One point recurs in every analysis of artificial intelligence: the technology advances quickly, and what separates the countries that lead it from those that merely adopt it is not access to tools, but the talent able to use them with judgement. For Latin America, that is where its greatest opportunity lies. 

The focus has shifted from which technology to buy to a more strategic question: which capabilities to build, and how fast. The relationship between AI and talent has become the real competitive factor. 

40% of skills will change within five years 

The World Economic Forum, in its Future of Jobs Report 2025, quantifies it: around 40% of the skills required by the labour market will change over the next five years. Analytical thinking remains the core competency most valued by the employers surveyed: seven out of ten consider it essential. This result shows that AI adoption does not reduce the importance of human judgement — it can increase its value. 

The regional challenge is structural. UNESCO, which in April 2026 launched its Observatory on AI in Education for Latin America and the Caribbean from ECLAC, warns that the region simultaneously faces a learning crisis and accelerated technology adoption. Its message is clear: AI must help close gaps rather than widen them, and that only happens if the foundational learning on which digital-era talent is built comes first. 

The European model and adoption in Colombia 

It is worth looking at the model brought to ANDICOM by its Guest of Honour. The European Union turned AI literacy into a regulatory requirement. Article 4 of the AI Act establishes that providers and deployers of AI systems must take measures to ensure a sufficient level of AI literacy among their staff and other persons operating or using these systems on their behalf. The required level must take into account knowledge, experience, training and the specific context in which the technology is used. This is not merely a technical detail: it reflects a regulatory decision that recognises human competencies as a condition for using AI responsibly. 

In Colombia, data from CINTEL, the Centre for Innovation, Productivity and Technological Development, shows a region learning faster than its institutions can keep pace with. According to its Digital Consumer Profile 2025 study, around 25% of the students surveyed already use generative AI tools every week, and 48% of internet users have used AI, mainly for study and work. Adoption is already happening from the ground up; the question is whether formal education will accompany it with judgement. 

The capabilities that will define regional leadership 

Unlocking AI’s potential in education and talent development is not simply a matter of bringing more devices or applications into the classroom. It requires strengthening foundational learning, analytical and critical thinking, ethical judgement, data literacy and the ability to work responsibly with these technologies. That is the factor that will determine which countries lead the AI economy and which remain simple users. The good news is that this is a field where the region still has time to build an advantage. 

That is precisely the strategic dialogue ANDICOM 2026, Latin America’s leading technology and artificial intelligence congress, puts on the table. Under the theme Unleashing the Power of AI, the congress will bring together business leaders, academia, the public sector and the digital ecosystem in Cartagena de Indias, from 1 to 4 September 2026, to examine how to unleash the power of AI in capability building and turn talent into the region’s genuine competitive advantage. 

Is your organisation building the talent the AI era will demand? 

We invite you to explore the academic agenda here. 

Sources 

• World Economic Forum – Future of Jobs Report 2025 

• UNESCO – Observatory on AI in Education for Latin America and the Caribbean (2026) 

• UNESCO – AI and the Future of Education: Disruptions, Dilemmas and Directions (2025) 

• CINTEL – Digital Consumer Profile 2025 

• ANDICOM 2026 – Academic Agenda