The Ayala Group, which also is the country’s oldest conglomerate, is looking to tap into that young talent via its Ayala Group Interns Innovation League. The six-week long internship is 11 years old, with this year’s class of 119 interns coming from 15 universities.
The interns were put into 26 teams and required to come up with a business plan focused on technology and systems, product, processes, utilities and services or new business. These business plans must also be “implementable,” said Mharicar Castillo-Reyes, president and CEO of Asticom Technology, a human resources shared services firm under the Ayala Group.
“We encourage them to look at synergies across the Ayala Group, because that is, I think, our strength as a conglomerate,” Reyes said. “[They need to answer this:] How can Ayala use its assets across the group to provide a sustainable solution that can bring an underserved market toward a superior quality of life?”