LAMBO: Cebu’s AI Business Summit to Drive Practical AI Adoption for Enterprises

Marking a monumental milestone for the local business landscape, JCI Cebu, the Asian Institute of Management (AIM), and EXL co-presented LAMBO: Cebu’s AI Business Summitat the Waterfront Cebu City Hotel & Casino on June 27, 2026.

Under the theme "Practical AI: Pagtubo sa Negosyo," the summit was designed specifically as a hands-on guide for business operators and strategists rather than theorists, focusing heavily on delivering immediate, real-world AI returns.

A Masterclass in Practical Innovation

The summit kicked off with a visionary keynote address by Dr. Christopher Monterola, the Aboitiz Chair in Data Science at AIM, who discussed "The AI Advantage in the Philippines: Competing in a World Where Intelligence Is Becoming Abundant." Following the keynote, attendees participated in localized "Live Labs" aimed at operational scaling:

Live Lab 1: Ish Castañeda (Associate Director at S&P Global Philippines and Owner of The Street Cafe) broke down how enterprise-grade AI can be distilled to meet the unique realities of MSMEs.

Live Lab 2: Trish Embuscado (Account Specialist at an insurance brokerage and MAIDA candidate at AIM) presented a data-driven broiler-farm case study, demonstrating how a ₱2.75M recovery gap could be solved using automated prioritization dashboards.

Peer-Led Executive Panels

The afternoon shifted focus to cross-industry collaboration through dedicated executive panels designed around real workflows and tangible impact:

Panel 1 (AI in the Daily Workflow): Featured operators from Colliers Philippines, Nextrade Philippines, Honda Cars Talisay, and EXL Services Philippines, who discussed daily business-layer optimizations.

Panel 2 (AI in Sector Applications): Was led by tech leaders and policymakers, including Hon. Javier Miguel Lopez Benitez (Representative, 3rd District, Negros Occidental), Jemar Jude Maranga (Founder & CEO of CodeChum and GradeChum), Raymond Peter De Asis (Farm Owner & External VP of the United Broiler Raisers’ Association), and Michael David Aquino (Cyber Risk Specialist at Howden).

Empowering the Next Generation: The AI-Powered Business Case Competition

A major highlight of the summit was the finals of the AI-Powered Business Case Competition, where the focus turned toward grassroots innovation. Whittled down from 19 initial teams to 12 virtual semifinalists, the final five student teams took the main stage live to pitch strategic solutions for the case "From Sari-Sari to SukiMart."

The finalists competing to modernize traditional retail operations using data and AI included:

1. Team RoAI – Cebu Institute of Technology-University (CIT-U)

2. Visayas Visionaries – University of Cebu – Banilad

3. QueuetIEs – University of San Carlos – Cebu (IE)

4. AlibAI – Cebu Institute of Technology-University (CIT-U)

5. InnovaTech – Cebu Institute of Technology-University (CIT-U)

By bridging corporate leaders, technology pioneers, and bright academic minds, LAMBO 2026 establishes a comprehensive blueprint for sustainable, AI-driven economic growth throughout the Visayas region.