From TIME · Connor Greene · · 1m 10s
Latin America's tech leaders chart growth path
Corporate executives at a TIME dinner in Brazil say the region has talent and drive but needs infrastructure investment and homegrown technology to compete globally.
In brief
Corporate executives at a TIME dinner in Brazil say the region has talent and drive but needs infrastructure investment and homegrown technology to compete globally. Business leaders say Latin America has skilled workers and growing AI adoption but requires infrastructure investment and independent technology…
Tech leaders gather in Brazil
Paula Bellizia of Amazon Web Services, Henrique Dias of NoHarm.ai, and Athina Kanioura of PepsiCo discussed Latin America's economic and technological growth at TIME's Impact Dinner in Brazil on Friday.
Region offers growth opportunity
Kanioura called Latin America the place to be for businesses, saying PepsiCo has grown faster there than in any other region worldwide. She cited white space for investment and innovation.
“We see a lot of white space for big companies to invest, drive growth, drive differentiation, drive innovation.”
Talent exists but funding lags
Brazil has skilled workers in engineering, computer science and AI, Dias said, but lacks outside investment to develop them. Twelve million Brazilian companies, roughly half of all businesses, now use AI.
“We have very talented people. What we don't have here is money.”
Infrastructure and independence needed
Bellizia said Latin America lacks infrastructure, data centers and water to support technology growth. Dias called for investment in national technology rather than importing AI from companies like OpenAI and Anthropic.
“We need to invest in national technology to be more independent from the rest of the world.”
The bottom line
Business leaders say Latin America has skilled workers and growing AI adoption but requires infrastructure investment and independent technology development to sustain economic growth.
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