Filipinos want clear, secure AI customer service: Twilio

Filipino consumers may be known for patience, but new research suggests that goodwill has conditions, and it can evaporate quickly when brands fail to explain what is happening, protect personal data, or offer a smooth path to a real person.

Twilio’s “Decoding Digital Patience: Are Asia Pacific’s Digital Users Losing Their Cool?” found the Philippines has the second-highest digital patience in the Asia Pacific and Japan region, behind Indonesia, with Filipinos reporting the highest “willing-to-wait” threshold across surveyed markets.

On average, Filipino respondents said they expect their issues to be resolved in 27.3 minutes, compared with the Asia Pacific and Japan average of 24.4 minutes, according to Twilio.

The catch is that Filipino consumers also reported the longest actual waiting times in the region, averaging 31.9 minutes, meaning real-world service often runs beyond what customers say they will tolerate, Twilio said.

Twilio defines “digital patience” as the time, goodwill, and attention consumers extend to a brand before they switch channels, complain, or give up entirely.

Twilio commissioned YouGov to survey more than 7,000 consumers across seven Asia Pacific and Japan markets to understand what shapes that patience and how brands can earn it.

In the Philippines, 76 percent of respondents described themselves as patient when dealing with digital or automated customer service, the second-highest in the region and above the regional average of 68 percent, Twilio said.

In the same self-described patience comparison, Indonesia topped the list at 85 percent, while Japan and Australia were both at 65 percent, Hong Kong at 64 percent, Singapore at 60 percent, and India at 59 percent, according to Twilio.

Twilio’s Philippines spotlight report characterizes local digital culture as shaped by warmth, proactiveness, and high expectations, arguing that consumers extend patience widely but still look for clarity, friendliness, and a sense of progress.

Twilio said digitalization has brought convenience and connectivity, but it has also raised expectations for customer experience, especially when issues require support.

Speed still matters, but Twilio’s research suggests it is not the only lever for Filipino customers, who prioritize understanding what comes next and feeling safe.

When asked what matters most during digital interactions, 50 percent of Filipino respondents pointed to clear, easy-to-understand instructions and next steps, outpacing both quick service and resolution at 41 percent and feeling that personal data is safe and secure at 41 percent, Twilio reported.

Twilio also highlighted the same hierarchy, noting that Filipino consumers, more than their regional peers, emphasize clarity (50 percent) and also expect data security (41 percent).

The Philippines spotlight report also finds Filipinos value friendliness at 37 percent, higher than the regional peer figure of 28 percent, reinforcing a preference for warmth even in automated channels, Twilio said.

That desire for a “human” feel shows up in how Filipinos react to automation, with high tolerance for tools that frustrate consumers elsewhere in the region, according to Twilio.

Twilio reported that 72 percent of Filipinos are tolerant of artificial intelligence (AI)-powered chatbots and 70 percent remain patient with automated phone menus, both significantly higher than regional averages.

Patience, however, is not evenly distributed across situations, and Twilio’s study suggests consumers make trade-offs when the stakes are higher.

Twilio said health-related concerns tend to receive more understanding because Filipinos recognize these situations often require additional care and time to resolve.

In the Philippines spotlight report, 81 percent of consumers described themselves as patient during high-stakes health interactions, compared with 74 percent across the region, Twilio reported.

Other high-stakes sectors also show elevated patience, with 76 percent patient in travel (versus 68 percent regionally), 73 percent in retail and e-commerce (versus 65 percent), 72 percent in tech and telecoms (versus 66 percent), and 68 percent in finance and insurance (versus 60 percent), according to Twilio.

Context also shapes what Filipinos are willing to wait for, particularly when delays are perceived as buying safety or better outcomes, Twilio said.

Twilio reported that 68 percent of Filipinos are willing to accept some delays for better security, compared with 59 percent among regional counterparts, and 62 percent are willing to accept delays for customer support, compared with 51 percent regionally.

Patience drops sharply when routine interactions go wrong, especially when consumers believe the issue should be straightforward to fix, Twilio said.

Twilio listed the moments that most quickly trigger frustration, including telecom service outages (69 percent), receiving incorrect or damaged items (68 percent), disputing a charge or unauthorized transaction (68 percent), and delayed or missed retail deliveries (66 percent).

When expectations are not met, Filipino consumers frequently take matters into their own hands, creating a risk that brands lose control of the conversation, Twilio said.

In the Philippines spotlight, 43 percent of consumers said they look for answers or solutions on their own when service falls short, while 35 percent switch to a different support channel, and 26 percent complain or leave a negative review, Twilio reported.

Twilio said Filipinos are the most self-reliant problem-solvers in the region, with the same 43 percent self-help figure compared with an Asia Pacific and Japan average of 36 percent.

Twilio also said Filipinos are more likely than regional peers to complain or leave a negative review, at 26 percent versus 22 percent.

The stakes are rising as AI becomes more common in customer service, and Twilio said the Philippines is already deep into that shift.

Twilio reported that 81 percent of Filipino consumers have interacted with AI-powered customer service tools, making them among the most experienced users of such systems in the region.

Even with that experience, satisfaction is mixed, and many respondents said AI is actively testing their patience, according to Twilio.

Twilio said 42 percent of Filipino consumers indicated that current AI implementations are testing their patience, with frustration driven by scripted responses (46 percent), generic answers (44 percent), and unresolved issues (41 percent).

The Philippines spotlight echoes those pain points and frames them as a demand for AI that responds in human-like, tailored, and genuinely helpful ways rather than producing robotic outputs, Twilio reported.

That tension helps explain why many Filipinos still want a person at the start of the support journey, even if it means waiting longer, Twilio said.

Twilio found Filipinos generally prefer starting customer support with a human agent (43 percent) rather than an automated system (23 percent).

At the same time, Twilio said the appetite for blended models is clear, with three in four Filipino consumers expecting a smooth, seamless transfer to a human when needed.

Nicholas Kontopoulos, Twilio’s vice president of marketing for Asia Pacific and Japan, said the country’s patience should be viewed less as a guarantee and more as a signal that trust is being extended up front.

“Filipino consumers are patient because they start with a deep sense of trust, but this trust is a foundation that brands must either build upon or risk breaking.” said Nicholas Kontopoulos, Vice President of Marketing, Asia Pacific & Japan at Twilio. “While brands have an initial head start, capturing long-term loyalty requires meeting Filipinos on their own terms: through clear communication, strong data safeguards, and seamless transitions. Just as important is recognizing high-stakes moments where a person-to-person connection is still expected. When a brand gets this right, they don’t just satisfy a customer. They build credibility that makes it very difficult for competitors to lure them away.”

Twilio’s Philippines spotlight argues that brands have a rare window to introduce automation precisely because the market is relatively forgiving, but that tolerance should not be mistaken for a “free pass,” Twilio said.

In practical terms, Twilio said brands can sustain patience by designing service around four levers: clarity about what is happening at each step, choice through a reliable path to a human, continuity across channels to avoid repetition, and care through warm, conversational communication.

Twilio said its AI section adds that Filipinos are “bullish” about agentic AI that can perform tasks on their behalf, but only within clear consent boundaries.

In the Philippines spotlight, 61 percent of respondents said they are comfortable using agentic AI, provided they have given consent, Twilio reported.

When asked what benefits they expect from agentic AI, 39 percent cited 24/7 availability, 34 percent cited faster responses, and 31 percent cited more accurate or consistent answers, according to Twilio.

Twilio also noted that about a third of Filipino consumers say AI makes them more patient, slightly higher than the regional average, suggesting technology can add goodwill when it genuinely reduces effort.

Still, Twilio’s research draws bright red lines around sensitive use cases where consumers are more cautious about delegating control.

Twilio said Filipinos were among the most cautious in the region about letting AI agents handle sensitive tasks in banking (55 percent), healthcare (46 percent), and legal or government services (45 percent).

Comfort rises in lower-risk scenarios, and Twilio said consumers are open to AI agents for everyday tasks like making product recommendations or booking appointments.

Twilio reported that 70 percent of Filipino respondents are comfortable with agentic AI reaching out with product or service recommendations, compared with 71 percent across the region.

For booking or managing appointments, comfort was 62 percent in the Philippines versus 60 percent regionally, Twilio reported.

For making minor purchases, such as when an item is back in stock, comfort was 57 percent in the Philippines and 57 percent across the region, according to Twilio.

For accessing preferences or purchase history to act on a consumer’s behalf, comfort was 54 percent in the Philippines versus 49 percent regionally, Twilio said.

For resolving service issues without asking, comfort was 51 percent in the Philippines versus 49 percent across the region, Twilio reported.

Taken together, Twilio’s message to brands is that “patience” should be earned through communication and control, not demanded through longer queues and opaque automation.

That framing lands in a country where mobile-first behaviors and always-on messaging have made digital service the default, but where consumers still expect the social cues of a human interaction, especially when something goes wrong, Twilio said.

For companies relying on AI to scale support, Twilio’s research suggests the winning play is not simply faster bots, but better-designed systems that explain decisions, protect data, and escalate smoothly when the tool hits its limits.

Methodologically, Twilio said it commissioned YouGov to conduct an online survey of 7,331 adults ages 18 and above, including 1,007 respondents in the Philippines.

Twilio said the sample was structured to ensure representation across generations, marital status, and geographic distribution within each country surveyed.

Fieldwork was conducted from Aug. 28 to Sept. 4, 2025, in Australia, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, the Philippines, and Singapore, Twilio said.

Twilio, listed on the New York Stock Exchange as TWLO, positions itself as a customer engagement platform used by companies to build direct, personalized relationships with customers through communications and data.

In its company background, Twilio said its tools are used across 180 countries, with millions of developers and hundreds of thousands of businesses building customer experiences on its platform.