highlights ERICA’s innovative application of agentic artificial intelligence to enterprise risk management, strengthening how risks are identified, assessed, and managed across the PLDT Group.

Developed in-house by the PLDT Group’s Enterprise Risk Management and Information Technology teams, in close collaboration with UiPath, ERICA uses agentic AI to transform the way risk assessments are conducted. The solution significantly cuts the time needed for risk assessments, with processes that once took days now completed in minutes. By accelerating the assessment process, ERICA enables teams to spend more time on risk insights and decision-making.

“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. 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,” said Leah B. Jimenez, PLDT and Smart FVP and Group Head for Enterprise Risk Management and Chief Data Privacy Officer.

Human judgment remains central to ERICA’s design. Every assessment is reviewed and signed off by a risk professional before action is taken, bringing human expertise into the process. This reflects the PLDT Group’s commitment to responsible AI adoption.

The award was presented the AIBP Conference and Exhibition Philippines held at the Manila Marriott Hotel, with support from the Department of Science and Technology (DOST). The win is part of the PLDT Group’s broader AI journey, as the organization continues to apply AI across different areas of the business and explore opportunities to use the technology to improve operations, strengthen decision-making, and create meaningful value for customers, communities, and the country.