Why do only 8% of companies in Mexico use artificial intelligence?
Artificial intelligence in Mexico is living a paradox that every company should understand. While the whole world talks about AI every single day, INEGI’s 2024 Economic Census, analyzed by Centro México Digital, reveals that barely 8% of Mexican companies with more than 10 employees actually use it, compared to an average of 20.1% across OECD countries. The reason? It’s not a lack of technology. The tools exist, they’re increasingly accessible, and many are even free. What’s missing is people trained to use them. And that, even if it sounds like bad news for the country, is a huge opportunity for the companies that decide to invest in training before their competitors do.
The full picture: 8% versus the OECD's 20.1%
The study “Artificial Intelligence in Mexico: from promise to economic impact” by Centro México Digital puts numbers on something many businesses already sense: the country is running late. Economies like Denmark, Finland, and Sweden exceed 35% business adoption of AI, more than four times what Mexico registers.
And within the country, the picture is even more uneven. Large corporations reach 17% adoption, medium-sized companies 14%, small businesses 6%, and microenterprises barely 0.1%. By state, Nuevo León leads with 12.6%, followed by Tamaulipas with 9.9% and Mexico City with 9.4%, while Chiapas sits at 5.3%. Adoption concentrates where talent and infrastructure already exist, and that is the key to this whole story.
The gap is about training, not technology
Here’s where it gets interesting. According to the analysis published by Líder Empresarial, 94% of companies in Mexico face concrete difficulties incorporating AI, and the most cited barriers have nothing to do with buying software: 31% mention data privacy and regulation concerns, 28% point to a shortage of specialized skills, and 27% admit their internal training is insufficient.
The number that sums it all up comes from EY: Mexico has just 10,900 professionals with more than two years of experience in AI and analytics. That’s less than 0.01% of the country’s formal workforce. In other words, companies want to adopt artificial intelligence, the technology is available, but there are almost no people prepared to implement it. The bottleneck is human, not technical.
What does this mean for your company?
First, that your team’s skills are going to change no matter what: 62% of Mexican workers anticipate that their competencies will need to transform within the next five years. Second, that there is real money involved. The Centro México Digital model estimates that for every additional 10 percentage points of AI adoption, gross production per company grows 5.2% and wages per worker rise 3.8%. In manufacturing, which generates around 20% of the country’s GDP and 90% of its exports, the effect is even bigger: 18.8% more production, a 5.4% wage premium, and 3.3% more people employed at the companies that adopt it.
There’s a third piece of data worth having on your radar if you run a business or an HR department. Anthropic’s Economic Index, covered by Xataka México, places the country at 76 out of 166 in AI usage, and shows that the main use of AI in Mexico is help with schoolwork. In other words, your team probably already uses AI, but as users, not as creators of solutions. The real competitive value, and where the careers of the future are, sits on the other side: having people who know how to build solutions with these technologies. Mexico’s AI startup ecosystem grew 965% between 2018 and 2024 and already generates around 11,000 jobs. The companies that develop that talent first will hold the advantage.
How to close the training gap at your company
The good news is you don’t need a giant corporate budget to get started. These are some paths that work:
- Train on the fundamentals. Understanding what a model is, how it’s trained with data, and what problems AI can solve is worth more than memorizing trendy tools.
- Push real projects. Collecting your own business data, processing it, and building a simple model teaches more than a hundred YouTube videos.
- Combine technologies. AI becomes more powerful when paired with other fields like virtual reality, robotics, or data analysis.
- Invest in the talent pipeline. Supporting STEAM education for young people in your community, inside and outside the classroom, is the most direct way to secure the talent your industry is going to need.
A certification to train your team or fund your region's talent
If your organization has young team members in training, or if you’re interested in developing the talent your industry is going to need, at Dimex Ideas we designed the Virtual Reality and Artificial Intelligence Certification precisely to close this gap from Hermosillo. The program combines 16 hours of hands-on lab work, 16 hours of virtual activities, and 12 hours of webinars, across two practical modules: the virtual reality module explores devices like Oculus and their applications in medicine, tourism, education, and industry; the artificial intelligence module covers identifying problems, working with data, and creating basic models, along with the career paths in the field.
And there’s a path designed specifically for companies: if you’re part of a company, organization, or foundation, you can sponsor a full certification program for your team or your community, or fund student scholarships as part of your social responsibility initiatives. There’s also a special price of MXN$2,800 for students and teachers, and a scholarship rate of MXN$5,600 for Sonora residents. Message us on WhatsApp or through the certification page and we’ll put together a plan tailored to your organization.
That 8% is not a sentence, it’s a snapshot of the starting point. The training gap holding back Mexican companies today is exactly the space your company can take advantage of. And those who start training their people now will get there first.
References
Guerrero, S. (2026, 26 de marzo). México cada vez usa más IA, pero la usa para hacer tareas, no para innovar. Xataka México. https://www.xataka.com.mx/robotica-e-ia/mexico-cada-vez-usa-ia-usa-para-hacer-tareas-no-para-innovar
Matute, P. (2026, 28 de mayo). México se queda atrás en Inteligencia Artificial: solo 8% de empresas la usa mientras la OCDE promedia 20%. Líder Empresarial. https://www.liderempresarial.com/mexico-se-queda-atras-en-inteligencia-artificial-solo-8-de-empresas-la-usa/
Montero, X. (2026, 14 de marzo). IA en México: solo 8% de compañías integra tecnología para productividad. Municipios Puebla. https://m.municipiospuebla.mx/nota/economia/ia-en-mexico-solo-8-de-companias-integra-tecnologia-para-productividad
Redacción. (2026, 5 de junio). Solo 4.8% de empresas manufactureras de México usa inteligencia artificial. Fortuna y Poder. https://fortunaypoder.com/emprendedor/solo-4-8-de-empresas-manufactureras-de-mexico-usa-inteligencia-artificial
Velázquez, J. (2026, 14 de marzo). Adopción de inteligencia artificial en México sigue rezagada: solo 8% de empresas usa IA. Mundo Ejecutivo CDMX. https://mundoejecutivocdmx.com/tecnologia/adopcion-de-inteligencia-artificial-en-mexico-sigue-rezagada-solo-8-de-empresas-usa-ia/
