Argentina is one of the first countries to adopt AI in Latin America. It is below Chile, Colombia and Mexico in developing AI, however it is in first place in acquiring AI technology compared to the rest of the Latin American markets, also including Brazil and Peru. In fact, it has the highest rate of planned investment in AI in the Latin American region with 52%.

This adoption was driven by the federal government's efforts to use a supercomputer for climate assessment and satellite monitoring. 52% of senior management leaders and IT and business decision makers (ITBDM) in Argentina believe that AI is a game-changer and has a significant impact on improving analytics, statistics, personalization and customer experience.

Among the challenges in implementing enterprise AI use cases are employee concerns about the potential threat AI poses to their employment. Additionally, long-term challenges related to data platform reliability and model capabilities are anticipated, particularly with regard to training data and required token limits.

According to IDC, they are expected to reach a budget of $240 million this year in Latin America, mainly for the modernization, automation, management and security of IT infrastructure and Generative AI tools.

In total, around 500 CIOs and IT and business decision makers (ITBDMs) from organizations located in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru shared trends, strategies, planning and investments in the adoption of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in business.

Edge Computing

Implementing AI as a business strategy entails a series of significant advances for the industry, especially in an era in which innovative technologies emerge every day, such as Generative AI. With this, IDC predicts that spending on AI and Edge Computing should grow in Latin America, reaching $6.8 billion by 2024, as the region has been investing more in its complete digital transformation process. The increase in Borde's IT investments in Argentina increased by 19% from 2023 to 2024.

“We are at a crucial point where the integration of AI and Edge Computing is not only improving operational efficiency, but also enabling new real-time analysis and decision-making capabilities,” explained José Carlos Huescas, global product manager of high performance computing and artificial intelligence.

Vertical

Most verticals in Latin America are focused on leveraging and protecting data, and place data management, analytics and cybersecurity as top priorities to support business areas related to customer experience and decision making, as they are the most impacted by AI.

On the other hand, telecom companies have a different vision and are focused on implementing digital technologies, such as AI, in robust infrastructures to provide high-quality network services, infrastructure observability and connectivity, as this aligns with their core business. However, only 24% see data and a better customer experience using AI as priorities. The research predicts that Latin American verticals will continue to maintain these priorities in 2024. Organizations will need to pay off their technology debt and make the most of technology to leverage data and provide satisfying customer experiences in secure environments.

Challenges

In Argentina, the main challenges they encounter when implementing AI are: employees concerned that AI puts their jobs at risk, lack of data structure and integrity, and difficulty presenting business cases for AI technology.

And along the same lines, the main challenges to adopting GenAI are: a reliable data platform, model capacity limitations (in terms of training data required, token limit) and monitoring for possible AI misuses and hallucinations.

"It is important to emphasize that AI was conceived to increase human capabilities, automating routine tasks and allowing officials to concentrate on more complex, strategic and creative aspects given their functions. The human factor is fundamental", commented João Bortone, President and General Director for Lenovo ISG Latin America.

Regarding the main technological or business areas affected by AI in Argentina, they are: digital transformation, cybersecurity and threat detection, followed by personalization and customer experience. Likewise, the use cases of edge technology most affected by artificial intelligence occur in the following sectors: retail and customer experience, real-time statistics and analysis, and manufacturing and industrial automation.

Business

According to the study, the top business priorities for CIOs in Argentina during 2024 are improved sustainability, acceleration for revenue and profit growth, and the use of emerging technologies such as GenAI.

Likewise, the main technology investment priorities in the country during 2024 are: first, improving cyber resilience to deal with ransomware and malware attacks, followed by GenAI and the development and management of edge infrastructure.

Lenovo, as a global solutions and services manufacturer, has been actively exploring the potential of AI in its products and services. The company has integrated AI capabilities into its products, from laptops, desktops, tablets and smartphones, to IT infrastructure and services, all with the goal of improving user experience and increasing business efficiency. “We are committed to bringing AI capabilities to all our products to transform the user experience and increase operational efficiency across all sectors”, says Octavio Fonseca, President of Lenovo Argentina. “Our focus on AI allows our clients to not only adapt, but also lead in an ever-evolving market.”