Anton Reynaldo M. Bonifacio, chief intelligence and trust officer at Philippine operator Globe Telecom, will step down on January 1, 2027, closing a 12-year run in which he built the company's cybersecurity, privacy and AI governance functions from the ground up.

The company confirmed he is "leaving corporate life". No permanent successor has been named. Garrett Silao will serve as officer-in-charge from January 1, reporting directly to Globe's president and CEO.

The departure removes the executive who has held the most consequential technology-trust portfolio at one of the Philippines' largest operators. Bonifacio's remit at the time of his exit covered AI, data, cybersecurity, privacy and digital policy — a span few operators anywhere have consolidated under one role.

How Bonifacio's role evolved

The title on his departure notice, chief intelligence and trust officer, dated back only to July 2026, when Globe elevated him to take formal responsibility for AI, data, cybersecurity, privacy and digital policy across the group.

Before that elevation, Bonifacio made his mark in two successive roles:

• Chief artificial intelligence officer, a post created for him in 2024 — the first of its kind at Globe.
• Chief information security officer, where he led development of the operator's cybersecurity and privacy operations.

Globe credited his work with integrating security across its telecommunications infrastructure and digital businesses, and with establishing governance for the company's adoption of AI. That governance function matters: as operators push AI into network operations, customer service and fraud detection, the question of who sets the rules for its use has moved from a compliance afterthought to a board-level concern.

Bonifacio set out his thinking publicly. Speaking to Developing Telecoms last year in Copenhagen, he laid out plans to accelerate AI use within the operator. Those plans now pass to an interim appointee.

What does this change for Globe?

In the short term, little operationally. Silao takes over a functioning organization with an established reporting line to the CEO. Globe said AI, data, cybersecurity, privacy and digital trust would remain central to its transformation and long-term growth, a statement that signals continuity of strategy rather than retreat.

The open question is succession. The company did not announce a permanent successor, and the January 1 handover to an officer-in-charge leaves the structure of the role unresolved. Globe could appoint a like-for-like replacement, split the portfolio back into separate security and AI mandates, or fold digital trust into a broader technology organization. Each path carries different implications for how fast the operator moves on AI adoption.

The timing also matters for the market. Philippine telecoms is a two-player contest dominated by Globe and PLDT, and both are racing to embed AI and stronger cybersecurity into customer-facing and network operations. A leadership gap of unknown duration at the unit responsible for exactly those functions is a competitive variable, however well-managed the transition.

The context behind the role

Bonifacio's career arc at Globe tracks the industry's own shift. When he served as chief information security officer, the job centered on defending networks and customer data. The 2024 creation of a chief AI officer post reflected a second phase, in which operators began treating AI not merely as a tool to secure but as a capability to govern and exploit.

The July 2026 consolidation into a single intelligence and trust role went a step further, uniting AI, data, privacy and security under one accountable executive. That design put Globe among the operators that treat digital trust as an integrated discipline rather than a set of siloed compliance tasks.

Whoever takes the post permanently inherits that design — and the mandate to keep it intact.

For now, Globe's transformation agenda continues under Silao's interim leadership, with the permanent shape of the function expected to become clear in the new year.