Latin America Intelligent Age

ForewordLatin America in the Intelligent Age: A New Path for GrowthJanuary 2026 Marisol Argueta Head of the Regional Agenda, Latin America; Member of the Executive Committee, World Economic Forum Cathy Li Head, Centre for AI Excellence; Member of the Executive Committee, World Economic ForumFrancisco C. Ortega Senior Partner, McKinsey & CompanyTracy Francis Senior Partner, and Managing Partner, Latin America, McKinsey & Company By enabling machines to reason, learn and interact with complex systems, artificial intelligence (AI) is revolutionizing industries, transforming governments and organizations, and shaping a new Intelligent Age with unparalleled opportunities for growth and innovation. This presents a strategic opportunity to boost productivity in Latin America, where competitiveness has historically been lower than in other regions. This report was developed by the Regional Collaboration initiative of the AI Global Alliance, harnessing the cooperative work of the World Economic Forum’s Latin America team, the Centre for AI Excellence and McKinsey & Company. It reflects a shared effort to engage regional stakeholders and identify concrete pathways that strengthen AI competitiveness in Latin America. In combining the teams’ expertise, it specifically aims to mobilize investment, develop talent, support responsible innovation and foster knowledge exchange across the region to build resilient, future-ready AI ecosystems. Our research for this report seeks to understand Latin America’s current and potential AI competitiveness by shedding light onto the regional structural foundations, presenting new data on the status and drivers of adoption and sharing examples of people-centric talent programmes and ethical frameworks that have been endorsed by senior leaders locally and globally. The report outlines 10 strategic actions, consolidated into a comprehensive roadmap designed to enhance AI competitiveness in the Intelligent Age in Latin America. Readers are encouraged to reflect on the findings and collaboratively ensure that the implementation of this roadmap delivers measurable positive outcomes throughout the region. Taking decisive, coordinated measures will position the region for sustained growth, while inaction may result in extended stagnation. We would like to thank the 30 public- and private- sector senior leaders throughout Latin America who contributed ideas and insights to enrich our report. We are grateful to the approximately 130 senior industry leaders who kindly responded to our survey. Our special gratitude goes to José Manuel Salazar-Xirinachs and his team at the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean for hosting our mid-term workshop at the School of Digital Transformation and Innovation in Santiago, Chile, in September 2025. Latin America in the Intelligent Age: A New Path for Growth 3