Data is part of the study Technological Innovation and Competitiveness in Brazilian Companies and indicates, among other aspects, that the future competitiveness of the Brazilian economy depends on the adoption of new technologies and the strategic and sustained implementation of these innovations.
Sao Paulo, August 22, 2024 – The Brazilian Association of Software Companies (ABES) presented, during webinar open to the public, the study Technological Innovation and Competitiveness in Brazilian Companies. The research was conducted using the CATI methodology, with interviews with 100 executives from companies with at least 100 employees. The profile surveyed was of executives with influence or decision-making power in the hiring and management of the IT department's workforce. The objective was to analyze the current scenario of technology adoption and focused on the essential aspects that are shaping the future of the most diverse economic segments in Brazil.
According to data from the International Data Corporation (IDC) analyzed by ABES, the competitiveness of Brazilian companies depends not only on the adoption of new technologies, but also on the strategic and sustained implementation of these innovations. “The technological evolution that we will see in the next two to three years will be much greater than what we have experienced in the last decade. Businesses will undergo a significant transformation and those who are unable to keep up with this technological evolution run the risk of being swallowed up by the market,” stated Jorge Sukarie, ABES advisor.
According to the study, the sector is experiencing a significant transformation driven by the adoption of new technologies, with a special focus on cybersecurity, artificial intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT) and cloud computing. Cybersecurity, according to the survey, is a growing priority for most leaders, as companies surveyed increasingly recognize cybersecurity as essential to protecting and growing their businesses. The analysis also showed that there is still a gap between awareness and effective implementation of security strategies, and that many organizations still underestimate cyber risks, which can leave them vulnerable to digital threats. The lack of skilled cybersecurity talent remains a significant challenge, impacting companies’ ability to protect their digital assets.
The adoption of artificial intelligence solutions, including generative artificial intelligence (GenAI), is on the rise, with expectations of a compound growth of 67% by 2027 – in other words, technology is consolidating itself as the future of companies. The modernization of data strategies and the acceleration of specialized infrastructure capabilities for AI are seen as accelerators of this growth, while data security and privacy issues represent the main challenges for those interviewed.
Regarding investments in IT and Digital Transformation, representatives of the companies interviewed stated that they are allocating substantial resources to emerging technologies, with a significant increase in budgets allocated to IT and cybersecurity. However, the lack of investment in some organizations raises concerns about their ability to meet future technological challenges.
Check out the main conclusions of the study:
Cybersecurity
1. While cyber resilience is recognized as beneficial, there is still a significant gap between awareness and effective implementation of security strategies. Organizations may be underestimating cyber risks and the importance of proactively investing in protective measures, which can leave them vulnerable to digital threats.
2. Cybersecurity priorities are: finding the right suppliers, preventing data leaks, and maintaining security.
3. The approach to cybersecurity varies across organizations, with a significant portion believing that investing in it not only protects but also drives business, while others see it as an essential part of the IT budget.
4. Software vulnerabilities and threat identification lead the research, as well as the talent shortage (42%), which is still present and strong in cybersecurity challenges.
5. 66% of respondents are at the most advanced levels of cybersecurity investment, allocating substantial resources to actively protect their digital assets against cyber threats. Meanwhile, the remaining 32% are investing only the minimum.
6. With the majority of organizations (56%) planning to maintain or increase their cybersecurity budgets in 2024, there is growing recognition of the importance of protecting against digital threats. However, a small portion are decreasing their investments (6%), especially considering already low IT security budgets.
AI (Artificial Intelligence)
1. 571% of companies already use some form of artificial intelligence. Of these, 401% use Interpretive AI (capable of analyzing and understanding data to provide insights), 351% use Generative AI (which creates new and original content) and 261% use Predictive AI (which uses historical data to make predictions about future events).
2. Generative AI spending is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 67% by 2027. Accelerators include data growth and modernization of data strategies, and the adoption and acceleration of specialized infrastructure capabilities for AI. Inhibitors include security, privacy, and data sovereignty, as well as bottlenecks in enabling AI capabilities or preparing talent.
3. By 2024, global data generation will surpass 157ZB, with the potential to double by 2027. Nearly 25% of this data is in the cloud, which is growing 2x faster than other environments.
4. More than half of companies in Brazil (55%) believe that the effective use of data is essential to enable strategic topics such as creating products and services, expanding the personalization of services and enabling new sources of revenue.
5. 41% of the organizations interviewed by IDC in Brazil highlight that Analytics, AI and GenAI are fundamental to achieving business objectives.
6. The majority of Brazilian organizations, representing 71% of those interviewed, have already reached an advanced stage in the adoption of Artificial Intelligence (AI). These companies have not only implemented AI projects, but also have them fully operational, generating positive results. This indicates a significant commitment to technological innovation and a successful trend in the integration of AI solutions into day-to-day operations.
7. Generative AI will be a game-changer for innovation, bringing significant changes to the way companies develop new products and services. And there is an expectation that Brazil will not only follow global trends in AI, but will also take a leading role in AI innovation in Latin America – despite there still being great uncertainty or lack of knowledge about the potential of AI in the country.
8. 431% of respondents intend to increase investment in AI, indicating strong confidence in the value of the technology and a commitment to innovation. This suggests that AI is seen as a key strategic investment to maintain competitiveness and drive growth.
IoT (Internet of Things)
1. By 2025, the total number of connected IoT devices worldwide will grow to over 39 billion. And it will generate 74.4 billion exabytes (EB).
2. A significant portion of organizations (42%) are still hesitant or do not see the immediate need to integrate this technology into their processes, which may be related to factors such as implementation cost, technical complexity, security and privacy, lack of clear use cases, and technology maturity.
3. Among the benefits of IoT perceived by Brazilian companies are the development of significant opportunities for product and service innovation (64%); substantial improvements in operational efficiency (59%); significant increase in customer satisfaction through customized solutions (59%); and real-time data collection to support strategic decisions (49%).
4. IoT still receives moderate investments (in 58% of cases), that is, organizations allocate financial resources in a balanced way to hardware in emerging technologies.
5. Regarding the budget for IoT in 2024, the data shows stability, but with potential for growth: it will remain at 60% of cases and will increase to 36% of respondents.
Cloud
1. The Result suggests that organizations are satisfied with current performance and do not anticipate significant changes in demand or use of these environments. Considering the Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) between the years 2023 and 2028:
• IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service) continues to grow at an impressive rate in hybrid and multicloud environments, with a CAGR of 20%.
• PaaS (Platform as a Service) driven by the strength of data analytics and management, maintains a rapid pace, adding even more power to the theme of artificial intelligence and automation, with a CAGR of 30%.
• SaaS (Software as a Service) will be the priority path for modernizing business applications, attracting increasing attention and with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 19%.
2. Regarding the adoption of Cloud and SaaS services, the study confirmed a stability with a growing trend. Only 91% of organizations decreased their use, possibly due to specific challenges or strategic changes.
3. The factors that determine priorities in cloud migration are efficiency, integration and cost. The data indicates that ease of migration is the most valued factor, with 64% of respondents prioritizing a smooth transition that minimizes disruption and complexity. This reflects a clear market need for solutions that simplify the migration process.
4. Migrating to the public cloud presents distinct challenges that require strategic attention. Key challenges include dealing with cloud connectivity issues (outages or latency) – 39%; adapting security practices to support the cloud – 35%; and lack of technical cloud training for IT staff – 33%.
5. Regarding Public Cloud costs, 37% of respondents said they had repatriated data due to high expenses, but most organizations remain confident.
6. The minority (11%) that plans to reduce their budget may be optimizing their spending or migrating to more cost-effective solutions. The scenario for 2024 is one of continued cautious optimism for increased investment in the Cloud.
The full study Technological Innovation and Competitiveness in Brazilian Companies is available for download on this link.
About ABES
ABES (Brazilian Association of Software Companies) aims to contribute to the construction of a more digital and less unequal Brazil, in which information technology plays a fundamental role in the democratization of knowledge and the creation of new opportunities for all. In this sense, it aims to ensure a business environment conducive to innovation, ethical, dynamic, sustainable and globally competitive, always in line with its mission to connect, guide, protect and develop the Brazilian information technology market.
Currently, ABES represents around 2,000 companies, which total approximately 80% of revenue in the software and services sector in Brazil, distributed across 24 States and the Federal District, responsible for generating more than 260 thousand direct jobs and annual revenue of around R$. 107 billion in 2023. Access the ABES Portal or call +55 (11) 5094-3100.
Press contacts:
ABES
Weber Shandwick Brasil abes@webershandwick.com
Paula Boracini - +55 (11) 98415-0314
Carol Herling Grinbaum – +55 (11) 99553-7756
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