A new generation of Mexican entrepreneurs is using AI skills to solve local challenges

When AI began appearing in student assignments, Alma Trejo decided not to fight the technology. Instead, she set out to learn it and teach others how to use it well.

Today, the Querétaro educator is creating customized AI learning experiences for dozens of students, helping prepare a new generation to work alongside AI rather than fear it.

Through AI skilling, Trejo deepened her understanding of generative AI, prompt design, use of Microsoft Copilot and responsible AI practices. Those skills are now reshaping how she teaches mathematics, as well as programming and digital literacy to high school students at Conalep, Mexico's technical education system.

Using Microsoft 365 Copilot, which is grounded in the user's content and context, in addition to other AI tools, Trejo has created academic agents tailored for her 56 students' needs. The agents help explain concepts, propose exercises, review assignments and provide individualized feedback, giving students access to support beyond the classroom. There is also a programming tutor for computational thinking and another agent for digital culture and cybersecurity.

Through Conalep, Trejo began taking free Microsoft training courses, starting with basic sessions on AI for teachers, Copilot, Microsoft 365 and prompt writing. She completed a Microsoft course on the fundamentals of generative AI two years ago and later took cybersecurity and professional AI tools courses.

For the teacher, the goal is to use AI as an ally and make learning more personal and accessible in a community with limited infrastructure and a small computer lab.

"We cannot allow ourselves not to apply AI tools in education," Trejo says. "Otherwise, we are not preparing them for the present they need, or for the future," she adds, referring to her students.

The impact was almost immediate. Students who once turned in assignments they struggled to explain began arriving ready to discuss their ideas and reasoning. Others who rarely spoke up in class became more engaged, using AI-powered learning tools to review concepts, strengthen their understanding and build confidence.

Trejo, a mother of three with a background in mathematics and sciences, is now pursuing a master's degree in AI through a scholarship program supported by Conalep.

Meanwhile, by building AI-guided learning experiences today, the teacher hopes to help shape the next generation of innovators who will create tomorrow's solutions.

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All videos by Microsoft.

Juan Montes writes about how AI and digital innovation are reshaping industries and decision-making across Latin America and Canada. His reporting spans stories from multinational companies deploying AI agents for executives to public-school teachers adopting technology in classrooms. Born in Madrid, he worked as a journalist in Spain and Guatemala and was a foreign correspondent for the Wall Street Journal in Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean. You can contact him on LinkedIn.

Gustavo Lo Valvo is an editorial designer specializing in new storytelling formats. He is a professor of Media Design at the University of Buenos Aires and since 2021 co-leads the design studio Lo Valvo Márquez Diseño. Previously, he served as design director at the Argentine newspaper Clarín, where he led visual architecture and innovation in journalistic storytelling across both print and digital platforms. You can contact him on LinkedIn.