Grab launches AI-powered livelihood hub

Grab Philippines and its motorcycle taxi arm Move It on Thursday officially launched its new up-skilling and digital capacity-building “Asenso Center” livelihood hub in Marikina City.

The one-hectare facility, which broke ground in December last year, is designed to elevate and professionalize the onboarding of platform workers and entrepreneurs, accelerate AI-enabled earning opportunities for Filipinos, and streamline access to social protection programs via guided enrollment with SSS, Pag-IBIG, and PhilHealth, complemented by micro-insurance and welfare protection from Chubb and AXA.

Grab Philippines described the Asenso Center as the first of its kind in its Southeast Asia network.

The Asenso Center will support Grab’s commitment to generate 500,000 livelihood opportunities.

Grab Philippines country head Ronald Roda said the company has already delivered new livelihoods equivalent to 73% of its five-year target.

Moreover, merchant participation also continued to rise with the number growing by 30% year-on-year as more local entrepreneurs formalize online.

Roda said Grab’s Asenso Center embeds AI enablement into the growth pathways of partners, offering mobile-first tools like Merchant AI Assistant and AI Driver Companion, and pairing these with merchant and driver training to ensure that they can leverage these tools responsibly and safely.

“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. 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,” said the Grab Philippines chief.

“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 capture the upside,” Roda added.

During the launch, Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) Secretary Henry Aguda underscored the role of the gig economy in uplifting the lives of Filipinos.

“In every trip you take, there’s a child who gets to eat, tuition that gets paid, and medical bills that are settled – that’s the future. This is what real change looks like – you are the frontline of the digital economy,” Aguda said. — JMA, GMA Integrated News