CI&T & Mistral strike Latin America AI partnership

CI&T and Mistral have entered a multi-year partnership, with CI&T also becoming Mistral's preferred partner in Latin America.

The agreement combines CI&T's expertise in application modernisation and AI deployment with Mistral's open-weight large language models, targeting businesses that want to build AI systems within existing corporate technology environments.

Under the arrangement, the companies plan to offer a private AI stack for enterprise customers, designed to give businesses more control over how AI models are deployed and used across their operations.

Mistral, the French AI company, has built its position around open-weight models, which give customers more visibility into the systems they are adopting than is typically available through closed proprietary services. The approach has attracted organisations that want to run AI tools within their own infrastructure or under tighter governance rules.

For CI&T, the partnership adds another major AI model provider to its services as clients look for ways to move from experimentation to broader use across software development, customer operations and internal workflows. The company employs more than 8,000 staff it describes as AI builders across 11 countries and focuses on large companies undergoing technology and business transformation programmes.

The tie-up also reflects the growing commercial push around so-called agentic AI, in which software systems handle more tasks with less human intervention. Businesses and technology suppliers increasingly use the term to describe AI tools that go beyond generating text to support decisions, execute workflows and automate tasks across departments.

CI&T said its work with Mistral would support those ambitions by combining model access with implementation inside clients' existing systems. The Latin America designation gives CI&T a defined regional role for Mistral as demand for AI projects grows across the market.

Many enterprise customers have been weighing the trade-off between access to leading AI models and concerns over cost, data handling and dependence on a small number of US-based technology groups. Partnerships built around open-weight models have emerged as one response, particularly for companies that want more flexibility in where and how they run AI tools.

That has created room for companies such as Mistral, which has positioned itself as an alternative supplier in the generative AI market. It has expanded beyond foundation models into broader infrastructure and products while maintaining a message centred on transparency and a decentralised approach to technology.

The partnership will cover direct integration of AI into enterprise environments and is also tied to work on software development lifecycles and broader transformation projects for large organisations.

"With a shared vision for AI, CI&T and Mistral are expanding what's possible for organisations," said Cesar Gon, Chief Executive Officer, CI&T.

"This partnership builds on our AI capabilities by integrating Mistral's technology into our ecosystem, enabling clients to unlock new levels of innovation, drive strategic impact, and take AI to the next level with confidence and agility," Gon said.

Mistral presented the agreement as a route into core enterprise systems through a partner with an established transformation business and regional reach. It has been building alliances as it competes with larger AI providers for corporate spending.

"By partnering with a tech transformation leader like CI&T, we are enabling organisations to integrate next-generation AI directly into their core operations," said Marjorie Janiewicz, Chief Revenue Officer, Mistral.

"Our customisable models, combined with CI&T's enterprise expertise, will ensure enterprises deploy AI that is secure and tailored to their needs, unlocking a new wave of innovation across industries," Janiewicz said.