Intel sees Mexico and Brazil as “technological superpowers”

Some Latin American countries, particularly Mexico and Brazil, “can become technological superpowers,” assured the new director of Intel for the Americas, Greg Ernst, who sees growing opportunities in the region.

“Our vision at Intel is, first, that Latin America and its countries can become technological superpowers and within the technology sector. When we at Intel look at our investments, we’re really looking at an Americas perspective,” he says.

The manager of the US technology giant highlights the human capital that exists in the region, the use of social networks and the affinity of Latin American millennials for technology.

It also highlights the “phenomenal growth of technology in digital transformation in Mexico and Brazil”, where in addition to multinational corporations there is “an explosion of local companies” dedicated to software and cloud development.

“Some of the biggest technology companies in the world are going to come out of Latin America and we want to be there and partner with them. It doesn’t take anything away from what we do in the United States and Canada, but I see that Latin America is on the verge of a great explosion of success”, she adds.

Intel strengthens its presence

Given the disruptions that the pandemic has brought to value chains and the conflict in Ukraine, Ernst considers that “every large company needs global diversification”, which is why Intel’s commitment to America is reinforced.

“What we are doing in Latin America reinforces that our vision and our plan was always correct,” he mentions.

Although he does not disclose investment amounts, the manager highlights the “exceptional talent” of the Guadalajara Design Center, one of Intel’s most important design and validation centers worldwide and the company’s first acquisition in Latin America.

The center in western Mexico employs 1,700 people, with 700 hires in the last year alone, he says.

“We are going to continue investing there. All our clients in the Americas and in the world, the servers that deploy the largest clients in the world, such as Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Amazon, receive their last validation in Guadalajara”, explains Ernst.

Likewise, it affirms that “investments continue in Costa Rica”, where they have just completed 25 years of presence with 2,900 employees in charge of assembly, distribution, information technology, value chains and human resources.

“We found the Costa Rican employees to be fantastic. It’s a huge influx of talent for us and services Intel globally,” he says.

The goal of semiconductors

On his tour of the country, Ersnt met on Tuesday with Tatiana Clouthier, the Mexican economy secretary, to whom he explained the importance of “scale training in technology and achieving greater production of semiconductors in the Americas.”

Mexico, where the automotive sector represents the main component of the industrial Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and the main manufacturing export, suffered from the crisis of the shortage of semiconductor chips.

In this context, the director of Intel states “common ambitions” of the company and the Ministry of Economy, but without advancing any announcement.

“She (Clouthier) sees bringing semiconductors to Mexico and their development, not only their manufacturing, as key for the country, and also for us. There is nothing to announce, we will save it for a few weeks. We will announce something in April with concrete plans”, she indicates.

Intel’s ultimate goal is for 30% of the world’s semiconductors to be produced in the Americas, where it sees Mexico playing an important role.

“We have made very strategic decisions in Mexico with the Guadalajara Design Center. That center does what we call final validation and it’s a critical step in the development of all of our next-generation products,” he says.

Asked about the investment climate in Mexico for the technology sector, the human capital of “brilliant Mexicans” stands out.

“We see secondary things, like any business, about the cost of labor and access to natural resources, but they are secondary. It all starts with the people, which explains why Mexico continues to grow”, she concludes.