Mexico Talent Forum 2025 - Impact Report by Mexico Business Publishing

Matchmaking

Mexico’s leading B2B conference organizer uses a customized app to deliver an unparalleled experience

The MBE App delivered AI-powered intent-based matchmaking to Mexico Talent Forum 2025 attendees

MBE App Impact

211 participants

566 matchmaking communications

170 1:1 meetings conducted

Matchmaking intentions

Total 1,931

548 Trading 1383 Networking

• HSBC

• IBM

• ICAMI

• ICAo

• IMCo

• IMMERSE

• IMSS

• in Best

• Indeed

• I n Fo BLoCK

• I nJC

• International S o S México Emergency Services S de RL de CV.

• Invest Hong Kong

• IPn

• IQ interactive quality

• Johnson & Johnson

• Join Ready

• KEn SA LoGISTICS MEXICo

• Kigo- Parkimovil

• KLEVER n ESS

• Knight Piésold Consulting

• K PMG México

• Krino

• Kushki

• La Frutología México

• Leonali

• Liverpool

• LLYC

• ManpowerGroup México

• Marsh

• MC Work

• McCann Health Sistemas Integrales

• Medical life

• MeetingDoctors

• Merck México

• Mica

• M onte Fenix

• Morton Subastas

• MTP Group

• Mudango

• MUFG BAn K MEXICo

• Museo Memoria y Tolerancia

• nativa

• n ewmark

• ngrenta

• nissin Foods de Mexico

• n uman Industrial H R Advisory

• n UTRIVE S.A DE C.V

• oCC

• o dilo

• oIM

• o pen English

• o racle

• o rganización Internacional para las Migraciones

• PAP SEGURoS

• Particular

• Perfetti Van Melle Mexico

• PET PERFo RMAn CE DE MEXICo

• Polymath360

• Cosmos México

• Quién es Quién

• Quimifen de México

• Rankmi

• Recrea E strategias

• RED ConTRAMAR

• RG talentmind

• Robert Walters

• Rosetta Stone

• Rotoplas

• Sabormex

• Samsung Electronics Mexico

• Santos & Becker

• SCAn GLo BAL LoGISTICS

• Scotiabank

• SDG

• SEED

• Seguros Argos

• SERVICI o S AGR o PECUARI o S DE LA C o STA S.A DE C.V

• Sherlock Comms

• Siemens

• Siemens Healthcare

• Silent4Business

• SLB

• Smile Pill

• SMPS

• Soluciones Integrales de n egocios

• Soriana

• SPIRA

• Spot2

• Surexs

• Swiss Business Hub

• T5DC

• Tala

• Talent Data Hub

• Talent Quest Capital

• Teamcore

• Tecnológico de Monterrey Mexico

• Teramind

• Texas European Chamber of Commerce

• TFT Talent

• The Beck Group

• The International Business Hub (IBH)

WEDNES DAY, MAY 7

09:00 REDEFINING LABOR POLICY THROUGH DIALOGUE: THE ROLE OF BUSINESS

Speaker: Lorenzo Roel, CCE

09:30 REDEFINING JOB FUNCTIONS FOR A TECH-FORWARD FUTURE

Moderator: Vera Makarov, Apli

Panelists: Eric Pascual, Viva Aerobus

Carlos Bueso, Experis - ManpowerGroup

Alejandra Castro, Kushki

Roxana Morales, Grupo Axo

10:15 FROM CONCEPT TO COMPETENCE: CO-CREATING EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS

Moderator: Freya Enríquez, Collective Academy

Panelists: Eric Porras, EGADE Bussiness School - Tecnologico de Monterrey

Enrique Gerardo Sosa, UnAQ

Christian Hernández, Coursera

Juan Carlos Díaz, Siemens Mexico & Central America and Caribbean

Armando Oropeza, IPn

12:00 THE FUTURE OF EMPLOYER BRANDING IN THE ERA OF AI

Speaker: David González, LLYC

12:20 MEXICO’S LABOR MARKET DYNAMICS: EDUCATION, IMMIGRATION, AI

Moderator: Óscar Santos, Santos & Becker

Panelists: Mauricio Cortés, Voxy

Paola Lacorte, IBM

Mercedes de la Maza, Generation México

Dana Graber, IoM - Un Migration

13:20 ENSURING OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH REQUIRES COMPREHENSIVE SOLUTIONS

Speaker: Johnny Hernández, Grupo Diagnostico Aries

15:00 TRANSFORMING HR: LEVERAGING TECHNOLOGY TO DRIVE BUSINESS SUCCESS

Moderator: Nelson Gómez, Indeed

Panelists: Juan Carlos Alarcón, Walmart Mexico

Zahie Edid, Liverpool

Ana Ordoñez, Google

Diana Rodríguez, Merck Group

16:00 LIFELONG LEARNING: THE NEW CURRENCY IN CAREER DEVELOPMENT

Moderator: Michael Fung, Tecnológico de Monterrey Mexico

Panelists: Juan Domínguez, Alpura

Víctor Velázquez, Clip

Carla Soto, Boletia

Valentine de Roubaix, Udemy

16:45 THE FUTURE OF TALENT IS ALREADY HERE, AND IT IS CALLED AI

Speaker: Nelson Gómez, Indeed

framework to labor market conditions and to give proportional recognition to years of service.

The creation of a n ational Commission for Social Dialogue is being discussed, explains Roel. This will be a permanent body linking the business and labor sectors and will accompany the implementation and evaluation of these reforms.

The reconfiguration of the Mexican labor model poses implementation challenges

that require effective coordination between sectors. The establishment of consultation mechanisms, such as the Economic and Social Council, aims to institutionalize consensus as the guiding principle of structural reforms.

“This formula can serve us to carry out many adjustments that our ecosystem requires,” says Roel, highlighting the willingness of the private sector to actively participate in the transformation of the labor environment under a collaborative approach.

REDEFINING JOB FUNCTIONS FOR A TECH-FORWARD FUTURE

The rapid evolution of technology, particularly AI, is reshaping organizational job functions at an unprecedented pace. The true challenge, however, will lie in balancing tech adoption with humanfocused leadership, say experts.

“When we talk about the future of work, there is an uncomfortable truth: roles will change or disappear, not in 10 years, but in three. I see it daily. HR software is on the front lines: most activities will be performed by AI agents,” says Vera Makarov, Co-Founder and Co-CEo, Apli.

“AI is coming fast and furious. In one of our studies with 1,400 CIOs, 89% agreed that trends are going to change, and that AI is one of the Top 3 skills being sought”

Carlos Bueso Director Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean | Experis ManpowerGroup

technologies are being implemented without proper transformation of work processes, underscoring the challenges in balancing technology adoption with the human element of organizational culture.

“The focus is not on the roles that disappear, but on how they evolve. In a technology company, the tools are already at hand, but we do not always know how to use them. It is not about eliminating roles; it is about evolving them,” says Alejandra Castro, Vice President of Human Resources, Kushki. “AI does not take your job; it takes it from someone who knows how to use it.”

A report by Mercer reveals that 96% of companies are planning some form of HR functional redesign in 2025, with employee experience remaining a top priority for HR leaders. In Mexico, 54% of survey participants identified the integration of AI and automation into work redesigns as a top priority, reflecting a broader industry-wide shift. Despite the optimism surrounding AI, 67% of HR leaders also fear that these

As the digital landscape evolves, companies must adapt quickly to stay competitive. While AI is seen as a tool to enhance productivity, issues related to workforce engagement and maintaining employee experience remain crucial for business performance. “As responsible leaders, we must maintain human focus. If we leverage trends without losing the soft skills, we can achieve something great,” says Roxana Morales, Talent Director, Grupo Axo.

Automation must be complemented by human experience, particularly in sectors such as retail and staffing, where customer interaction remains a key differentiator. “There are roles already being trained in AI. It is about understanding what exists, what value it has, and how to apply it in daily work,” says Morales.

FROM CONCEPT TO COMPETENCE: COCREATING EDUCATIONA L PROGRAMS

As the digital economy continues to grow, it requires a workforce equipped with problemsolving capabilities, adaptability, and strong collaboration skills. For educational institutions, this landscape represents a call to action.

“The world is changing rapidly. In just a couple of years, half of the skills we know today will have evolved,” says Freya Enríquez, Enterprise Experience Manager, Collective Academy.

Across Mexico and Latin America, a persistent gap remains between academic instruction and labor market demands. Moreover, the latest o ECD PISA scores (2022) show a sharp decline in learning outcomes, with 66% of Mexican students underperforming in mathematics and over half lacking basic science and reading comprehension skills. This learning loss, combined with historical underinvestment in education and pandemicdriven inequality, is affecting the region’s competitiveness.

“Without ecosystems that offer real opportunities, skills training alone will not be enough”

Christian Hernández Enterprise LATAM Manager | Coursera

This alignment between academic and corporate needs is evident in the growing adoption of dual education models, originally developed in Germany. Siemens, for example, has embraced this model for over seven years. “The magic lies in handson experience,” says Juan Carlos Díaz, People and o rganization Head, Siemens Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean. This model allows “participants to work side-by-side with top-level professionals and learn directly from cutting-edge technologies,” he adds.

More than 400 individuals have completed Siemens’ program, which underscores how internships and apprenticeships bridge theory and practice. This is particularly urgent, as ManpowerGroup reports that 70% of employers in Mexico struggle to fill job vacancies due to a lack of qualified talent.

This approach is particularly relevant in regions where some academic programs may lag behind industry demands. The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) reports that Latin America and the Caribbean face significant challenges related to skills mismatch, in part due to limited adaptation to evolving labor market needs.

“Technology is advancing so fast that education systems risk becoming obsolete if they do not adapt to societal needs,” says Erik Porras, national MBA Director at EGADE Business School, Tecnológico de Monterrey. He adds that higher education institutions must compete not just with other universities, but with alternative learning providers and on-demand training platforms.

To meet this challenge, it is necessary to develop flexible curricula and real-world experiences. “We have worked closely with the private sector to understand what companies need and designed collaborative environments accordingly,” says Porras.

Universidad Aeronáutica en Querétaro (U n AQ), for example, was founded in response to industry demands. “We reverseengineered our programs by mapping corporate processes and building models to support [Bombardier],” says Enrique Sosa, Dean, UnAQ. “There are no one-size-fits-all solutions. Flexibility is essential.”

At the Instituto Politécnico nacional (IPn), the dual education model has evolved from a vocational tool into a strategy for higher education and postgraduate programs. “Mandatory internships are now a cornerstone of our strategy. They expose students to real-world challenges and help them build skills that improve employability, sometimes even leading to professional

such as geographic location, demographic segments, and specific scenarios.

Proper prompt development, which consists of developing targeted and strategic requests to AIs, requires organizations to be clear about their positioning, organizational culture, and business objectives. once these elements are established, interactions can be designed that produce content consistent with the employer brand. “If we know who we are as a brand, we can give the right instructions to AI models to replicate that language accurately,” says González.

In addition to precision in instructions, it is also necessary to establish a conversational logic in the use of AI tools, says González. Since interaction with these models is text-based, building a fluid and consistent relationship over time becomes key. To do so, it is useful to define conversational patterns in terms of style, structure, and tone that serve as a basis for the responses generated to maintain consistency across all platforms, he adds.

Unlike systems with fixed programming, generative models learn from interactions and adapt their responses as they accumulate information. However, this learning is not emotional or intuitive: it requires clarity and consistency in instructions. Consequently, González urges companies to adopt a trialand-error approach. This approach, in addition to reflecting authenticity in communication,

allows the model to be nurtured with real and progressively optimized examples.

Additionally, he stressed the importance of fostering an attitude of active curiosity when interacting with AI. This willingness allows users to generate new combinations of information, delve deeper into recurring themes and expand the model’s capabilities based on specific needs. This approach is useful for both internal communication and employer branding initiatives aimed at the external market.

In terms of practical utility, González mentioned recent studies showing that generative models can identify more efficient options than the users themselves, provided they have been properly trained. This phenomenon, which he called “utility-based trust”, highlights the need to integrate these tools into strategic talent communication processes, both in the design of campaigns and in the segmentation of audiences and the development of personalized messages.

Based on these elements, employer branding in Mexico and Latin America is expected to become a hybrid process, where humanmachine collaboration allows for a more agile response to changes in the environment. “organizations that manage to integrate these tools in a structured manner will be able to improve their talent attraction, retention and loyalty processes, especially in sectors where competition for specialized profiles is high,” González concluded.

MEXICO’S LABOR MARKET DYNAMICS: EDUCATION, IMMIG RATION, AI

Mexico’s labor market is undergoing a period of rapid transformation, driven by shifts in education, immigration, nearshoring, and the integration of AI. These forces are converging to reshape the workforce, positioning the country as a critical player in the global economy.

“There are issues that are rarely addressed, such as migration and labor inclusion,” says Óscar Santos, Founding Partner, Santos & Becker. He highlights the need for inclusive

Moreover, Mexico’s education system is still misaligned with labor market demands. While the Dual Training Model (MMFD) is promising, coverage is limited. only a small fraction of students currently benefit from hands-on, workplace-integrated learning.

“Flexibility, skills, and inclusion are no longer nice-to-haves ; they are structural components of a sustainable labor market,” says Lacorte.

Private sector actors are investing in these programs, yet scaling remains slow. “Companies are closing the gap between their needs and what the market offers. It

is unrealistic to expect candidates with 50 requirements,” says Lacorte.

Closing the gap requires stronger publicprivate partnerships, modernized curricula, and flexible pathways into technical fields, as well as English proficiency. “English is key to employability and labor inclusion. The demand for English proficiency will continue to increase across sectors, ensuring that candidates can access broader global opportunities,” says Santos. This integration of education, upskilling, and language proficiency is crucial for Mexico to remain competitive in the evolving labor market.

ENSURING OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH REQUIRES COMPREHENSIVE SOLUTIONS

Ensuring the health and productivity of employees is becoming a strategic priority for companies of all sizes. While businesses differ in industry and structure, one constant remains: it is the employees who give life to an organization, explains Johnny Hernández, Commercial Director, Grupo Diagnóstico Aries (GDA).

“When you begin to prevent instead of correct, it is cheaper, more efficient, the process is faster, and the employee’s health condition improves,” says Hernández.

With 15 years of experience in Mexico, GDA began as a laboratory services company and has grown organically to encompass 14 brands and nearly 400 branches across the country. Its expansion has been shaped by the growing need for integrated health solutions. Under the umbrella of Pro Medic, a specialized unit that focuses on occupational health, GDA evolved from a traditional diagnostics provider to a strategic ally for companies seeking to improve employee wellbeing while fulfilling legal obligations.

GDA has positioned itself as a key partner in delivering comprehensive occupational health services that not only meet regulatory requirements, but also contribute to business performance, says Hernández. GDA’s occupational health strategy is based on the

premise that addressing health proactively is more efficient and cost-effective than correcting problems after they arise.

The company supports employers with admission and periodic medical exams, workplace evaluations, and specialized programs for the prevention and management of psychosocial risks, in accordance with labor standards such as noM-030, noM-035, and noM-037. These services are part of customized programs designed in collaboration with clients to ensure alignment with legal requirements and internal policies.

employee adoption of new technologies as a major concern. In response, organizations in Mexico are beginning to emphasize the role of culture in digital transformation efforts.

Resistance to change continues to be a key cultural barrier. “The diversity of cultures introduces needs that were previously not even contemplated. This can create mistrust, particularly since many workers are still unfamiliar with the benefits of these technologies,” says Juan Carlos Alarcón, CP o, Walmart México. He adds that while technology can shift the operational context, “leadership is what drives meaningful change.”

To address skills gaps and drive engagement, companies such as Coppel are using interactive platforms like Kahoot! to upskill over 20,000 employees. Meanwhile, Google Cloud’s ongoing program to train 1 million people in cloud technologies illustrates a growing investment in workforce readiness across the country.

These efforts are also being supported through internal collaboration. “Analytics departments are relatively new, and the challenge is anticipating next steps. We are working across departments to build our data foundation. This is already generating operational and strategic benefits. Still, it is not feasible to do all of this in-house; external partnerships are essential,” says Zahie Edid, Director of Human Capital, Liverpool.

It is essential to understand the state of an organization’s existing technological ecosystem before deploying new tools, explains Diana Rodríguez, HR Country Head Mexico, Merck Group. “Technology gaps can create frustration among employees,” Rodríguez says. “We must know our workforce well to implement tools at the right time. Humanizing our data models has enabled us to identify and support workers who were previously overlooked.”

The shift in HR strategy is also being shaped by broader structural changes in work patterns. Emerging roles in data literacy, AI ethics, and talent analytics are becoming critical, even as automation is projected to displace up to 30% of existing jobs, according to PwC. However, only 16% of organizations feel adequately prepared for this transition.

“Guiding employees through change and addressing fears about new technologies is essential. The most successful organizations will be those that make employees feel like they are part of something larger,” says Ana o rdoñez, Head of HR for Hispanic America, Google. ordoñez also highlights the increasing value of lateral career moves and internal mobility. “We need to move beyond competing for the same positions and instead create pathways within organizations for talent to grow,” she adds.

The application of people analytics is becoming central to HR decision-making. o rganizations are using real-time data to monitor indicators such as engagement, learning agility, collaboration, and internal mobility. These metrics are being used not only to support talent decisions but to forecast future workforce needs and improve team performance.

“ o ur ability to manage, share, and utilize our data is what will allow us to adapt and grow. Leadership indicators are especially important because they reflect how we drive change, not just adapt to it,” says Alarcón.

technical certifications or safety compliance can yield immediate R o I. In contrast, the financial and tech sectors benefit from programs emphasizing digital fluency, data literacy, and soft skills like critical thinking and adaptability.

“We need to transition to a more agile structure, where learning is embedded within teams. Learning leads should be embedded in these teams, co-designing learning experiences,” says Juan Domínguez, Chief People officer, Alpura.

Localization also matters. Content must reflect local regulations, cultural nuances, and labor dynamics. Collaborating with universities, EdTech startups, and sector-specific training institutions enables organizations to codevelop relevant content and certification pathways tailored to industry challenges.

“Lifelong learning should not be viewed as a one-way process. It is not only about employees acquiring knowledge; it is also about their ability to teach,” says Domínguez.

Despite the evident value, many organizations face internal resistance when shifting to a learning-centric culture, especially those grounded in hierarchical structures or accustomed to rigid, one-time training events. Common barriers include budget constraints, lack of managerial support, misalignment between learning goals and business outcomes, and employee fatigue from low-impact, compliance-driven learning.

Leaders can address these problems by integrating learning into the flow of work, connecting it to clear performance outcomes, and using incentives to recognize learner progress. “If leaders do not feel the need to change, resistance is inevitable,” says Carla Soto, People and Culture Director, Boletia. “Resistance often stems from leadership’s reluctance to embrace change, making it essential to have leaders who model the shift toward continuous learning.”

As technology evolves, the relevance and applicability of learning content must be continuously reassessed. Microlearning, AIpowered learning management systems, and just-in-time training modules offer scalable solutions that keep pace with change.

“organizations need to understand the cost of not fostering a learning culture. When there is no focus on learning, organizations stagnate, and employees risk losing their jobs,” says Domínguez. The consequences of neglecting learning and development can be severe, leading to stagnation both for the organization and its employees.

To stay competitive, companies must institutionalize feedback loops that regularly update training materials based on new technologies and market trends. “There is no way to successfully implement any reskilling initiative if your leaders are not on board. Everything starts with leadership,” says De Roubaix.