Colombian Companies Embrace AI Adoption but Struggle to Scale It
Colombian companies have made AI adoption a strategic priority, yet most still cannot translate that commitment into meaningful operational change, according to the “Colombia AI Pulse” study that Endeavor Data Unit conducted with support from Xertica.ai and presented at Gofest. The survey found that 61% of Colombian companies already consider AI a strategic priority, but […]
Businesses in Colombia are embracing artificial intelligence, yet most find scaling these technologies across their operations remains a significant challenge. According to the "Colombia AI Pulse" study conducted by Endeavor Data Unit in collaboration with Xertica.ai and presented at Gofest, 61% of surveyed companies deem AI a strategic priority, but only 37.7% have integrated it into daily operations.
Researchers constructed an AI Sophistication Index to quantify this progress, with Colombia scoring 45.6 out of 100, virtually identical to Mexico's score of 45.1, based on over 500 business leaders interviewed across both nations.
Felipe Ossa, Endeavor Colombia's managing director, clarified that the study aimed to gauge where companies stand in AI adoption and what this reveals about future success. The findings classify companies into four maturity stages: Starting, Exploring, Building, and Leading. Currently, 6.3% remain in the Starting stage, 58% in Exploring, 35% in Building, and a mere 0.2% in the Leading stage.
This indicates that 93.5% of Colombian organizations are still in intermediate stages, suggesting that neither industry sector nor company size alone predicts advancement.
The report identifies several barriers to scaling AI adoption, including cybersecurity concerns, infrastructure limitations, talent shortages, and data quality issues. Governance remains uneven, with only 62% of companies maintaining consistently applied AI policies, while 20% operate without any defined policies. Moreover, the majority of AI use cases still require human oversight, with only 36.3% reaching levels of delegation or operational autonomy.
Experts offer contrasting views on the future of AI adoption in Colombia. Felipe Tascon from Plataform advocates for delegating entire processes to AI tools, while Saul Cherem from Xertica emphasizes the need to reimagine business models rather than merely automate tasks. Julian Colmenares from Americas BPS highlights the fear of job loss as a significant hurdle that may affect the pace of improvement in Colombia's AI maturity metrics.
Written by urgent.news from Colombia One's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
