Global Visibility Key for Mexican Suppliers: Achilles

Q: How does Achilles translate its value proposition into engagement with operators and other oil and gas companies, and what does effective relationship management look like in practice across the sector?

A: Achilles is a global company with clients across multiple geographies that have investments in Mexico’s energy sector, or a clear interest in it. In those cases, our relationships in Mexico naturally evolve from existing global partnerships. Companies such as Shell, Halliburton, and BP are long-standing clients in other regions, and we extend those relationships locally. This approach is not limited to energy. For example, Iberdrola is a global client, and when Cox acquired its Mexican assets, we engaged with Cox through that established relationship.

At the local level, we work closely with key stakeholders. This includes industry associations and chambers of commerce from countries with significant investment interests in Mexico. We also collaborate with specialized media and platforms that are well integrated into Mexico’s energy agenda, such as Mexico Business. In addition, it is common in Mexico to engage through industry advisors and professionals who have held senior roles within institutions or the sector itself. These relationships help us better understand market needs and connect more effectively with potential clients.

Q: Achilles recently launched Global Energy México. What role do you see this initiative playing within Mexico’s specific industrial context?

A: It was our response to a clear crisis in the sector, particularly related to payment delays; and while the situation appears to be improving, it can not be resolved overnight. We acknowledge our large and robust network of suppliers, and when we compare Mexican energy suppliers with those in Peru, Chile, Colombia, Argentina, or even the United States, more than half are highly competitive.

To paint the picture, lacking an environmental certification is simply unacceptable in many parts of the global energy industry. In some markets, a supplier without such certification would not even qualify for an initial tender. In Mexico, approximately half of the suppliers in our network already meet these requirements. At the same time, we were seeing headlines about Mexican suppliers closing operations due to the sector’s payment crisis. Our question was straightforward: how could we help? The answer was to make these suppliers more visible to buyers in Mexico and internationally.

In parallel, other geographies are experiencing a strong imbalance between demand and supply, particularly for specialized energy services. Chile is a clear example, where clients are actively seeking qualified suppliers and are open to working with international companies to meet their needs. Global Energy México was designed to connect these dynamics.

Our objective is to give Mexican suppliers greater global visibility and support their integration into international markets. As part of the launch, suppliers already registered on any Achilles platform receive access to Global Energy free of charge for one year. This reflects that our goal is not short-term profit, but rather to provide a practical tool that responds to current market challenges.

Q: On the buyers’ side, what advantages does Global Energy offer?

A: For buyers, the initiative is equally important. The rules of the game around supply chain due diligence are changing rapidly. Over the past year, heightened scrutiny in the United States regarding links to money laundering or organized crime has significantly affected financing decisions. Banks are increasingly unwilling to fund projects unless companies can demonstrate robust efforts to ensure their supply chains are free from these risks. This level of scrutiny goes beyond what we saw in recent years around ESG. While ESG remains important, supply chain transparency and integrity have become far more urgent.

In this context, Global Energy México helps buyers identify suppliers that have been verified and that do not expose them to reputational, financial, or compliance risks. It provides deeper insight into supplier practices and supports more informed decision-making. In Mexico, this is a significant challenge. There is still, in my view, a gap between stated intentions and actual practices. There is goodwill, but also structural constraints. When companies are facing a payment crisis, their immediate priority is survival and paying salaries, leaving little capacity to focus on longer-term improvements. Global Energy is designed to help bridge that gap.

Q: Many companies this year have spoken about their efforts to export services. How do you assess Mexican oil and energy companies in terms of their competitiveness in international markets?

A: Our assessment is grounded in data. In general, larger companies tend to be better prepared, this across Latin America. That said, in Mexico’s oil and gas supply chain, many fundamental elements such as quality certifications, process standards, environmental management, and anti-corruption policies are already well established. This assessment is based on detailed information from more than 8,000 companies in our database.

Overall, Mexico is broadly in line with the Latin American average in terms of supplier professionalism and readiness. The data also shows a clear improvement following the energy reform period between roughly 2013 and 2018. During that time, companies were required to compete more actively and align with international standards, which pushed many to raise their level of professionalism.

As a result, Mexico now has a very solid base of suppliers that are attractive to international markets, including regions such as the Middle East or other geographies facing capacity constraints. Despite the current payment challenges in the industry, there is a strong pool of Mexican companies that are capable, competitive, and well positioned to work with global clients that are actively seeking reliable partners.

Q: How is AI-driven analytics changing the LATAM region by providing predictive risk insights beyond traditional annual audit data?

A: There has been a profound shift in the pressure around supplier due diligence, and it did not begin with any single political declaration. In my view, this is the result of a global transformation. Two decades ago, if a supplier factory caught fire in Asia or was found to be using child labor, a company could claim ignorance and move on. Today, that same situation can wipe out 30 to 40% of a company’s market value, lead to the dismissal of its CEO, and take years to repair the brand’s reputation.

Fifteen or twenty years ago, checking a credit bureau before signing a contract was considered adequate. Today, that approach falls far short. Working with a supplier that has links to money laundering or forced labor is not only a legal risk, but a major reputational one. Moreover, the old model focused on taking a snapshot of a supplier at the beginning of the relationship. A company would verify the supplier, sign the contract, and assume everything was fine. However, risks can emerge at any point during the relationship. A supplier’s credit profile can deteriorate, or a senior executive can become involved in a corruption scandal years later.

This is where continuous monitoring has become essential. Today, it is about allowing the relationship to move forward while monitoring risks throughout the entire lifecycle of the engagement. In some areas, such as environmental responsibility, the contracting company’s liability can even extend beyond the end of the commercial relationship. In countries like Colombia, for example, companies can remain responsible for environmental damage caused by a supplier for up to 10 years after the relationship ends.

From that perspective, analytics and artificial intelligence play a critical role. At Achilles, we do not simply assess a supplier once. We continuously monitor suppliers throughout their time on the platform. If a supplier’s credit score deteriorates, buyers are alerted. On the positive side, if a supplier improves its performance, reduces debt, or obtains new international certifications, its profile improves and becomes more attractive to buyers. The same data supports both risk mitigation and value creation.

Artificial intelligence is central to this evolution. Broadly speaking, there are two major areas that are transforming our industry. One is Gen AI, including large language models, and the other is agent-based AI. Both are reshaping supply chain risk management, which is fundamentally an information-driven industry. Any company whose core activity involves collecting, processing, and delivering information is being deeply transformed by AI.

At Achilles, we are investing heavily in this space. Earlier this year, we acquired an Argentine company that is a leader in AI-based document recognition. Traditionally, when a supplier uploaded documentation, a human reviewer had to validate it. Today, we pre-verify documents using AI that can recognize different document types, extract relevant information, and detect potential falsification. This improves the supplier experience, accelerates evaluations, and allows buyers to access reliable information more quickly.

We are also investing in agent-based AI that can search the web and other unstructured data sources to gather additional information about suppliers. Today, we already have tools that can take a company name and accurately identify its business activities based on publicly available information. These two fronts, document intelligence and external data analysis, are fundamental to how predictive risk insights are being developed across the region.

Q: How can companies extract greater value from ESG-focused due-diligence commitments?

A: I believe the key lies in a shift from a reactive to a more proactive mindset. Many companies in the region tend to respond only once a requirement or trend becomes unavoidable.

We saw this dynamic clearly in Mexico with the crackdown on abusive outsourcing practices and invoice fraud. When the regulatory changes and the REPSE framework were introduced, the first year passed with limited enforcement, and many companies adopted a wait-and-see approach. Only once penalties became tangible did behavior begin to change. In that sense, value creation through due diligence often starts when leading players in each sector take it seriously and embed it into their commercial decisions, not just their compliance frameworks.

For example, if a large mining company actively prioritizes and contracts suppliers with strong ESG principles, rather than selecting purely on price, that sends a powerful signal to the market. This is where public policy can also play a meaningful role. If governments incorporate ESG performance into concession awards or mixed contracts and give preference to companies that meet these standards, the rest of the market will inevitably follow. This does not diminish the fact that many companies already act responsibly by conviction rather than obligation, but it does help accelerate broader adoption.

Another important factor is the role of public policy in translating high-level commitments into concrete practices that influence how private companies decide whom to work with. Many of our clients already integrate ESG due diligence into their supplier selection processes, even without regulatory pressure. Others did not need public policy to start, because ESG considerations were already part of their corporate culture. A third driver is the financial sector. Major banks now systematically incorporate ESG criteria into their project financing decisions. This is gradually but steadily influencing corporate behavior, as access to capital becomes increasingly linked to ESG performance.

Ultimately, the real value will emerge as large corporations make their sustainability and decarbonization commitments tangible across their entire value chain. For many, this process is already underway. For others, due diligence in ESG is the mechanism that will help close the gap between intention and execution.

Achilles Group Limited is an international consulting group specialized in supply chain design and management through certification and auditing systems, with additional involvement in cybersecurity services, sustainability advisory, HSE management, and financial risk analysis.