AI adoption among Mexican SMEs is gaining momentum, yet meaningful business integration remains limited. The real opportunity lies not simply in experimenting with AI tools, but in connecting data and AI to support everyday business decisions that can enhance sales, pricing strategies, inventory management, and customer relationships.

The 2024 Judicial Reform, which among its most consequential measures completely reshaped the Supreme Court, is creating uncertainty for SMEs. Early rulings appear to favor the State, undermining business confidence while increasing risk, complicating planning, and slowing investment.

The economy is facing a weak-demand environment, with private consumption continuing to grow, albeit at an increasingly slower pace, while consumer confidence remains subdued. In this context, SMEs cannot rely on a market recovery; instead, they must strengthen liquidity, improve productivity, and differentiate their value proposition.

Recent labor reforms have significantly increased the cost of formal employment, without a proportional gain in productivity. In this environment, compliance is no longer just a legal obligation for companies, but a critical financial management issue that requires anticipation, cost-structure adjustments, and stronger planning.

Artificial intelligence is no longer a futuristic technology. For thousands of small and medium-sized enterprises, it is becoming a practical tool to reduce administrative costs, strengthen tax compliance, and free up time for higher-value activities.

Tax compliance no longer depends solely on accurately determining tax liabilities; it now requires full consistency across accounting records, issued tax invoices, and the supporting evidence for each transaction. Under this new digital and analytics-based validation model, even traditionally compliant companies may face compliance challenges.

Despite Banxico’s rate cuts, access to credit for SMEs remains constrained by risk perception, bank performance, and contractual conditions. As a result, companies must strengthen liquidity and diversify funding sources to avoid hidden costs and loss of financial flexibility.

Como apuntamos en su momento, el 2026 se perfila como uno de los más retadores para la actividad empresarial. Peligrosamente estamos dejando lo coyuntural y la desaceleración pasajera y empezamos a enfrentar la convergencia de factores estructurales con poder de impactar en la rentabilidad, la liquidez y la toma de decisiones de inversión.