The Spanish-speaking community—from Latinos in the United States to Latin America and Spain—is no longer just a demographic force: it is one of the most dynamic economies on the planet. However, this expansion coexists with a persistent gap in access to financial services, credit and wealth generation.

The question is no longer whether we participate in the digital economy. The evidence shows yes, and sometimes faster than others. Latinos in the United States adopt AI platforms at rates between 25% and 30% higher than the national average. According to ECLAC, Latin America concentrates 14% of global visits to AI solutions despite having only 11% of global internet users. The real challenge is another: how to go from being users to builders.

Today, tools such as artificial intelligence, blockchain, and fintech platforms are redefining who accesses economic opportunities. According to data from Brookings, Hispanics in the United States adopt fintech services at higher rates than other groups, driven by historical barriers in the traditional financial system and the search for more accessible alternatives.

But adoption is not the same as construction. And here's the conversation-changing fact: The Anthropic Economic Index, which analyzes real-world AI usage patterns, found that experienced AI users are significantly more successful at automating tasks than newcomers, opening a growing gap between advanced users and beginners. The majority participate in payment platforms and services. Few are developing products or capturing value within that new infrastructure. That is where the true economic gap of the future is defined.

The opportunity is enormous. The Latin economy in the United States could reach $5.7 trillion by 2029, and AI could add up to an additional trillion dollars to the Latin American economy by 2038. However, access to investment tools, credit, and technological development remains unequal.

AI is democratizing access to financial knowledge: today anyone can understand complex concepts, compare government products, analyze real estate investments or evaluate stocks without depending on a traditional advisor. It is a support, not a replacement; each person remains responsible for their own research. But its impact doesn't end there: AI is also becoming a business creation infrastructure. It allows you to build a minimum viable product in weeks, generate websites and applications at a fraction of the previous cost, and open entire verticals—AI implementation consulting, automated marketing agencies, development studios—that two years ago required entire teams and significant capital.

Blockchain, for its part, is redefining financial infrastructure. From remittances to payment systems, it allows operating without intermediaries and expanding access. Especially relevant in a community where sending money between countries continues to be a key component of the family economy.

But no technology, on its own, closes a gap. The critical variable is education. And the numbers make the asymmetry clear: ECLAC points out that Latin America receives only 1.12% of global investment in AI despite representing 6.6% of world GDP. We use more, we build less.

Not just traditional financial education, but a new digital literacy: understanding how these tools work, how they are built and how to generate value from them. Because whoever understands the technology can use it, but whoever builds it defines the rules.

The window is short. The opportunity to launch serious projects with AI is measured in months, not decades. The concrete action for any Spanish-speaking professional or entrepreneur is to learn more about finances and technology applied to work or one's own business, and start using AI not as a search engine, but as a creation infrastructure.

And it's worth looking at what comes next. The next waves are already taking off: humanoid robotics, biotechnology and gene editing, longevity and preventive medicine, and autonomous AI agents, which are moving from assisting to executing.

The opportunity is clear: to become protagonists of the new digital economy. Because in this economy, whoever uses technology does not win. Whoever designs it wins. And whoever builds with AI today, tomorrow enters the next wave with an advantage.

(*) Ana Belén González, founder of Ethereum México.

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