Digital and AI Transformation in Latin America: A Leapfrogging Opportunity?

The case presents the leapfrogging opportunities created by the digital revolution and artificial intelligence in Latin America. It examines how the region’s rapid adoption of mobile technologies, digital platforms, and new connectivity infrastructure is enabling economic and commercial transformation across sectors such as fintech, edtech, healthtech, agritech, and legaltech. In addition, digital transformation is helping to address persistent structural challenges, including financial exclusion, low productivity, weak access to education and healthcare, and high transaction costs. By improving efficiency, expanding access, and increasing transparency in key systems, digitalization also offers the potential to reduce bureaucracy and institutional frictions that continue to constrain competitiveness and development in Latin America.

This case provides an overview of the leapfrogging opportunities that digital transformation and artificial intelligence offer Latin America, as well as the main challenges that must be overcome for the region to turn those opportunities into inclusive and sustainable development. It can serve either as a complementary case to any digital transformation/artificial intelligence case package, or as a standalone piece for instructors teaching about digital transformation, innovation, and development challenges and opportunities in Latin America.