By Olga
Shinkaruk, Senior Director of Operations & Mexico Business Leader at EPAM Systems, Inc.
Mexico started preparing to host the world’s most important sporting event – the 2026 World Cup – long before the event’s start. However, beyond a passion for football (soccer for the Americans), this milestone represents an unprecedented strategic opportunity: to become the largest digital transformation laboratory in Latin American history.
The magnitude of the event redefines any previous reference. For the first time, the tournament is being held across three countries, with 48 participating teams and more than 100 matches held across multiple cities, with, according to FIFA, a global audience of billions of digitally connected people.
This not only amplifies operational complexity, but raises the standard of execution: governments, companies and technology need to orchestrate smooth, secure and highly personalized experiences in real time.
Testing digital infrastructure
The projections are conclusive. More than 5 million international tourists are expected to travel between the host cities throughout the tournament, exerting direct pressure on critical infrastructure such as transportation, hospitality, financial services and connectivity, according to estimates by the Mexican Tourism Secretariat and international organizations. The answer cannot be incremental; it requires intelligent data integration, process automation and interoperable digital platforms that, supported by advanced AI capabilities, allow demand to be anticipated, resources to be optimized in real time and service levels sustained on a large scale. In this context, AI is no longer a one-off tool but an integrated business system, capable of scaling with precision and resilience.
Adding to this physical pressure is an even more demanding digital layer. According to projections by Ericsson through its Mobility Report, global mobile data traffic is expected to grow by more than 35% during the World Cup, driven by intensive consumption of streaming, mobility apps, digital payments and immersive experiences. This increase willrequire strengthening networks, evolving cloud architectures and deploying advanced analytics capabilities that ensure frictionless operational continuity and quality of service.
The user’s behavior will also be decisive. According to a 2026 Internet User Habits Study, prepared by the Internet Association MX and Offerwise, around 28% of soccer fans are projected to use mobile apps as their main channel of interaction with the event. From ticket purchases to urban navigation, access to content and digital payments, the experience will be predominantly digital and will completely redefine the relationship model.
For organizations, each interaction becomes an opportunity to build trust, increase loyalty and build deeper ties to users. In this environment, hyper-personalization, cybersecurity and user experience are no longer just technological priorities, but key drivers of brand perception and long-term engagement.
Beyond the operation: the business impact of digital experiences
Given this dynamic, the 2026 World Cup transcends its sporting nature to become a catalyst for digital capabilities on a regional scale. Latin America faces the possibility of accelerating its technological maturity in key sectors such as smart cities, fintech, retail, tourism, mobility and entertainment. It’s not just about responding to demand, but about redesigning how these sectors operate in a hyper-connected and highly dynamic environment.
Host cities face a structural challenge. In order to manage massive flows of people, they must anticipate behaviors, optimize resources in real time and respond predictively to incidents. Beyond technological capabilities, the challenge will be to articulate governance and operation models that integrate multiple actors – public, private and infrastructure operators – under the same logic of coordination.
For companies, the challenge will be equally demanding. The consumer will be global, digital and highly sophisticated. You’ll expect frictionless, personalized and secure experiences at every touchpoint. Organizations that manage to integrate their channels, leverage real-time data and automate decisions evolving toward models where Artificial Intelligence is operated continuously and at scale, will not only respond more effectively to the event, but also create more meaningful experiences for their customers, but also create more effective experiences, and more effective experiences: thereby strengthening loyalty and differentiating their brands in an increasingly competitive digital environment.
Turning AI into an operational capability
Companies like EPAM NEORIS play a key role in this transformation. This translates into ongoing projects to evolve high-consumption digital platforms into large regional
actors, designed to operate across multiple devices and respond to high-demand
scenarios associated with massive events. With product cell models, advanced
analytics, intelligent automation and high-performance engineering practices,
these developments enable real-time operation optimization and, above all, a
more personalized, seamless and contextual user experience, through access to
detailed individual and collective information, adapted metrics and live statistics.
These types of implementations reflect a deeper shift in how organizations approach digital transformation. Rather than implementing isolated solutions, the challenge is to operationalize Artificial Intelligence from end to end, from design to continuous execution, integrating engineering, data and decision-making in a single value stream. It is in this capacity that resilient, scalable and user-centric technological ecosystems are built, capable of turning complexity into a tangible competitive advantage.
A legacy beyond the tournament
However, the true value of this moment lies not only in the execution of the games, but in its structural effect.The World Cup is not an end, but a turning point. Investments in digital infrastructure, cybersecurity, advanced analytics and user experience will not disappear at the end of the event; instead, they will lay the foundations for a more resilient, efficient and competitive ecosystem in the region.
Latin America has historically faced gaps in digitalization. Today it has the opportunity to close them through a project that demands strategic vision, multisectoral coordination and excellence in execution. The 2026 World Cup will be watched by the whole world, but more importantly, it will be experienced by millions of users who will evaluate the region’s ability to operate at a global standard.
The question is not whether Latin America is ready for the World Cup. The real question is whether it will capitalize on this opportunity to redefine its digital future. Because beyond a trophy, the possibility of structurally transforming the way the region competes, innovates and grows is the real goal at stake.