The Optimization and Artificial Intelligence in Latin America workshop brings together researchers and practitioners interested in the design, analysis, and application of optimization and machine learning with a special focus on the region’s challenges, data, and use cases. While both fields search for solutions and models, their internal dynamics—structural biases, behavioral transitions, exploration–exploitation, robustness, any-time performance, and complexity—remain insufficiently understood due to the nature of heuristic processes and experimental practices that often emphasize final outcomes only. We therefore welcome theoretical and empirical contributions that instrument executions—online or offline—to model population dynamics, identify desirable algorithmic traits, detect failure modes, and improve interpretability.

The program will combine technical presentations and two interactive sessions:

1. Panel: Challenges and opportunities in Latin America for research and development.

We value reproducibility (artifacts, scripts, baselines), transparency in reporting configurations, and honest discussion of limitations. Our goal is to map the current state of the art at the intersection of AI and optimization from and for Latin America, build bridges between regional groups and the international GECCO community, and foster sustained collaborations that accelerate scientific progress and its social and economic impact throughout the region.