Advancing digital transformation in the Philippines
Ateneo Business Insights Laboratory for Development (BUILD)
04 Aug 2025
Ateneo futurists envision AI-powered food stalls, sari-sari stores
Ateneo de Manila University’s Business Insights Laboratory for Development (BUILD) is looking at ways for artificial intelligence (AI) to augment and enhance—rather than replace—human labor in small businesses, which make up the bulk of the Philippine economy.
27 May 2024
Ateneo, Co-Develop launch Business Insights Laboratory for Development (BUILD) center
Ateneo and Co-Develop launch Ateneo BUILD and the Philippine Technical Resource Lab at an event graced by Her Majesty Queen Máxima of the Netherlands, the United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Advocate for Inclusive Finance for Development.
19 Sep 2024
Ateneo BUILD Center welcomes new board member
Ateneo Business Insights Laboratory for Development (BUILD)
Ateneo de Manila University, through the John Gokongwei School of Management (JGSOM), officially launched the Business Insights Laboratory for Development (BUILD) on 23 May 2024. Through expertise from Ateneo faculty and students, BUILD advances the use of operations research, data analytics, financial modeling, generative artificial intelligence, and data platform services to enhance the economic competitiveness of small and medium enterprises in the Philippines.
In 2025, BUILD expanded its scope through a partnership with the Ateneo Intellectual Property Office (AIPO) to serve as an incubator for student-founded ventures, providing support from ideation to market entry.
BUILD supports undergraduate applied technology learning, initially for students in the BS Information Technology Entrepreneurship (BS ITE) program of the John Gokongwei School of Management. The laboratory provides mentoring for prototyping, experimentation with data-driven tools, and guidance for early-stage product and venture development. Through this work, BUILD helps students translate classroom concepts into practical solutions and prepares them for technology-oriented careers and venture pathways.
ABOUT BUILD
Leveraging expertise from across the University, the Business Insights Laboratory for Development provides external stakeholders with research support for data-driven decision-making and offers multidisciplinary expertise in areas such as business, psychology, education, health, economics, and computer science. Insights from engagements with industry partners help advance Ateneo’s mission in education through research, curriculum enhancement, faculty development, and student enterprise empowerment.
BUILD drives innovation through academic research shaped by the interests of students and faculty as well as the needs of industry partners. Research outputs are consolidated in the Ateneo Integrated Open Library (AIOLI), forming the basis for workshops, consultancy toolkits, managed services, and potential spin-outs. In 2025, BUILD expanded its role through a partnership with the Ateneo Intellectual Property Office (AIPO) to guide student-founded ventures from ideation to market entry.
The creation of BUILD responded to the need for more sustainable and structured ways to connect the Department of Quantitative Methods and Information Technology (QMIT) with industry partners. Before its establishment, students from BS Management Engineering (BS ME) and BS Information Technology Entrepreneurship (BS ITE) relied on internships and special projects for exposure to real-world challenges, while faculty sought ways to integrate practical applications into their courses. Through faculty–student teams working on industry problems, BUILD has made it easier for partners to bring forward complex issues that might otherwise go only to professional consultants, while industry managers gain access to current academic knowledge and skills.
Early support for BUILD came from grants from Accenture, equipment donations from Power Mac Center (PMC), and cloud usage credits from Amazon Web Services (AWS). Since then, BS ME sophomores and JGSOM faculty have co-authored papers accepted in Scopus-indexed conference proceedings, and three BS ITE startup ventures have received AWS Activate Program credits. With its formalization as a center, BUILD continues to develop partnerships with alumni networks, industry associations, funding agencies, and government units.
For more information, email build.jgsom@ateneo.edu.
Research
BUILD advances applied research at the intersection of data science, artificial intelligence, entrepreneurship, and human-computer interaction. Faculty and student researchers publish in Scopus-indexed proceedings and international conferences, exploring topics such as large language models, conversational systems, financial modeling simulators, and digital adoption in small businesses.
These projects not only contribute to global academic discourse but also generate insights for startup development, public policy, and technology-driven business practices. Through its work, BUILD strengthens Ateneo’s role in shaping how emerging technologies address real-world challenges in the Philippines and beyond.
Alabastro, Z. M., Ilagan, J. B., To, L. A., & Ilagan, J. R. (2025, May). Applied Optical Character Recognition and Large Language Models in Augmenting Manual Business Processes for Data Analytics in Traditional Small Businesses with Minimal Digital Adoption. In International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction (pp. 267-276). Cham: Springer Nature Switzerland.
Link to article
To, L. A., Alabastro, Z. M., Ilagan, J. B., & Ilagan, J. R. (2025, May). Augmenting Student Startups’ Customer Validation Efforts Through Adaptive Coaching Using Large Language Models. In International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction (pp. 209-220). Cham: Springer Nature Switzerland.
Link to article
Ilagan, J. B., Ilagan, J. R., To, L. A., & Alabastro, Z. M. (2025, May). An Adaptive Simulated Startup Financial Modeling Mentor Using a Large Language Model to Address Shortages in Skilled Advisors: Architecture and Design Considerations. In International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction (pp. 56-66). Cham: Springer Nature Switzerland.
Link to article
Ilagan, J. B., & Ilagan, J. R. (2024). A prototype of a conversational virtual university support agent powered by a large language model that addresses inquiries about policies in the student handbook. Procedia Computer Science, 239, 1124-1131.
Link to article
Ilagan, J. B. R., Ilagan, J. R. S., & Rodrigo, M. M. T. (2024, February). Ethical education data mining framework for analyzing and evaluating large language model-based conversational intelligent tutoring systems for management and entrepreneurship courses. In International Congress on Information and Communication Technology (pp. 61-71). Singapore: Springer Nature Singapore.
Link to article
Ilagan, J. B., Yu, W. S., See, S. M., & Rayco, S. (2025, May). A Virtual Support Agent for University Students Powered by a Large Language Model: Conversational User Experience Design Considerations. In International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction (pp. 253-262). Cham: Springer Nature Switzerland.
Link to article
Alabastro, Z. M., Cordova, R. M., Ilagan, J. B., & Ilagan, J. R. (2025). Exploratory customer discovery on Veblen goods using ChatGPT and agent-based modeling system for business simulation. Procedia Computer Science, 256, 28-35.
Link to article
Ilagan, J. B., Ilagan, J. R., Zulueta, P. Y., & Rodrigo, M. M. (2024, May). Optimizing Conversational Commerce Involving Multilingual Consumers Through Large Language Models’ Natural Language Understanding Abilities. In International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction (pp. 47-59). Cham: Springer Nature Switzerland.
Link to article
Ilagan, J. R., & Ilagan, J. B. (2024). Graph-partitioning entity resolution for resolving noisy product names in OCR scans of retail receipts. Procedia Computer Science, 239, 338-345.
Link to article
Hosted Projects
BUILD functions as a conduit, host, and incubator for projects that connect data, technology, and applied research with practical outcomes.
Its current initiatives include the Technical Resource Lab (TRL), Breathe Metro Manila (BMM)—a partnership that deploys real-time air quality monitoring to support public health and evidence-based urban policy—and serving as the accredited Philippine Country Coordinator for the International Observatory on Artificial Intelligence (IOAI).
BUILD brings together students, faculty, researchers, startups, and partner institutions to generate insights and create platforms that advance data analytics, artificial intelligence, public health, and entrepreneurship education.
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