Latin America Pinpointed As the Next Generation Hub of Talent for AI and Digital during the Davos Meeting

The region was identified as a source of rising talent during the Davos Meeting

Published by INSEAD and launched last week during the World Economic Forum in Davos, the 2020 Global Talent Competitiveness Index (GTCI) assesses the scope of Artificial Intelligence (AI) science and the application of technology globally. In Chapter 2 of the critical global report, Marco Stefanini and Fábio Caversan hightlight the current and future scenarios of this theme in Latin America, which has undergone a widespread digital transformation.

Taking the Lead

The report pinpointed Latin America as the next generation hub of talent for AI and digital transformation and reveals the advances of AI in the region. According to data from the study, Latin America took the lead in national AI strategy. Mexico is among the first ten countries to launch such a strategy, followed by Uruguay, Chile and Brazil. The study also said that among the 100 best-prepared countries for AI, 15 are from Latin America.

The report announced in Davos confirms the potential that Latin America has in the creation and development of a specialized workforce in AI, which is able to face the challenges and needs of the new digital age. The study also said that a lack of specialized AI talent is the main challenge to AI development.

Latin America Potential

With an estimated population of half a billion people in five of the most promising countries in Digital sourcing - Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, Peru and Argentina- Latin America has been emerging due to its investments in education and positioning itself as an excellent nearshore option.  

 In Latin America, the number of universities and young people entering them is growing as a direct result of the increase in their investments in education.

Talent Pools

Present in eight countries and with more than 16.5K employees in Latin America, we promote nearshore opportunities in the US and Europe. We have big delivery centers in two of the countries designated in the DAVOS report (Mexico and Brazil) and a strong presence in the other six countries (Colombia, Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, Peru and Venezuela) mentioned in the study.

We also have two massive talent pools to combat the talent shortage and offer cost-efficient and high-quality services by leveraging the nearshore model to improve operations. In Latin America, with 500 million people in eight countries, we can provide services to North America in the same time zone. In eastern Europe, with 110 million people in four countries, we can provide nearshore services for western Europe in the same time zone.

Closer Cultural Alignment

We have strong partnerships with universities –  such as TECNOPUC and CESAR in Brazil – which allows us to offer not only a workforce capable of executing AI projects, but also an extremely qualified workforce in research and development.

Latin America also offers a closer cultural alignment with North America. The ownership’s entrepreneurial spirit – characteristic of Latinos and present in Stefanini’s DNA – is an additional benefit to the development of AI projects, whose nature requires more creativity, initiative and agility.

AI and the Nearshore Model

We already have projects using AI in the nearshore model. Two of them – Toyota and DeVry University – were presented during the last Gartner ITXpo conference – one of the most important global technology meetings of the year.

Click to download the report