Keep learning, keep winning

Once upon a time, a college diploma was enough. Graduate. Get hired. Build a career.

Today, that formula has an expiration date.

Artificial intelligence is changing industries faster than universities can rewrite syllabi. Skills that are valuable today may become obsolete in just a few years. The people who thrive in this new economy will not necessarily be the smartest. They will be the ones willing to become students again and again.

That is the picture emerging from Coursera’s Micro-Credentials Impact Report 2026**, which found that 89 percent of Philippine employers are willing to offer higher starting salaries to graduates who possess industry-recognized micro-credentials, while 96 percent hired at least three credentialed candidates over the past year.

Employers are no longer asking only where applicants studied. They increasingly want proof that learning never stopped after graduation.

Coursera Global Head of Enterprise Anthony Salcito described micro-credentials as more than résumé boosters.

“Micro-credentials have shifted from a ‘nice-to-have’ to a hiring signal,” he said.

The shift is happening because technology refuses to stand still.

Google estimates artificial intelligence could generate US$50.7 billion in productivity and cost benefits for the Philippines by 2030. Recognizing that opportunity, the Commission on Higher Education introduced a national framework allowing universities to embed industry-recognized, stackable micro-credentials into degree programs.

Several institutions have already begun that transition.

Through its partnership with Coursera, iPeople Inc. has integrated more than 50 professional certificates across Mapúa University, National Teachers College, the University of Nueva Caceres and Mapúa Malayan Digital College. Around 20 to 30 percent of academic credits are now earned through embedded professional credentials.

For Fred Ayala, president of iPeople, the question is no longer whether students will earn degrees.

It is whether those degrees will still matter.

“The biggest risk for students, universities and employers is this: If you take this course, will it actually lead to a job?” Ayala said.

The answer increasingly depends on continuous learning.

According to the Coursera report, 90 percent of Filipino employers believe entry-level employees with micro-credentials perform better during their first year. Seventy-seven percent say those candidates move faster through hiring processes, while 85 percent of graduates who earned micro-credentials secured jobs aligned with their field within a year.

The transformation extends beyond undergraduate education.

Dr. Reynaldo Vea, chairman and chief executive officer of iPeople, said the updated Philippine Qualifications Framework now formally recognizes micro-credentials from basic certifications to doctoral studies.

“You can conceivably have micro-credentials stacked into a PhD,” Vea said.

The message is clear: education is becoming modular, continuous and lifelong. That reality also changes how professionals should think about artificial intelligence. Rather than fearing replacement, Salcito argued workers should focus on reinvention.

“It’s not people being replaced. It’s skills,” he said.

Former RCBC president Eugene Acevedo offered perhaps the simplest advice.

“If the leader sticks with Excel, never does Copilot... nobody will believe him,” he said, arguing that leaders themselves must embrace emerging technologies before expecting others to follow.

Yet even amid rapid technological change, the executives agreed on one point.

Human qualities remain irreplaceable.

Leadership. Judgment. Ethics. Communication. Critical thinking.

“I’m convinced that general education is important,” Acevedo said. “It’s what makes you a CEO.”

Perhaps that is what grit looks like today.

Not working the longest hours. Not collecting the most diplomas. But remaining curious long after graduation.