History shows that while governments may write the rules for new technology, the private sector is the engine that drives large-scale adoption. From the early days of the internet to the current surge in Artificial Intelligence (AI), businesses turn raw innovation into tools that create economic and social value.
This new roadmap, created in partnership with Cámara Colombia de Informática y Telecomunicaciones, promotes technology adoption built on a foundation of good governance and transparency. Instead of relying solely on top-down laws, this “bottom-up” approach is rooted in real-world business practices and technical standards.
Protecting Democratic Values and Empowering Small Business
The rapid diffusion of AI brings significant risks — chief among these is the question of which countries, companies, and individuals will benefit from this innovation. A democratic governance approach is especially critical for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which represent 90% of businesses in the region but often face barriers to adopting new technologies and building workforce readiness.
CIPE’s research highlights critical “structural gaps” that hold these smaller players back, including limited infrastructure, skills gaps, lack of financing, and the high costs of technology adoption. The roadmap, developed based on a digital adoption survey conducted by Centro Nacional de Consultoría and three workshops with AI experts from Colombia, Chile, and Peru, aims to help close these gaps by convening businesses and experts across the region to identify a democratic and innovation-oriented path forward for SMEs.
Scaling Regional Success into a Shared Path Forward
Countries across the region are demonstrating different priorities and approaches to AI growth. Chile currently ranks first on the Latin American AI Index, with 80% of its large companies already using AI tools. Colombia has established a national AI policy to guide implementation through 2030, focusing on ethics and data infrastructure. Meanwhile, Peru is prioritizing human oversight and the protection of rights through its own national AI strategy.
The AI Governance Roadmap calls for the creation of a regional steering committee on AI, conceived as a mechanism for ongoing coordination and dialogue among business and the wider ecosystem. Building on this initial success, the committee will work over the next 12–18 months to harmonize frameworks and build common standards across borders.
The initiative aims to build common standards, principles for responsible use, and harmonized regulatory guidelines by:
• Establishing regional governance principles
• Defining consensus-based regulatory parameters
• Strengthening capacity of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises
• Developing guidelines on economic security and risk management
• Expanding access to financing for technology adoption
• Extending technical workshops to additional countries across the region
As Andrés Rengifo of Microsoft noted, this roadmap is the “decisive step” needed to move from theory to action, ensuring Latin America leads responsible and democratic development of AI.
Acknowledgments
CIPE would like to thank its partners and co-hosts in the workshops, including Cámara de Comercio de Bogotá; Comité Colombiano de la Cámara de Comercio Internacional; Asociación Chilena de Empresas de Tecnología de Información (ACTI); Fundación Kodea in Chile;
Sociedad de Comercio Exterior del Perú (ComexPerú); Comisión de Innovación Tecnológica, Tecnología e IA de la Cámara de Comercio de Lima; and Universidad de Ingeniería y Tecnología in Peru.
To learn more about this initiative, watch the AI Governance Roadmap launch recap video below:
Published Date: June 11, 2026