Overview
- Galperin said 2026 will be the first year Mercado Libre does not increase its number of programmers, with 20,000 developers today and a projection of about 10,000 in five years due to halted hiring.
- He warned that agentic AI platforms and potential alliances could make the company’s app irrelevant, citing scenarios where assistants broker services without traditional interfaces.
- Describing the strategy as “maximizar el mínimo,” he called for extracting maximum efficiency from the existing marketplace, payments and credit stack while designing future models.
- He advised students to prioritize mathematics and foundational reasoning over learning to code, arguing routine programming will be increasingly automated by AI.
- He cautioned about disciplined China-based competitors expanding in Latin America, predicting a long and difficult contest as their technology and execution intensify pressure.