Globe Telecom’s Anton Bonifacio says AI scale needs cybersecurity first

By AI, Created 5:29 PM UTC, May 18, 2026, /AGP/ – Anton Bonifacio, Globe Telecom’s AI, security and data leader, told the CAIO Connect Podcast that enterprises cannot scale AI safely without cybersecurity, governance and data controls. He said companies that move too slowly on AI risk falling behind, but companies that ignore security create bigger operational and customer risks.

Why it matters: - AI adoption is now an operating issue, not just a technology project. - Bonifacio argued that companies that pair AI with cybersecurity, governance and visibility will be better positioned to scale safely. - The warning lands as enterprises move into agentic AI, where new risks can outpace traditional controls.

What happened: - Anton Reynaldo Bonifacio appeared on the CAIO Connect Podcast in a conversation hosted by Sanjay Puri. - Bonifacio leads AI, security and data strategy at Globe Telecom. - He said AI growth and cyber defense must be treated as one connected mission. - He warned that companies that move too slowly on AI risk falling behind. - He also said companies that ignore security create larger risks for customers and operations.

The details: - Globe Telecom is one of the Philippines’ largest telecom providers and serves roughly 57 million mobile users. - The company helped launch digital services such as GCash, which now reaches millions of Filipinos. - Bonifacio said his technology career began at age 12, when he became one of the Philippines’ youngest bulletin board system operators. - He later moved into Linux, cybersecurity, consulting and enterprise AI leadership. - Bonifacio said early exposure to technology taught him to “catch the waves” of major shifts. - Globe Telecom combined AI, cybersecurity and data leadership under one executive role. - Bonifacio said company leaders believed early that “you can’t do AI if you don’t do cyber.” - Globe Telecom has AI adoption across roughly 90% of its workforce. - Employees use AI for chat tools, internal copilots, automation systems and workflow agents. - Many projects come from nontechnical teams, including finance and marketing. - Globe Telecom used a bottom-up strategy that let employees closest to business problems design their own AI solutions.

Between the lines: - Bonifacio’s view reflects a broader enterprise shift: AI success is increasingly tied to trust, controls and implementation speed, not just model quality. - His focus on prompt injection, rogue agents and endpoint-based AI tools shows how AI risk is moving deeper into day-to-day operations. - He said companies with strong cybersecurity hygiene already have an advantage because identity management, visibility, observability and access controls still matter. - Bonifacio urged risk leaders and chief information security officers to experiment carefully and move before regulators define every rule. - He challenged the idea that AI should deliver immediate profit, comparing early adoption to a startup growth phase. - During Globe Telecom’s first 18 months of AI deployment, leadership focused on adoption and experimentation. - The company let departments create their own solutions instead of forcing all use cases through a central AI team. - Bonifacio said that approach created “fertile soil” for future large-scale AI transformation projects. - He said responsible AI cannot become a bottleneck and described Globe Telecom’s shift toward “self-service governance.”

What’s next: - Globe Telecom is expected to keep expanding AI use while tightening governance and security controls. - Bonifacio said the company is now weighing ROI, token costs and enterprise scaling after the initial adoption phase. - He said physical and mental health also matter when leaders manage AI, security and data together. - In the podcast’s closing segment, Bonifacio backed open-source technology, production-ready AI agents and broad employee access to AI tools.

The bottom line: - Bonifacio’s message to enterprise leaders was direct: AI scale without cybersecurity discipline creates risk, but AI with strong governance can become a competitive advantage.