Latin America is facing an opportunity that does not come around often. The reconfiguration of global value chains — what is known as nearshoring — is bringing production closer to markets, and the region stands out as one of the natural destinations. The question is no longer whether investment will arrive, but whether the region will be ready to capture it. 

This is where AI in manufacturing changes the rules. While labour costs remain relevant, the nearshoring of this decade also competes on productivity, quality, resilience, sustainability and responsiveness. Across all of these dimensions, artificial intelligence can become a strategic differentiator. 

The opportunity and the gap 

The potential is significant. According to an estimate released by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) in 2022, nearshoring could generate up to US$78 billion in additional annual exports of goods and services for Latin America and the Caribbean in the short and medium term. Yet that window coexists with an industrial base which, according to the OECD in its Latin American Economic Outlook 2025, accounts for barely 11% of regional GDP and has remained relatively stagnant for two decades. The opportunity exists; the muscle to seize it still has to be built. 

Where artificial intelligence comes in 

AI is precisely that muscle. In the most advanced plants, predictive models help anticipate potential machinery failures, computer vision supports defect detection during production, and some collaborative robots, integrated with sensors and machine learning models, can adapt their performance based on operational data. As the World Economic Forum warns, the challenge is not only to automate: it is to deploy AI in a way that raises productivity while protecting and reskilling industrial employment. 

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) adds a key nuance for the region: fewer than half of Latin American jobs would be highly exposed to AI, largely because of the size of the informal sector, which exceeds 50% of employment. The strategic implication is clear: potential productivity gains may be unevenly distributed if AI adoption is not accompanied by business and labour formalisation, talent development, connectivity, access to technology and reskilling. 

Colombia and the ANDICOM 2026 debate 

In Colombia, the latest study by CINTEL, the Centre for Innovation, Productivity and Technological Development, on digital transformation in large enterprises confirms that diagnosis from another angle: on average, Colombian organisations sit at an “in development” stage — they have moved past basic digitalisation, but still find it difficult to turn technology into sustainable competitive advantage. The study identifies that, beyond the technical gaps that persist, there are organisational barriers to converting investments in cloud, data and artificial intelligence into strategic capabilities and new business models. That is precisely the gap nearshoring demands they close. 

That tension between the nearshoring opportunity and the maturity required to capture it is exactly the debate ANDICOM 2026, Latin America’s leading technology and artificial intelligence congress, sets out to drive. The congress’s academic agenda, now available, reflects that same reading: it was built on CINTEL’s knowledge of digital maturity and AI adoption among Colombian companies. Under the theme Unleashing the Power of AI, the congress will bring together leaders from the industrial, technology and public policy sectors in Cartagena de Indias, from 1 to 4 September 2026, to examine how to turn AI into real competitiveness for the region. 

Is your organisation already building the capabilities to capture that opportunity? 

We invite you to explore the academic agenda here. 

Sources 

• IDB – Nearshoring could add US$78 billion to the region’s exports 

• OECD – Latin American Economic Outlook 2025: productive transformation and nearshoring 

• World Economic Forum – Protecting jobs and boosting productivity when deploying AI in manufacturing (Dec. 2025) 

• IMF – How Artificial Intelligence Can Boost Productivity in Latin America (2025) 

• CINTEL – Vision 2026: AI as a strategic capability for enterprises 

• CINTEL – Challenges and Opportunities of Digital Transformation in Large Enterprises 2025 

• ANDICOM 2026 – Academic Agenda