MEXICO CITY – During his keynote address at the Microsoft AI Tour 2024 in Mexico City, Chairman and CEO Satya Nadella announced Microsoft’s reaffirmation of its commitment to Mexico. He unveiled a new investment of $1.3 billion over the next three years in efforts to strengthen AI infrastructure and promote digital and AI skills, including the Artificial Intelligence National Skills Program, which aims to democratize access to AI skills and reach 5 million people. The investment will also help improve connectivity and foster AI adoption among small and medium-sized enterprises, accelerating digital transformation and business operations in the country.
As Microsoft enters its 38th year of operations in Mexico, it is seizing the significant opportunities driven by technology and artificial intelligence. Recognizing our longstanding commitment to Mexico and the role of AI in driving social and economic growth, we are expanding our AI infrastructure in Mexico, including making significant investments to boost local computing capacity and foster innovation.
“We are ushering in a new era of AI with a commitment to creating inclusive economic growth and opportunity for all jobs, industries and countries, including in Mexico,” said Satya Nadella, Microsoft chairman and CEO. “Our investments in AI infrastructure and skills in Mexico will help ensure that people and organizations across the country realize the benefits of this technology shift.”
Expanding Mexico’s AI infrastructure and innovating Mexico’s AI ecosystem
Microsoft reinforces its commitment to Mexico’s continued economic and social development, highlighting the role of AI as a foundational technology with transformative power to help solve social problems, improve human productivity, cybersecurity, business competitiveness and expand social and economic opportunities.
The infrastructure will operate under Microsoft’s AI Access Principles, which were created to foster innovation and healthy competition in the rapidly growing AI economy. The principles reflect Microsoft’s expanding role and responsibility as a leader in AI and commit the company to making investments, building business partnerships, and creating programs that ensure broad access to AI technologies that enable organizations and individuals to develop and use AI in ways that serve the public good.
Companies and educational institutions such as Grupo Bimbo, Tec de Monterrey and Cemex are examples of successful AI adoption in Mexico. Tecnológico de Monterrey developed Tecgpt, a proprietary platform powered by Microsoft’s generative AI, to improve learning processes and increase efficiency and productivity for students, teachers and other employees, the first of its kind in Latin America. Additionally, Cemex has implemented Microsoft AI solutions that have significantly increased productivity and operational efficiency, transforming various areas of its business, including sales, production and supply chain, with the deployment of Technical Xpert, an AI-powered co-pilot.
Microsoft’s announcements include the Artificial Intelligence National Skills Initiative, which aims to democratize access to AI skills, training 5 million people in three years and partnering with governments, industry, academia and civil society to train users, developers, teachers, organizational leaders and others at scale. The company is developing a training platform for jobseekers and employees, providing resources aligned with labor market needs. Given the rise of generative AI in everyday work, we are committed to this space, making it accessible to all and integral to the daily operations of every job. This includes helping small and medium-sized businesses understand the AI capabilities they need to make their employees successful and productive.
According to a Microsoft study, “AI in MSMEs in Mexico in 2023: Trends, Challenges and Opportunities,” 57% of SMEs surveyed in Mexico were using AI primarily to improve operational efficiency, make data-driven decisions and personalize customer experiences. Microsoft is investing in its Bridge Accelerator program to support SMEs in the region and prepare them for integration into North American industrial value chains through the implementation of its Platform for AI for Small Businesses (“PyMAI”). Over three years, this initiative will enable 30,000 SMEs to update their business practices, improve their market competitiveness, increase their exposure to potential customers and prepare for integration into cross-border supply networks.
Through our AI for Good program, Microsoft continues to invest in the application of AI to address health, connectivity and sustainability challenges in Mexico.
Health Challenge: Retinopathy of Prematurity (RoP) is a leading and preventable cause of infant blindness, especially in premature babies in the Southern Hemisphere. A shortage of pediatric ophthalmologists makes early diagnosis of RoP difficult. Microsoft AI for Good is developing an AI model that runs on smartphones to help doctors in Mexico effectively diagnose RoP. Connectivity: Microsoft and Viasat are expanding their November 2022 collaboration agreement to serve more than 1.45 million people in Mexico by the end of 2025, including enabling a new network to bring internet to more than 150,000 Mexicans who previously lacked cellular connectivity. The network expansion is accompanied by Viasat’s female-led Mexico Ambassador program, which partners with local women to close the gender digital divide. The footprint spans 13 central and southern states (Hidalgo, Puebla, Veracruz, Yucatan, Quintana Roo, Chiapas, Queretaro, Campeche, Guanajuato, Jalisco, Michoacan, Oaxaca, and San Luis Potosi). This initiative complements Viasat’s ongoing work with “CFE Internet para Todos,” where Viasat is partnering with CFE to connect more than 1,500 communities across Mexico. Sustainability is fundamentally important to Microsoft and is reflected in the ambitious company goal of becoming an ecosystem-preserving carbon negative, water positive, zero waste company by 2030. At Microsoft, we design, build, and operate cloud computing infrastructure across the entire stack, from datacenters to servers to custom silicon. We design, build, and operate cloud computing infrastructure with more than 60 datacenter regions around the world. This creates a unique opportunity to align how each element works together to improve performance, efficiency and sustainability.
Microsoft is committed to assessing and solving the sustainability and resource needs of our growing infrastructure. We are taking a pioneering approach to planning and making long-term investments to bring more carbon-free power to the power grid in the regions where we operate. Our power purchase agreements (PPAs) are at the heart of our approach. We currently have over 34 GW of renewable energy contracted across 24 countries, demonstrating progress toward accelerating the renewable energy market and supporting the global energy transition. We continue to drive the expansion of clean energy solutions around the world.
In Mexico, Microsoft is also focused on increasing access to clean water and sanitation solutions through water replenishment projects and ecosystem restoration efforts. To support our goal of becoming carbon negative by 2030, we recently signed a six-year agreement with The Next 150 to remove up to 95,000 tons of CO2 from a biochar project in Guanajuato, Mexico. And in April, we signed a one-year agreement with Toroto SAPI de CV to remove 234,000 tons of CO2 through a forest ecosystem restoration project in Campeche, Mexico. These projects provide benefits beyond carbon removal by supporting local farmers and fostering biodiversity. We strive to make community needs and impacts integral to our programs.
By accelerating digitalization and empowering individuals and businesses, Microsoft aims to use technology as a catalyst for transformation and unlock a new economy characterized by digital services, AI and data capital. Through these initiatives and investments, Microsoft demonstrates its commitment to putting Mexico at the forefront of this paradigm shift, leveraging infrastructure projects, technological advancements, services and, most importantly, the development of human skills, for sustained growth. To achieve this, the company is embracing responsible innovation and focusing on ethics and sustainability to create a positive impact in the lives of Mexicans, ensuring the benefits of technology are shared by all, and building an inclusive, dynamic and prosperous future.
“Today’s announcement demonstrates Microsoft’s confidence and commitment to Mexico and to supporting the country’s inclusive economic growth. This investment, which we have already shared with the incoming Minister of Economy, Marcelo Ebrard, aims to ensure his support and to have the greatest impact for our country, enabling individuals, companies and society to strengthen innovation through skills development, knowledge sharing and access to cutting-edge technologies and digital infrastructure, democratizing the use of AI while also achieving sustainability goals,” said Rafael Sánchez-Rosa, general manager of Microsoft Mexico.
