AT 18, William Openshaw, a geography student from the University of Edinburgh in the United Kingdom, used to be unsure what he wanted to do next. He knew his interests—design and urban planning—but he hadn’t decided what path to take after college.
When he experienced the “fun and discipline” of professional life in his internship at the Ayala Group, William said his vision of the future became clear.
“Before this internship, I didn’t really have a clear idea of what I wanted to be with my future,” shared Openshaw, who is half-British and half-Filipino.
“I think this internship, this experience, has really taught me a lot about what I want to do with my life and what direction I want to go, what things do I like, what things do I not really like. It just gave me a lot of direction, which I’m really happy about.”
Glyzel Estillore from the Nueva Ecija University of Science and Technology, meanwhile, found clarity of purpose through her Ayala internship.
“I’ve come to know that when it comes to business, it’s not just about the money. What’s important is what you’re giving to the people, the mark that you’re leaving. Better yet, give the best impact you could to people,” she said.
The batch of 100 interns under the 2025 Ayala Group Summer Internship Program recently finished their six-week training across Ayala business units, heading off to their future careers filled with excitement, new skills, and lessons on what they should value most both in business and their personal life.
Throughout their journey, the interns got to immerse themselves in operations of Ayala’s business units, supported a greening activity, joined a hackathon using generative AI, and took part in masterclasses on purpose and values with Ayala leaders.
To send off the students as they concluded their internship, Ayala Corporation president and CEO Cezar P. Consing shared lessons he has learned from his career of over 40 years.
He encouraged the interns to embrace lifelong learning, work hard to cultivate a particular expertise, and surround themselves with driven peers. He also emphasized the importance of servant leadership, integrity, and valuing people over technical skills, especially in an era of fast-evolving technology.
“Do the little things well, but focus on what will move the needle. Busyness does not mean productivity. You have to work towards something that makes a meaningful impact,” he said, urging the interns to “give energy to a room, a team, an initiative” instead of taking it away.
He also emphasized the fallacy of perfection, saying perfect can be the enemy of good. He also said failures sometimes reflect one’s zeal to dare and try something big. It’s okay to make mistakes, he said. Just take immediate action to make corrections.
“Fail but fail gloriously. What a big failure signifies to me is that you tried: you tried something bold, you tried something different, you tried something daring, you’re trying to make a difference. And half the time you fail. And that’s okay. There can be nobility in big failure,” he said.
Consing also reminded the interns that what matters more than technical knowledge is their ability to connect with others.
“In a world of AI, the focus of what makes us human—our humanity—will be the big differentiator. Value people most,” he said.
It’s precisely these human connections that Wano Henson, an intern from De La Salle University, is taking with him as he goes off into the real world.
“Growing up, I was quite a shy person, and being in AGSIP, being in these situations where you have to do so much teamwork, I’m realizing how important it is to get that network and to be able to cooperate effectively, no matter who they are,” he said.
AGSIP is an annual program that aims to prepare the country’s next-generation talent. More than developing students’ technical skills, the program guides trainees in defining their own purpose and values that would help shape their future. Learn more about AGSIP on ayala.com.
