A strategic forecast from CESAR, one of Latin America’s leading innovation hubs, where emerging market dynamics meet tomorrow’s tech frontiers.
As we rapidly approach 2025, the global technology landscape continues to evolve at an unprecedented pace, bringing both extraordinary opportunities and complex challenges. Many organizations worldwide are navigating this transformative period that demands smart insights, rapid testing and iteration, and the ability to adapt quickly or be left behind.
In this analysis, we explore seven key trends that will shape the global tech ecosystem in 2025.
These insights reflect the convergence of technological advancement, business transformation, and societal needs — offering a roadmap for organizations seeking to thrive in an increasingly dynamic digital environment. From strengthening cybersecurity frameworks to combating disinformation, each trend is a crucial piece of the future puzzle that visionary organizations must address and solve.
1: Agentic AI: The Rise of Autonomous Digital Workers
From Task Execution to Strategic Decision-Making: AI Gets a Promotion
The next evolution of AI is fundamentally different from what we’ve seen before. Agentic AI represents a quantum leap beyond traditional chatbots and automated systems, bringing autonomous decision-making capabilities that promise to reshape how organizations operate. While conventional AI tools follow predetermined scripts, agentic AI systems can learn, reason, and act independently within defined parameters.
By 2028, Gartner predicts that 15 percent of daily work decisions will be made autonomously through these systems. This shift is particularly significant for Latin American businesses, where the integration of agentic AI could accelerate digital transformation and workforce development. Tasks that once required days of manual processing can now be completed in seconds, from complex customer account management to nuanced business operations.
As this technology matures, we’re seeing the emergence of new roles like AI trainers and workflow orchestrators. The future workplace will likely be a hybrid environment where humans evolve from task executors to strategic orchestrators, managing teams of specialized AI agents.
CESAR’s own Generative AI Laboratory (GenIAL) exemplifies this evolution. Established in 2023, GenIAL focuses on developing AI-powered business models, building robust model training infrastructure, and providing targeted education programs. By training educators, designers, and developers in technologies from basic AI to advanced Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG), GenIAL is accelerating organizational transformation across Brazil.
2: Ambient Intelligence: The Invisible Tech Revolution
Smart Cities Lead the Way: Brazil Pioneers Sustainable Innovation
The next wave of technological transformation isn’t just smart — it’s invisible yet omnipresent. As we move into 2025, “ambient intelligence” is weaving itself into the fabric of our cities and industries, including Brazil — Latin America’s largest economy — which is emerging as a key innovation hub.
Curitiba’s internationally recognized smart city initiatives showcase this evolution, from its pioneering flood prevention through urban parks to its award-winning sustainability programs. In Recife — home to Porto Digital, the “innovation hub that could” — per WIRED, the YES!Recife initiative exemplifies how ambient intelligence can address urban challenges, using design thinking and collaborative workshops to tackle everything from healthcare efficiency to real-time road maintenance.
The future lies in what one Brazilian investor calls an “AIoT First” approach — the powerful fusion of AI with the Internet of Things. This convergence is creating intelligent environments that seamlessly respond to human needs, from optimizing industrial operations to enhancing urban services while prioritizing sustainability and quality of life.
CESAR’s collaboration with Volkswagen exemplifies how ambient intelligence is reshaping urban mobility. The EyeFlow project is enabling electric and semi-autonomous trucks to communicate effectively with their environment. The goal is to create a more intuitive, safer traffic flow using distributed interfaces that seamlessly integrate with the urban landscape.
The interfaces being developed adapt to evolving automotive technology while maintaining accessibility and inclusivity. This R&D focuses on developing universal communication systems that work for all road users — from pedestrians to truck drivers. The results of this project demonstrate how ambient intelligence can enhance safety and efficiency in smart city environments without adding complexity to the user experience.
3: Architecting Human-Centric Security
When People Are Your Weakest Defense Link
The evolution of cybersecurity must focus on its most critical — and vulnerable — component: humans. With 88 percent of data breaches attributed to human error, organizations are recognizing that technology alone isn’t enough. The challenge is particularly nuanced across age groups, with younger employees about five times more likely to report security mistakes.
Interestingly, experience proves valuable in cybersecurity. While 32 percent of employees aged 31-40 have clicked on phishing links, only eight percent of those over 51 report falling for these scams. This suggests that life experience and strong professional networks help in detecting suspicious activities.
The path forward requires a multi-pronged approach, including seamlessly integrating security into daily workflows, replacing traditional training with interactive learning experiences, and involving employees in security policy development. By treating security as a collaborative effort, organizations can build stronger defenses that leverage both human insight and innovation.
4: Data Advantage Analysis
Brazil’s USD 5.53M Analytics Market Drives Enterprise-Startup Innovation
Brazil’s big data analytics market, projected to reach USD 5.53 million by 2029 with a 10.12% CAGR, is creating new dynamics between enterprises and startups. Large organizations are leveraging their vast data resources for AI development, while innovative startups bring agility and specialized solutions to the ecosystem.
The retail sector leads this transformation, deploying IoT solutions, beacons, and RFID technologies throughout supply chains. This digital modernization is generating valuable data streams that fuel AI development across industries, from BFSI to healthcare. However, the real opportunity lies in collaboration.
Innovation hubs are uniquely positioned to bridge the gap between data-rich enterprises and agile startups. By establishing secure data-sharing frameworks and facilitating strategic partnerships, these hubs enable the development of specialized AI models that address specific industry challenges. This collaborative approach not only accelerates innovation but also ensures that Brazil’s growing data advantage translates into concrete market solutions.
5: Critical Infrastructure: Cybersecurity’s New Frontline
Latin America Faces an Urgent Call to Action as Digital Threats Surge
Critical infrastructure systems are facing unprecedented threats. Recent data shows cyberattacks against these vital systems have surged 30 percent in just one year, with energy, transportation, and telecommunications sectors emerging as prime targets. As these systems become more digitally interconnected, their vulnerability to cyber threats grows exponentially.
CESAR’s Integrated Center for Security in Advanced Systems (CISSA) is spearheading Brazil’s cybersecurity evolution. As an Embrapii-accredited competence center, CISSA represents an innovative operating model focused on Identity Management, Data Protection, Threat Intelligence, and Cybersecurity Ethics. This initiative comes at a crucial time, as Brazil’s dependence on foreign technology platforms has created significant security vulnerabilities in critical infrastructure.
The risk extends beyond individual systems. Recent disruptions have highlighted how reliance on international big-tech solutions can compromise national security and operational resilience. In an opinion article published in September, I emphasized that Brazil must develop sovereign cybersecurity capabilities to protect its critical systems and digital infrastructure.
Through CISSA, CESAR is building a comprehensive framework for cybersecurity innovation that combines research, industry collaboration, and practical solutions. This approach aims to strengthen Brazil’s cyber defenses while reducing dependency on foreign technology providers.
The stakes are particularly high in Latin America, where systems face more than 1,600 cyberattacks per second, on average. Despite this onslaught, only one in seven countries in the region have established plans to protect critical infrastructure, even as the economic impact exceeds one percent of some nations’ GDP. Government systems bear the brunt, accounting for 31 percent of all incidents.
The scenario of a coordinated attack on energy infrastructure could paralyze essential services like hospitals and emergency response systems. This growing threat landscape demands urgent action: designing and implementing robust security frameworks and fostering international collaboration to protect these vital systems.
6: Disinformation Defense: A New Security Frontier
As Digital Mercenaries Evolve, Latin America Leads the Fight Back
The battle against disinformation is intensifying across Latin America, with sophisticated “digital mercenaries” operating across the political spectrum to spread false narratives. These actors are increasingly adept at outmaneuvering social media platforms’ security measures, creating a complex challenge that demands innovative solutions.
A collaborative investigation by media organizations from 14 Latin American countries has exposed the scale of this threat, per Foreign Policy. The research, coordinated by the Latin American Center for Investigative Journalism (CLIP), reveals how disinformation networks have successfully evaded both platform controls and government oversight. Brazil’s electoral court, however, demonstrates how swift action can be effective, having successfully countered false election fraud claims within 24 hours of their appearance.
CESAR is at the forefront of this fight, developing cutting-edge technologies to identify fake news. It plans to build on an ongoing research project at Stanford University with the goal of helping people identify fake news and deep fakes through its own research and development to address this urgent global problem.
7: Enterprise Security: Brazil’s Financial Sector Under Siege
Brazil’s Fintech Innovation Has Created New Cybersecurity Imperatives
Brazil’s fintech success story has created an unexpected challenge: unprecedented levels of financial cybercrime.
With Pix processing three billion+ transactions monthly — five times more than traditional card payments — the country’s digital financial infrastructure has become an attractive target for sophisticated attacks. The statistics tell a compelling story: 44% of Brazilians maintain digital-only accounts, making the market particularly vulnerable to browser-based threats.
This vulnerability is driving strategic responses across the sector. Experian’s USD 350 million acquisition of ClearSale in October 2024 signals a shift toward integrated fraud prevention solutions that combine transaction monitoring with account security.
CESAR’s CISSA is addressing these challenges through advanced research in transaction security and fraud prevention. By developing sovereign security solutions tailored to Brazil’s advanced fintech ecosystem, CISSA aims to protect the infrastructure, enabling Brazil’s digital financial revolution while maintaining the innovation momentum that made it possible.
As we move toward 2025, these seven trends highlight both the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead. From the rise of agentic AI to the critical importance of human-centric security approaches, organizations must navigate an increasingly complex digital landscape while maintaining agility and resilience.
