One in three formal businesses in the Dominican Republic already integrates AI into its daily operations
Santo Domingo – The National Statistics Office revealed in its latest bulletin that 35.0% of formal Dominican companies with internet access already use Artificial Intelligence (AI), marking a milestone in the adoption of new technologies within the private sector.
Data collected through the National Survey of Economic Activity (ENAE) 2025 shows that global connectivity in the corporate environment reaches 94.7% and that this extensive digital infrastructure has served as a basis for integrating advanced technological solutions.
The size of organizations significantly determines the level of adoption of these platforms, as large companies with 250 or more employees lead the technological transition, with a usage rate of 52.0%.
Official statistics show a staggered pattern, with companies with 50 to 99 employees reporting a 46.1% use of Artificial Intelligence, positioning medium-sized companies as a sector highly receptive to operational innovation.
When analyzing the productive sectors, the report notes that the mining and quarrying sector leads in the use of these tools, at 45.7%, surprisingly surpassing other areas of the national economy.
Automation
Other economic sectors that show a strong dependence on automation are construction, at 39.1%, and manufacturing, at 38.1%, demonstrating a profound change in the country’s construction schemes and production processes.
In the retail sector, these technological solutions are implemented in 36.9% of connected businesses, confirming that artificial intelligence is no longer a future trend but a standard resource in Dominican business activity.
Evolution towards a digital payments ecosystem
With the adoption of Artificial Intelligence, the Dominican business environment is undergoing a profound transactional transformation, as Carlos Santelises, Vice President of GCS International, explains: the country has moved from magnetic terminals to consolidating contactless payments and instant transfers via mobile devices.
This evolution points towards a simpler, more immediate ecosystem that benefits formal businesses and plays a crucial role in financial inclusion, enabling users to make payments, deposits, and withdrawals through banking sub-agents installed in businesses such as pharmacies and supermarkets.
The executive emphasizes that these tools allow entrepreneurs and citizens to build a transactional history, opening doors to credit products in the formal financial system and steering them away from informal lenders, while also helping financial institutions better understand their customers’ behavior.
With the growth of corporate connectivity and the expansion of digital payments, new challenges arise, making cybersecurity an indispensable element for companies to address the constant alerts about the risks associated with these emerging technologies.
During the Dominican Fintech Forum organized by ADOFINTECH, Santelises warned that the creation of new products must be accompanied by robust mechanisms to mitigate various cyber vulnerabilities, thereby ensuring a highly secure digital environment.
For companies integrated into this technological ecosystem, having specialized equipment and rigorous security protocols is no longer just an option, but an essential component to protect their daily operations and always preserve the trust of Dominican consumers.
