---
title: "AI is losing its value as a salary differentiator — Marsanne Studio AI watch"
description: "According to Michael Page, AI proficiency no longer justifies a higher salary, except for highly specialised profiles."
url: "https://marsanne.studio/en/ai-watch/ai-is-losing-its-value-as-a-salary-9a10e6/"
lang: "en"
---

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Data study · 11 September 2026

# AI is losing its value as a salary differentiator

Original title, in Spanish: “La IA está perdiendo valor como diferenciador en salarios”

**Publication**

El Economista (México) (Mexico)

**Author**

[Nancy Escutia](https://www.eleconomista.com.mx/autor/nancy.escutia)

**Published on**

11 September 2026 · read in the page structured data

## Summary

According to Michael Page's Guía Salarial 2027, presented by its managing director Fabio Zapata, proficiency in generative AI is now seen as a basic skill and no longer guarantees a higher salary. While 44 to 52% of Mexican professionals believe that mastering AI justifies higher pay, only 14% of companies use this criterion. Companies pay more for highly specialised profiles able to transform processes. Generative AI adoption among Mexican professionals rose from 26% in 2024 to 37% in 2025 and then 65% in 2026, but remains largely self-taught: only 11% of companies offer AI training, a quarter prefer to hire profiles that already have the skills, and 7 in 10 companies cite the shortage of qualified profiles as their main challenge.

Summary based on the full text of the article.

[Read the article on El Economista (México) →](https://www.eleconomista.com.mx/capital-humano/ia-perdiendo-valor-diferenciador-salarios-20260911-832988.html)

## Figures cited

-   44 %
    
    share of Mexican professionals who believe that mastering AI justifies a higher salary (lower bound)
    
    professionals in Mexico, Michael Page Guía Salarial 2027
    
    > « entre el 44% y el 52% de los profesionales en México cree que dominar la IA justifica un salario más alto »
    
    Source: Guía Salarial 2027 de Michael Page
    
-   52 %
    
    share of Mexican professionals who believe that mastering AI justifies a higher salary (upper bound)
    
    professionals in Mexico, Michael Page Guía Salarial 2027
    
    > « entre el 44% y el 52% de los profesionales en México cree que dominar la IA justifica un salario más alto »
    
    Source: Guía Salarial 2027 de Michael Page
    
-   14 %
    
    share of companies that consider AI expertise a salary differentiator
    
    companies in Mexico, Michael Page Guía Salarial 2027
    
    > « en las empresas sólo 14% considera este aspecto como un criterio para diferenciar salarios »
    
    Source: Guía Salarial 2027 de Michael Page
    
-   26 %
    
    share of Mexican professionals adopting generative AI in 2024
    
    professionals in Mexico, 2024, Michael Page Guía Salarial
    
    > « en 2024 abarcaba al 26% del talento »
    
    Source: Guía Salarial de Michael Page
    
-   37 %
    
    share of Mexican professionals adopting generative AI in 2025
    
    professionals in Mexico, 2025, Michael Page Guía Salarial
    
    > « para 2025 subió a 37% »
    
    Source: Guía Salarial de Michael Page
    
-   65 %
    
    share of Mexican professionals adopting generative AI in 2026
    
    professionals in Mexico, 2026, Michael Page Guía Salarial
    
    > « en 2026 se ubicó en el 65 por ciento »
    
    Source: Guía Salarial de Michael Page
    
-   11 %
    
    share of companies that include AI tools as a training benefit
    
    companies in Mexico, Michael Page Guía Salarial 2027
    
    > « solo el 11% incorpora herramientas de IA como beneficio de capacitación »
    
    Source: Guía Salarial 2027 de Michael Page
    
-   25 %
    
    share of companies that prefer to hire profiles that already have AI skills
    
    companies in Mexico, Michael Page Guía Salarial 2027
    
    > « una cuarta parte prefiere contratar perfiles que ya posean la habilidad »
    
    Source: Guía Salarial 2027 de Michael Page
    
-   70 %
    
    share of companies for which the shortage of qualified profiles is the main challenge
    
    companies in Mexico, Michael Page Guía Salarial 2027
    
    > « para siete de cada 10 empresas la escasez de perfiles calificados es su principal desafío »
    
    Source: Guía Salarial 2027 de Michael Page
    

## Classification

**Country**

Mexico

**Company size**

All sizes

**Industries**

All industries, or industry not specified

**Companies**

Michael Page (study author)

**Keywords**

salaries, generative ai, skills, labour market, training, talent shortage

Entry written by Marsanne Studio from the cited article, with the help of an AI model (claude-sonnet-5). The rights to the article and its illustrations belong to El Economista (México) and its author. Entry translated from French by Claude Sonnet 5.5.