Mexico Ranks 8th in Latin America on AI Adoption

Mexico finished eighth among 20 countries in the 2026 Latin American Artificial Intelligence Index, compiled by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), scoring 52 points out of 100. That's a respectable middle-of-the-pack result, but it's well short of the regional leaders. The index measured each country's capacity to adopt, invest in, research, develop and use artificial intelligence. Its findings point to a country with solid rules on paper and thinner foundations underneath.

Where Mexico Stands

Mexico's best showing came in governance, where its national strategies, cybersecurity legal frameworks and responsible institutions earned credit. Its weakest areas were enabling factors, research, development and adoption. Mexico has written the rulebook faster than it has built the field where the game gets played. Chile, Brazil and Uruguay took the top three spots, each scoring more than 60 points.

ECLAC divides countries into three tiers. Those scoring above 60 are "pioneers," with "high and relatively consolidated performance in infrastructure, talent, research, innovation and governance." Countries scoring from 35 to 60 are "adopters." They have relevant capacities, but gaps "limit a wider deployment of AI." Mexico belongs to that second group, alongside Colombia, Costa Rica, Argentina, Peru, Ecuador, the Dominican Republic, Panama, El Salvador and Trinidad and Tobago. The "explorers," scoring below 35, remain at an early stage. They include Paraguay, Jamaica, Cuba, Guatemala, Bolivia, Honduras and Venezuela.

Infrastructure and Talent

ECLAC said mobile-network and 5G coverage directly affects whether people can use AI applications at all. Uruguay, the Dominican Republic, Brazil, Chile, Guatemala, Mexico, Colombia and Peru had the region's broadest coverage. Private carriers and competitive investment have often done the heavy lifting on connectivity. It's a reminder that wires and towers come before software.

Talent poses the harder problem. Across the region, professional training of AI experts averaged 12.4 points out of 100. Mexico scored 15.8, ahead of that average but behind Paraguay at 28.2, Brazil at 24.5, Costa Rica at 22.6 and Colombia at 19.6. Trinidad and Tobago scored 14.6, while Chile reached 14. In May 2026, Costa Rica held what the report called "exceptional regional leadership" in AI engineering skills, with more than twice the points of Chile and Colombia.

The Adoption Gap

Figures from within Mexico's business sector paint an even sharper picture. El Universal reported that AI use in Mexican companies stood at 64%, according to a specialist, but only 13% used advanced systems. That's the difference between dabbling and doing. Most firms are testing the technology at the edges, while a small share are building capabilities that change how they compete. Mexico's competitiveness will depend much more on whether private firms make that leap than on how many strategy documents the government publishes.

Why This Matters: The index gives a number to something business owners already sense: Mexico's regulatory posture is stronger than its productive capacity. Governance scores are a genuine asset. Clear cybersecurity law and institutional accountability give investors a reason to commit capital. But weak marks in research, development and adoption show that the country hasn't yet turned its rules into output. With only 13% of companies using advanced AI, most of the economic upside remains unclaimed. For a country competing with its neighbors for investment, the path forward runs through open markets, reliable connectivity and training that private employers actually need—not ever more layers of planning. The region's pioneers got there by letting talent, infrastructure and firms do the work. Mexico has the institutions to follow, and the question now is whether it will let its businesses move.