In Mexico, a new generation of entrepreneurs is applying AI skills learned through Microsoft’s Elevate initiative to build startups and solve local challenges in farming, education, recruiting, and recycling. The program, part of Microsoft’s global effort to expand AI skills access, partners with government agencies, industry groups, and nonprofits. Since its launch in September 2024, the initiative has reached approximately 3.5 million people in Mexico, 70% of its goal to reach 5 million by the end of 2027. It combines self-paced Microsoft Learn content with live, locally tailored instruction for students, educators, workers, and public-sector employees, covering topics from AI fundamentals and generative AI to responsible AI practices, prompt design, and AI agent creation. One example is AgriTech, developed by three friends from Ciudad Juárez—José Alejandro Del Río, Ares Arturo Molina, and Héctor Hernández—to help farmers in the dry border region use water more efficiently. The platform combines sensors, machine learning, and a progressive web application to measure factors such as humidity, pH, electrical conductivity, and nutrient levels, generating recommendations on crop health and water use. The co-founders of the startup Chuuk, which traces its origins to a 2025 hackathon, said the training helped make their system more efficient and able to run on limited hardware.