Artificial intelligence is reshaping how organizations operate, compete and build their workforces.
As companies expand their use of AI, machine learning, automation and data-driven technologies, demand is increasing for professionals who can design, implement and support these capabilities. For many organizations, finding the right combination of skills, scalability and collaboration has become an important workforce challenge.
Latin America is increasingly becoming part of that conversation.
Across the region, investments in AI, cloud infrastructure, digital skills and national technology strategies are strengthening local technology ecosystems. At the same time, geographic proximity and business-hour overlap with North America can make LATAM particularly relevant for organizations building distributed or nearshore technology teams.
According to Coursera’s Global Skills Report 2025, Generative AI enrollments in Latin America increased 425% year over year — the highest growth reported across any global region. This signals rapidly growing interest in AI-related skills across the regional workforce. (Coursera, 2025)
But building an AI workforce in Latin America is not simply about choosing a country with a growing technology sector.
Organizations also need to consider talent availability, technical specialization, infrastructure, communication, employment structures, compliance requirements and their long-term workforce strategy.
LATAM’s AI Ecosystem Is Advancing
Artificial intelligence development in Latin America is increasingly distributed across several markets.
The Latin American Artificial Intelligence Index 2025 (ILIA), developed by Chile’s National Center for Artificial Intelligence in collaboration with the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC/CEPAL), evaluates AI preparedness, adoption and governance across 19 countries using more than 100 sub-indicators.
The index categorizes Chile, Brazil and Uruguay as regional AI pioneers, reflecting leadership across areas such as infrastructure, talent and innovation. It also identifies countries including Colombia and Costa Rica as adopters, highlighting progress in connectivity, talent development and national AI strategies. (ECLAC/CEPAL, 2025)
Innovation indicators show a similarly diverse regional landscape.
In the Global Innovation Index 2025, the World Intellectual Property Organization ranks Chile first in Latin America and the Caribbean, followed by Brazil and Mexico. Uruguay, Colombia, Costa Rica and Argentina are also among the region’s higher-ranked innovation economies. (WIPO, 2025)
These developments demonstrate why LATAM should not be viewed as a single technology market.
Different countries offer different combinations of talent, digital maturity, infrastructure and operating conditions.
Mexico: Scale, Proximity and Expanding Technology Infrastructure
Mexico combines geographic proximity to the United States with a growing technology and cloud ecosystem.
For North American organizations, overlapping working hours can support closer collaboration between distributed engineering, product, data and operational teams. This can be particularly valuable for projects where frequent communication, review and decision-making are important.
Mexico’s technology infrastructure is also expanding.
In January 2025, Amazon Web Services launched the AWS Mexico (Central) Region, its first infrastructure region in the country, with three Availability Zones. AWS stated that it plans to invest more than $5 billion in Mexico over 15 years and that the region provides customers with cloud technologies including artificial intelligence and machine learning capabilities. (Amazon Web Services, 2025)
Mexico also ranks third in Latin America and the Caribbean in WIPO’s Global Innovation Index 2025. WIPO highlights the country’s strengths in areas including high-technology trade and manufacturing. (WIPO, 2025)
For organizations evaluating Mexico as part of their technology workforce strategy, relevant capabilities can include:
- AI and machine learning engineering
- Data engineering
- Cloud engineering
- DevOps and platform engineering
- Software development
- Data and analytics
- AI-enabled enterprise applications
The combination of proximity, infrastructure and technical capability makes Mexico particularly relevant for companies seeking technology teams that can work closely with North American operations.
Colombia: A Growing AI and Digital Ecosystem
Colombia continues to strengthen its position within the regional technology landscape.
In 2025, Colombia introduced CONPES 4144, its National Artificial Intelligence Policy, establishing a roadmap for the responsible development, use and adoption of AI. The policy was developed through participation from government, academia, businesses and wider society. (Departamento Nacional de Planeación, 2025)
Colombia is also classified as an AI adopter in ILIA 2025, reflecting progress across connectivity, talent and national strategy. (ECLAC/CEPAL, 2025)
WIPO places Colombia fifth among Latin American and Caribbean economies in its 2025 innovation ranking. (WIPO, 2025)
For companies evaluating Colombia for technology workforce expansion, potential areas of capability include:
- Software engineering
- AI and machine learning development
- Data engineering
- Cloud and DevOps
- Digital product development
- Analytics
- Automation
- Technology operations
Colombia’s time-zone alignment with the United States can provide another practical advantage, allowing distributed teams to communicate and collaborate throughout the same business day.
Argentina: Technical Capability and Strong Collaboration Potential
Argentina has an established technology community and continues to participate in the growth of Latin America’s digital economy.
One important consideration for international technology teams is communication.
According to the EF English Proficiency Index 2025, Argentina ranks 26th globally for English proficiency. Within the country’s IT workforce, EF reports an English proficiency score of 589, providing an additional indicator of its potential for international and cross-border technology collaboration. (EF Education First, 2025)
Argentina also ranks seventh among Latin American and Caribbean economies in WIPO’s Global Innovation Index 2025. (WIPO, 2025)
For companies evaluating Argentina, relevant technology capabilities can include:
- AI and machine learning
- Data science
- Software engineering
- AI application development
- Cloud technologies
- Data engineering
- Technical product and platform roles
Argentina illustrates an important principle in LATAM workforce planning: market selection should not depend on size alone.
Technical specialization, communication capability, workforce experience and collaboration requirements can be equally important when deciding where particular teams should be built.
Chile: Regional Leadership in AI Readiness
Chile is one of the region’s strongest markets in terms of measured AI readiness and innovation.
ILIA 2025 categorizes Chile as an AI pioneer, alongside Brazil and Uruguay. The index evaluates areas including enabling infrastructure, talent, research and development, adoption and governance. (ECLAC/CEPAL, 2025)
Chile also ranks first among 21 Latin American and Caribbean economies in WIPO’s Global Innovation Index 2025, and 51st among the 139 economies included globally. (WIPO, 2025)
For companies looking for specialized technology capability, Chile can present opportunities across areas such as:
- AI engineering
- Machine learning
- Data science
- Cloud technologies
- Advanced analytics
- Digital platforms
- Research-oriented technology roles
The country’s position demonstrates the increasing diversity of Latin America’s technology ecosystem and the value of evaluating markets according to the specific workforce capability required.
The Opportunity Extends Beyond Four Markets
Mexico, Colombia, Argentina and Chile illustrate several different approaches to technology and AI development, but the LATAM opportunity extends beyond these four countries.
Brazil, for example, ranks second in Latin America and the Caribbean in WIPO’s 2025 Global Innovation Index and is categorized as an AI pioneer by ILIA 2025. WIPO also identifies Brazil as the regional leader in knowledge and technology outputs. (WIPO, 2025; ECLAC/CEPAL, 2025)
Uruguay is another ILIA-designated AI pioneer and ranks fourth in the region in WIPO’s innovation rankings. Costa Rica is classified as an AI adopter by ILIA and ranks sixth regionally for innovation.
This creates a regional talent landscape where different countries may support different workforce objectives.
For business leaders, the question therefore may not simply be:
“Which LATAM country is best for AI?”
A more useful question is:
“Which LATAM market best matches the capabilities, collaboration model and workforce structure our organization requires?”
Building an AI Team Requires More Than Finding Talent
Identifying qualified professionals is only one stage of workforce expansion.
Once an organization decides to build a team in another country, it also needs to determine how those professionals will be hired, onboarded, paid, supported and managed.
Employment frameworks and statutory requirements vary across Latin America. Worker classification rules, payroll obligations, employment contracts, benefits and local regulatory requirements can differ significantly from one market to another.
A successful workforce strategy therefore needs to consider several areas together.
1. Talent Strategy
Organizations should start by defining the capabilities they actually require.
An AI initiative might need more than AI engineers. Depending on the project, companies may also require data engineers, cloud professionals, DevOps specialists, software engineers, analysts, product professionals or technical support functions.
2. Market Selection
Different countries offer different combinations of technical capability, workforce scale, infrastructure, language proficiency and operating conditions.
The right location should follow the workforce requirement — rather than the workforce requirement being shaped around a predetermined location.
3. Workforce Structure
Companies need to determine the appropriate structure for engaging talent in each country.
Depending on the business requirement and local environment, this may involve direct employment, an Employer of Record model, independent contractors, workforce augmentation or another appropriate engagement structure.
4. Compliance and Payroll
Cross-border workforce expansion introduces local employment, payroll, statutory and worker-classification considerations.
These requirements need to be understood and managed as part of the workforce strategy rather than addressed only after teams have already been hired.
5. Onboarding and Workforce Management
Hiring is not the end of the process.
Organizations need the operational structure to onboard workers, administer payroll, maintain workforce records and support employees or contractors throughout the engagement lifecycle.
6. Scalability
The workforce model should also support future growth.
A structure that works for a small initial team should be evaluated against what will happen as the organization adds roles, expands into additional countries or introduces new business functions.
From Talent Access to Workforce Execution
Latin America’s AI and technology landscape continues to evolve.
Growing interest in Generative AI skills, investment in cloud infrastructure, improving innovation ecosystems and expanding national AI strategies are creating new possibilities for companies seeking specialized technology capabilities.
But regional expansion requires more than identifying where talent exists.
Companies also need the workforce infrastructure that turns talent access into operational capability.
At Epsilon LATAM, we support organizations building and scaling teams across Latin America through workforce solutions designed around talent access, hiring, onboarding, payroll, compliance and ongoing workforce management.
Whether an organization requires AI and machine learning professionals, data engineers, cloud specialists, DevOps expertise, software developers or broader digital talent, the objective should extend beyond filling individual roles.
It should be to build a workforce that can integrate with the business, operate effectively and scale as requirements evolve.
Because building the right AI team is not only about finding the right talent. It is about creating the workforce structure that enables that talent to perform.
Works Cited
Amazon Web Services. “Now Open — AWS Mexico (Central) Region.” AWS News Blog, January 14, 2025.
Coursera. Global Skills Report 2025. Coursera, 2025.
Departamento Nacional de Planeación, Colombia. “CONPES 4144: La hoja de ruta de Colombia en Inteligencia Artificial para los retos actuales y la transformación futura.” 2025.
Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC/CEPAL) and Centro Nacional de Inteligencia Artificial (CENIA). Latin American Artificial Intelligence Index (ILIA) 2025. 2025.
EF Education First. EF English Proficiency Index 2025: Argentina. 2025.
World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). Global Innovation Index 2025. World Intellectual Property Organization, 2025.
