Mapúa Malayan Digital College reveals AI Fluency Framework to ensure employability of working students
The age of artificial intelligence or AI is in full swing. It is a reality that we can no longer ignore. It has permeated various aspects of modern life, and nothing has been more pronounced than how AI is being used in the workplace. Today, businesses employ AI to automate repetitive tasks, analyze raw and complicated data, and optimize workflows.
This completely changes what companies look for in new hires and directly influences the required skills that students should strengthen to stay competitive. 72% of businesses in the Philippines are now factoring AI knowledge into their hiring decisions, according to Jobstreet by SEEK’s Hiring, Compensation & Benefits Report 2025. TestGorilla’s State of Hiring for AI Fluency 2026 also shares that 95% of organizations in the United States have made AI fluency as a job requirement.
As more companies continue to see the value of AI, Mapúa Malayan Digital College (MMDC), the premier digital college in the Philippines in Information Technology (IT) and Business, encourages students and working professionals to focus on the development of their AI fluency to improve their future employability.
Defining AI fluency
Knowing what AI is and using it for basic prompts are no longer enough, that’s simple AI literacy or the foundational knowledge of how AI works and its limitations.
According to Derrick Latreille, Chief Learning Officer at MMDC, AI literacy involves being able to effectively prompt requirements or express needs clearly and discern the output. AI fluency extends it further.
“Literacy refers to knowing the breadth and depth of a space or subject. Fluency asks: can you work with it? There is a big difference between knowing AI and going through the entire process of using AI to organize and make sense of an organization’s data sets, for instance,” shares Latreille. “AI fluency is the capacity to collaborate productively and responsibly with AI systems. Instead of simply knowing and using AI to generate answers, AI-fluent individuals work with AI to enhance their work and decision-making, while still taking full accountability when applying to real-world situations.”
Stepping up AI fluency with the country’s top digital college
Fluency with any skill or competency is built over time and through structured access that allows for controlled and repeated exposure, targeted practice, frameworks and corrective feedback. As part of the Mapua Education Group and in collaboration with Arizona State University (ASU), ranked #1 for innovation in the U.S. for 11 consecutive years according to U.S. News and World Report from 2016 to 2026, MMDC is at the forefront of launching the Philippines’ very first comprehensive institutional AI Fluency Strategy.
Latreille first shares how MMDC’s unique Projects, Problems, and Cases (PPC) Learning Model allows students to apply AI to analyze information to evaluate and produce quality work close to how they would do it in an actual work setting.
“Right from day one, MMDC has enabled AI integration in various aspects of our curriculum,” reveals Latreille. “This gives our students the opportunity to practice and experiment with AI as part of their daily workflow.”
MMDC AI Fluency Pathway
Latreille adds that MMDC is not simply making AI accessible for students. The Chief Learning Officer points to the institution’s AI fluency framework that outlines how students engage with the technology with purpose and intention.
Prerequisite: Build Strong Foundations. “Before students can master AI, they need strong foundational human skills such as communication, problem-solving, critical thinking, and information literacy. For MMDC, these competencies are important for anyone to be able to use AI responsibly and effectively, and something that we teach repeatedly and instill in our students,” shares Latreille.
Step 1: Discover AI. At MMDC, students are introduced to AI within their actual courses, not as a separate tool they need to figure out alone to further establish AI literacy. Latreille further notes that the AI learning tools can help simplify concepts, understand lessons better, and assess their understanding of topics.
Step 2: Create Projects with AI. From exposure, MMDC students then move to application. “Students are encouraged to use AI as a learning partner for dialogue, roleplay, practice, feedback, reflection, and project development. At this stage, AI becomes part of how students produce real work from brainstorming ideas to refining project outputs, while still applying their own judgment, discipline knowledge, and academic integrity,” explains Latreille.
Step 3: Lead with AI. With AI becoming an intrinsic part of every MMDC student’s journey, they are also expected to apply the technology to real-world problems connected to their field, career goals, and workplace context, which are hallmarks of AI fluency. “As the use of AI becomes more embedded in our students, they are now empowered to use it as a tool for solving problems, improving processes, building outputs, and creating meaningful impact in Tech and Business,” states Latreille.
MMDC takes its push for AI fluency further by bolstering its core Information Technology and Business offerings with AI-focused specializations that immediately respond to the challenges of a changing work landscape.
“As an educational institution that advocates for Filipino working students, MMDC believes that we have a responsibility to prepare our students for the ‘real world.’ Strengthening their AI fluency will enable them to secure better career opportunities that will eventually help them achieve financial stability,” says Jenny Chua, Vice President of MMDC. “For us, gearing up our students for AI fluency simply means setting them up for long-term career and financial success.”
Learn more about Mapúa Malayan Digital College’s progressive learning model and its college and certification programs at mmdc.mcl.edu.ph. For updates, follow MMDC’s official social media accounts @mapuamalayandigital on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok.
