On Monday, 22 September 2025, I attended my first monday.com Enterprise Work Management Masterclass at Shangri-La The Fort in Manila. It was a hands-on morning built around one idea, connecting strategy to execution, and it shaped how I approach business systems today.
Right after the session, I shared a few photos on LinkedIn. This is the fuller story of the day, from the invitation to the last plate at lunch, and what I took away from it.
The invitation
A week before the event, an email from the monday.com team landed in my inbox with a simple subject line: "See you next week." It confirmed the session, Enterprise Work Management, and one requirement that told me this would not be a sit-and-listen morning:
This masterclass will be interactive, and you will need a laptop to access our monday.com platform.
From the event confirmation emailI have always believed in the power of monday.com. As an IT Systems Manager, most of my work comes down to taking business goals and turning them into systems teams actually use, and monday.com is one of the platforms I rely on most to do that. A hands-on session with the people who build it was an easy yes.
How the morning ran
- 9:30 AMRegistration, with coffee and breakfast ready for early arrivals.
- 10:00 AMThe Masterclass begins: live demos and hands-on work on our own laptops.
- MidwayA break with a buffet-style spread of snacks.
- 12:30 PMBuffet lunch at the hotel, and time to connect with the monday.com community.
Arriving at Shangri-La The Fort
The session was held in the Narra D function room. Registration opened at 9:30, and there was already coffee and breakfast waiting, which made it easy to settle in, meet a few fellow users and get my laptop ready before things kicked off at 10:00.
Inside the session: portfolios that connect
The first big topic was portfolio management: how enterprises keep dozens or hundreds of projects aligned to the same strategy. The presenter walked through three advantages of the portfolio solution while many of us built a new portfolio on our own laptops.
Pre-built project templates created in a click, with multiple templates usable in one portfolio.
New project boards connect back to the high-level portfolio automatically, with support for up to 1,000 board connections.
Bespoke views for rapid project summaries and ready-made tools for deeper project insights.
This part hit close to home. In my experience, consistent structure is what makes reporting, automation and governance possible later. Skip it, and every new team adds more chaos.
Where AI fits in
The second half turned to AI. One demo showed smart assignment for resourcing AI, backed by an account-level resource directory where each person has attributes like job role, team, skills, location and work schedule. That is the kind of foundation that lets AI suggest the right person for the work instead of guessing.
The AI offering came in three layers: AI Blocks, Product Power-ups and a digital workforce. Powerful tools, but the message I took home was simple: AI only amplifies the process underneath it.
More from the demos
Snacks, lunch and the community
Midway through, there was a break with a buffet-style spread of snacks, a welcome pause after a dense first half. The highlight came at the end: a buffet lunch at the hotel's restaurant, where the monday.com team invited everyone to stick around and connect. All of it, from breakfast to lunch, was complimentary.
Some of the best conversations happened here, comparing notes with other users on how their teams use the platform. That sense of community is a big part of why I kept showing up.
Three ideas I took home
- Strategy only matters if it reaches execution. Most teams already have a strategy. What they lack is a system that links goals to the daily work of the people doing it.
- Structure first, then scale. Templates, connected boards and standard reporting are what let a portfolio grow without breaking.
- AI works best on top of clean workflows. Good resource data and clear ownership come first. Then AI can actually help.
The tools keep getting smarter. The work that makes them useful is still structure, ownership and follow-through.
Where it led
I went to that Masterclass simply to learn. A few months later, in February 2026, I was selected as an official monday.com Ambassador. Looking back, that morning was an early step on the road: showing up, asking questions, and then applying what I learned to real problems at work.
I wrote about that next chapter in How I Became a 2026 monday.com Ambassador.
Where I shared it
Quick facts
- Event
- monday.com Masterclass, Manila
- Session
- Enterprise Work Management: Connecting strategy to execution
- Date
- Monday, 22 September 2025
- Time
- 9:30 AM to 12:30 PM, followed by lunch
- Venue
- Shangri-La The Fort, Narra D, 30th Street corner 5th Avenue, Taguig, Metro Manila
- Format
- In person and hands-on, laptop required
- Cost
- Complimentary, including breakfast, snacks and lunch
- Attendee
- Jeffry Gamba, IT Systems Manager
Quick answers
When and where was the monday.com Masterclass in Manila?
The Enterprise Work Management Masterclass took place on Monday, 22 September 2025, from 9:30 AM to 12:30 PM at Shangri-La The Fort, 30th Street corner 5th Avenue, Taguig, Metro Manila.
Was the Masterclass hands-on?
Yes. Attendees were asked to bring a laptop to work directly in the monday.com platform during the session.
What topics did the Masterclass cover?
The session covered enterprise portfolio management, resource management with AI-powered smart assignment, workflow automation, a self-service request portal, and monday.com's AI offering: AI Blocks, Product Power-ups and a digital workforce.
Was the event free to attend?
Yes. The Masterclass was complimentary, including breakfast and coffee at registration, a snack buffet during the break and a buffet lunch at the hotel afterwards.
Jeffry Gamba
IT Systems Manager · Business Systems Consultant · 2026 monday.com Ambassador
If your team is outgrowing its current setup on monday.com, I am happy to compare notes.