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Manila Bulletin devider Business devider Trade & Industry devider Grab harness AI to generate jobs

Grab harness AI to generate jobs

Published Oct 30, 2025 07:37 pm
The Grab Asenso Center (Dexter Barro II/MANILA BULLETIN)
The Grab Asenso Center (Dexter Barro II/MANILA BULLETIN)
Ride-hailing giant Grab Philippines has opened a pioneering livelihood hub aimed at harnessing artificial intelligence (AI) to elevate the skillset of its drivers and merchants in an increasingly digital work environment.
The company unveiled on Thursday, Oct. 30, the Grab Asenso Center—the first livelihood facility of its kind in Grab’s broader Southeast Asia network.
The one-hectare facility located in Marikina is designed to professionalize the onboarding of drivers under Grab and riders of its motorcycle taxi arm Move It, as well as partner merchants.
The Grab Asenso Center seeks to accelerate AI-enabled earning opportunities, streamline access to government social protection programs, and provide micro-insurance and welfare protection.
Grab Philippines Country Head Ronald Roda said the new facility is part of the company’s commitment to President Marcos in 2023 to generate 500,000 livelihood opportunities within five years’ time.
Two years on, Roda said the company is well ahead of schedule, having delivered 73 percent of the target.
The newly opened livelihood hub, he said, will further accelerate the creation of livelihood opportunities while aligning them with the digital space.
“Grab is one of the Philippines’ most mature platform-work ecosystems, and that gives us a precise, ground-level understanding of what Filipino platform workers and micro-entrepreneurs truly need to thrive,” said Roda.
“The Asenso Center turns that insight into action. It opens dignified, digitally powered livelihoods, equips our partners with practical AI co-pilots, and helps families convert opportunity into income at scale,” he added.
The Grab Asenso Center will offer mobile-first tools like Merchant AI Assistant and AI Driver Companion in the onboarding process of new drivers and merchants.
Grab said these new technologies are calibrated to ensure platform productivity, making sure that drivers can have family-sustaining income levels of around ₱1,200 for working at least eight hours a day.
“And obviously, they can work more, so they basically earn more. In many cases, they earn maybe two to three times that,” said Roda.
Roda said the company’s use of AI places an emphasis on improving safety, protecting privacy, keeping people in control, and ensuring ease of learning.
“AI should reward effort, and not replace it. Our responsibility is to lower the barrier to entry for the AI economy, protect user trust, and ensure Filipino workers and MSMEs (micro, small, and medium enterprises) capture the upside,” he said.
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