Cinco Tendências para 2026 – América Latina

In its new report  , Five Trends for 2026 , the IBM Institute for Business Value (IBV) identifies the strategies that will further strengthen companies’ competitive advantage in the coming year. These range from transforming volatility into opportunity to leveraging AI and driving quantum computing.

1 – Rapid decision-making will transform disruption into opportunity, but success depends on an active AI, not just an assistant:

• 99%  of executives in Latin America say they need to make decisions faster and faster, and  98%  said the most critical decisions they made in 2025 were the right ones;

·      85%  of executives in the region highlight that they will lose competitive advantage if they are unable to operate in real time;

One in four respondents says their organization will have AI agents taking independent actions by 2025 (global data), and  69%  in Latin America expect to have this capability by the end of 2026.11

However, 40%  (global data) confirm that AI agent initiatives were successful by 2025, according to objective metrics. ²

2 – Employees are no longer afraid of AI and want to adopt it, even with significant changes to their roles:

• 61%  of employees globally expect their roles to change significantly by 2026 due to new technologies, and even more ( 81% ) are confident that they will be able to keep up with future advancements;
• 63% (global data) would work with an AI agent and approximately half ( 48% ) would feel comfortable being managed by one;
• 61%  (global data) say that AI makes their work less routine and more strategic;
• Although  62%  of executives in Latin America say that employees are apprehensive about changes in processes and responsibilities,  88%  worldwide confirm that AI is positively transforming corporate culture.

3 – Consumers accept flaws, but trust and transparency remain non-negotiable:

• 56%  of consumers worldwide say they are excited about innovative AI-enabled services that accept failures;
• 89%  of global consumers want to know when they are interacting with AI;
• 95%  of executives in Latin America emphasize that consumer confidence in AI will define the success of new products and services;
• Four out of five executives say they would trust a brand less if it intentionally concealed its use of AI (global data);
• Two-thirds would switch brands, and half would pay more to avoid hidden AI (global data).

4 – AI resilience and sovereignty will be essential as organizations protect their computing resources:

• 87%  of executives in Latin America say that AI sovereignty should be part of their business strategy for 2026;
• When asked about the excessive reliance on computing resources in certain regions,  54%  in the region agreed.

5 – AI driven by quantum computing will require collaboration across the ecosystem, and the best-prepared organizations are already gaining a competitive advantage:

• Organizations open to adopting quantum computing are three times more likely to operate in multiple ecosystems than other organizations (global data);
• 71%  of executives in Latin America say that partners accelerate technology adoption, and  74%  say that data from this ecosystem improves business results;
• In Latin America, 88%  of executives highlight that ecosystem partners help their organizations mitigate the impact of disruption.

Study Methodology
To identify key trends in the business landscape in 2026, the IBM Institute for Business Value conducted a dual-perspective study comprised of two large-scale surveys: one with senior executives and another with consumers. The executive survey included 1,028 C-level leaders from large organizations across 20 industries. To complement the executive perspective, the consumer survey collected responses from 8,500 employees with varying levels of AI knowledge, from basic understanding to experts. Descriptive statistics were used to identify trends, and regression analyses were performed on the executive data to uncover factors influencing various strategic perspectives.
¹ based on findings from the IBM IBV study:  The Strategic Rise of Agent AI  (October 2025)
² based on unpublished data from the IBM IBV study:  The Strategic Rise of Agent AI  (October 2025).