Over the past twelve months, four relevant measurements of artificial intelligence in Panama were published. Read together, they don't tell a simple story. They tell of a tension.
1. In the regional index, Panama is mid-table
The Latin American Artificial Intelligence Index (ILIA) 2025, produced by Chile's National Center for Artificial Intelligence (CENIA) together with ECLAC, evaluated 19 countries in the region on more than 100 sub-indicators grouped into three dimensions: enabling factors; research, development and adoption; and governance.
| Country | ILIA 2025 score | Category |
|---|---|---|
| Chile | 70.56 | Pioneer |
| Brazil | 67.39 | Pioneer |
| Uruguay | 62.32 | Pioneer |
| Colombia | 55.84 | Adopter |
| Panama | 38.95 | Adopter |
Panama closes out the adopter group. The regional leader is 31.6 points ahead.
There are two indicators where the country comes out better than its overall position suggests:
- Fifth place regionally in web AI usage intensity, with 72.57 points and an average of 4.33 visits per user.
- Open-source production, where Panama outperforms countries ranked higher in the overall index, such as Uruguay and Costa Rica.
2. At work, usage is growing — but it's the lowest in the region
The “AI at Work” study, 2026 edition, by Konzerta, measured actual use of artificial intelligence among Panamanian workers:
- 44% of workers in Panama already use AI in their daily tasks, four points more than the 40% in 2025.
- 99% consider it useful or very useful.
- 38% believe AI will replace human work, a sharp drop from 49% in 2025.
Fear dropped eleven points in one year. And even so, the same study notes that Panama has the lowest use of AI in the workplace compared with other Latin American economies.
That's the report's first tension: the country is mid-table in the structural index, but last in actual workplace use.
3. The economic potential has been quantified
The McKinsey Global Institute, in its study “Agents, robots and us: how AI is transforming work and skills in Latin America,” put a figure on the table:
The same study estimates that 53% of work hours in Panama could be automated with technologies already available — below the regional average, which ranges between 55% and 59%.
The potential is concentrated in three sectors: logistics, tourism and financial services. It's no coincidence that these are precisely the three pillars of Panama's economy.
A side note that explains the pressure on the labor market: between 2023 and 2025, the need for professionals who can use, manage and create with AI multiplied elevenfold in Latin America.
4. The government has already moved
On July 30, 2026, the National Artificial Intelligence Strategy “Forging the Future Now” (2026–2036) was presented, formally adopted by the Cabinet Council through Resolution No. 89-26.
The strategy organizes 53 actions across six pillars: digital and physical infrastructure; human capital; data and cybersecurity; governance and ethics; investment and international partnerships; and sectoral application of AI.
Its stated goal is to make Panama the “Trusted Hub for Artificial Intelligence Innovation in Latin America”, building on the country's connectivity, global services and institutional stability.
The strategy came with a complete institutional architecture:
- National Commission on Critical and Emerging Technologies and its AI Subcommission, created by Executive Decree 36 of May 2026.
- National Institute of Applied AI (INIAA), as the operational catalyst.
- National Cybersecurity Institute (INC).
- AI Risk Observatory, run by SENACYT.
- Government AI Board, headed by a Chief AI Officer based at the Government Innovation Authority (AIG).
The uncomfortable conclusion
There's a fifth data point, and it's the one that changes how you read all the others.
The global study “The state of AI in 2026: On the road to ROI” by McKinsey & Company, with 1,719 respondents surveyed worldwide, found the following:
- 89% of organizations already use AI regularly.
- 44% are scaling it enterprise-wide, compared with 38% the previous year.
- 80% report individual productivity improvements.
- And yet: only 6% qualify as “high performers”, defined as attributing 5% or more of their EBIT to AI.
The finding that can be carried over is the one that explains the difference between the 89% that use AI and the 6% that turn it into money:
What can honestly be concluded
First: access is no longer the problem. 44% of Panamanian workers use AI and 99% find it useful. The tool has arrived, and it arrived from the bottom up — it's people who are using it, not necessarily companies.
Second: the country has a framework, but the framework is recent. The National Strategy was presented in July 2026 and approved in August. The institutions it creates are still taking shape. Judging results today would be premature; so would ignoring that they exist.
Third: the gap isn't in adopting, it's in redesigning. This is the most actionable data point in the whole set. The difference between companies that report financial impact and those that don't is three to one in process redesign. Putting AI on top of a broken process reproduces the broken process, only faster.
Fourth: the contradiction between indicators is real and shouldn't be glossed over. Panama is ninth of nineteen in structure, fifth in web usage intensity, first in open source among several higher-ranked countries — and last in the region in workplace use. The indexes measure different things. Anyone who makes decisions with just one of them will decide badly.
Sources
- CENIA and ECLAC — Latin American Artificial Intelligence Index (ILIA) 2025. 19 countries, more than 100 sub-indicators. Methodology sheets updated in March 2026.
indicelatam.cl · Digital Development Observatory, ECLAC - Konzerta — AI at Work, 2026 edition. AI use among Panamanian workers.
- McKinsey Global Institute — Agents, robots and us: how AI is transforming work and skills in Latin America. Reported in La Estrella de Panamá, August 10, 2026.
laestrella.com.pa - McKinsey & Company — The state of AI in 2026: On the road to ROI. 1,719 respondents globally. Published August 29, 2026. Global data, not Panama data.
- Cabinet Council of the Republic of Panama — Resolution No. 89-26, adopting the National Artificial Intelligence Strategy “Forging the Future Now” (2026–2036). Presented July 30, 2026. Executive Decree 36 of May 2026.
senacyt.gob.pa
Last updated: August 30, 2026.