Talk about the “Factory 2030“is a metaphor, a concept, a project. From this starting point, the UIA (Argentine Industrial Union) and Accenture presented the first national AI diagnosisduring the relaunch of the Industry Centera space where hardware and software innovations that can transform industries in the country are exhibited.
Although, as the data collected indicates, 8 out of 10 Argentine companies intend to invest in AI and implement it in 2026, gaps persist. In this sense, the report they presented gives details about how some inequities continue.
They detect gaps in fundamental enablers: maturity of the digital core (data, systems, process standardization, cloud and sensorization), availability of talent with specialized skills that combine the technical with the specific business context, and adoption of cybersecurity and responsible AI practices. They are limitations that condition the capacity of Argentine companies. However, they find a great opportunity in AI.
The Labor productivity has not changed in the last 20 yearsthey say in the report. In fact, it has not grown for 15 years, it has decreased. Argentina saw its productivity fall at an average annual 1.8% in the last 10 years. So, if used well, AI could be the gateway to improving competitiveness that would allow growth and generate more and better jobs. In the diagnosis, they calculate that AI has the potential to add up to 1.2 percentage points of annual growth to labor productivity in Argentina.
“There is a chance of recovery. AI doesn’t take jobs, it transforms tasks. We have to learn to reorder them,” said Tomás Castagnino, chief economist and executive director of Accenture Research, during the presentation.
The Latin American region represents 3.4% of investment in AI (Argentina, 2% within Latin America). Globally, between 2023 and 2025, the participation of the AI value chain in Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) announcements multiplied by three, accumulating nearly US$1 trillion. It is expected to exceed US$2 trillion accumulated between 2026-2030.
In the report, called Reinvent yourself intelligently: how to build the 2030 factorypoint out that the speed of technical progress contrasts with slower business adoption. Global investment linked to the AI value chain is expanding and digital infrastructure (e.g. data centers) is undergoing an accelerated growth cycle, but Adoption at scale remains nascent for a significant proportion of organizations.
During the presentation at the Industry While looking for analogies with the movie saga back to the futuresaid: “with AI, the game begins again. As a businessman I think about AI and it gives me goosebumps. It is the great tool of the future for doing business. Argentina has to get out of the box,” he said during the results presentation event.
For her part, Sofía Vago, CEO of Accenture Argentina, stated that “we must rethink the processes, and we must rethink the talent we need. And how do we strengthen that talent so that it coexists with the use of AI, regardless of whether it is used or not. So, it is a much broader transformation.”
To measure the transformative power of AI in Argentine industry, the diagnosis analyzes its potential impact on the way in which workers spend time on tasks in 12 industries grouped into five industrial complexes, weighted by their employment levels in 2024.
According to diagnostic estimates, digital AI has the potential to transform 34% of working time in Argentine industry. However, this is different for each industry. In the case of the knowledge industry (which includes sectors such as pharmaceuticals or software), 63% of working time is susceptible to being transformed by digital AI, more than double that of traditional industries (such as textiles, footwear or paper and cardboard).
On the other hand, Physical AI (embodied in devices, vehicles, robots) has the potential to transform 36% of the time of work in the industry. This focuses on industrial complexes that are different (and they point out that, to a large extent, opposite) to those of digital AI because in this case, traditional industries have the greatest potential for transformation with 41% of working time, followed by the metal-mechanical and automotive industries (40%) and capital-intensive industries (39%).
The limit today is the adoption barrier for different reasons detailed in the report: lack of general knowledge of technology, resistance to change on the part of employees, lack of strategydata availability, lack of reliable suppliers in AI solutions, lack of talent, lack of budget or infrastructure limitations (hardware, software, sensors), among others.
Among several small businesses, the challenge (investment) is even greater. Only half use at least one cybersecurity solution, and when they do, they rely primarily on basic tools. In contrast, large companies have more robust systems.
On this path, almost half of all organizations surveyed affirm not knowing the principles of responsible AI (points to ethical approach to developing and deploying solutions, with AI governance).
The National Artificial Intelligence Survey was developed jointly by the UIA and Accenture with the objective of providing an overview of the current AI scenario in Argentina. The survey was anonymous and took place between October and November 2025 using a self-administered structured questionnaire in digital format. 189 responses were received. According to the classification of the Secretariat of Small and Medium Enterprises (SEPYME), 54% corresponded to small companies (including microenterprises), 36% to medium-sized companies, section 1 and section 2, and 10% to large companies.
