SOFTWARE company UiPath said Thursday that local telecom PLDT has expanded its use of artificial intelligence (AI) and automation to improve customer service and operational processes as demand for digital connectivity grows.
The automation company said PLDT has integrated business orchestration and agentic capabilities from the UiPath Platform into several initiatives, including knowledge retrieval, customer support and risk management.
One initiative, KAI (Knowledge, Automation, Intelligence), reduces knowledge-retrieval work from a process that could take up to five days to one that produces contextual responses within one to three seconds, UiPath said.
KAI is powered by an agentic AI assistant and uses approved sources. It is estimated to reduce 25,000 to 30,000 hours of manual work annually, equivalent to about 12 full-time employee positions, according to UiPath.
PLDT also uses Ellie (Enablement and Intelligence Engine), an internal AI-powered digital assistant designed to connect enterprise knowledge and workflows. UiPath said Ellie can reduce manual effort by 25 percent to 35 percent, save an estimated 18,000 to 25,000 hours annually and cut customer response times by up to 80 percent.
Another capability, Erica (Enterprise Risk Intelligence Companion Agent), was deployed in February 2026 to support the company's annual risk reviews. UiPath said Erica automatically synthesizes data, scores risks and recommends treatments, reducing evaluations that previously took two to 10 days to between five minutes and one day.
The use of the three AI capabilities reflects PLDT's effort to address operational bottlenecks while enabling employees to spend more time on customer service and strategic work, UiPath said.
“The telecommunications sector is playing a major role in the Philippines’ rapidly evolving digital economy,” said Karl Crowther, area vice president for Middle East and Africa and South Asia at UiPath.
Crowther said rising customer expectations, along with the growth of 5G, broadband and digital services, have increased pressure on communications providers to deliver faster support.
“Leveraging the business orchestration and automation capabilities in the UiPath Platform allowed PLDT to transform enterprise knowledge into actionable intelligence, enabling teams to resolve issues more efficiently, make faster decisions, and strengthen customer trust,” he said.
Gilbert Gaw, PLDT and Smart first vice president and head of IT and Transformation Office, said the partnership with UiPath is intended to improve operations and customer experiences.
“At PLDT, we are committed to harnessing technology to better serve our customers and support the country's growing digital needs,” Gaw said.
He said the company is using the technology to streamline processes, make better use of enterprise knowledge and give employees more efficient ways of working.
