Technological Disruption and AI as drivers of the "new" economy

April 2025 by Mario Pires

Shortly after a technological disruption takes hold, it becomes difficult to imagine what it was like to live without it. This was the case with the telephone and the automobile in the 19th century. This was also the case with the internet, which opened up the world to us in the 20th century, and again with mobile internet just over 20 years ago. 

The transformations brought about by the integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) into the digital age are no exception and, although not enough time has passed for us to understand all its impacts, the world after this disruption will no longer be the same. Just as the telephone, cars or airplanes played a transformative role in society, economies and their productivity, technological innovations stemming from AI are already a critical success factor.

The way business models are being redesigned is profoundly transforming business activity and this change is visible in the most varied quarters: in supply chains, now managed by predictive systems that analyze data in real time to optimize logistics and minimize interruptions; in the financial markets, driven by trading algorithms and advanced risk models; in retail and services, where personalizing the consumer experience is no longer an option.

Disruption reaches all sectors

AI, along with intelligent automation, advanced data analysis and machine learning algorithms, is bringing this disruption to every area we can think of, from optimizing agricultural production to healthcare solutions. And in all of them, new professional qualifications are also beginning to be required. Just look at some examples:

• Agricultural management and crop monitoring benefit from satellite data on plant or climate variations - growth or irrigation problems, for example - allowing corrective measures to be taken and production to be optimized. Companies such as Planet Labs, for example, use AI to process the huge volumes of satellite data, useful for informing decision-making in this area and many others, such as urban infrastructure management, early fire detection and disaster response.
• In healthcare, clinical diagnosis is one of the areas that is already benefiting from this disruption. A simple example is LumineticsCore (formerly IDx-DR), a solution trained on analyzing retinal images to detect early signs of diabetic retinopathy. By automating the analysis of these images, healthcare costs and diagnostic time are reduced, which is crucial to saving the vision of millions of people.
• Because it has cross-cutting applications, industrial software is a key area in this technological disruption. One example comes from Emerson, a global leader in process automation systems, which is integrating AI, cloud computing and (supervised) machine learning algorithms into a solution that allows it to reconfigure obsolete control systems in its customers' equipment. Up to 70% of this reconfiguration is being generated and migrated automatically, saving millions in manpower and eliminating several months that were previously needed to implement a modernization project of this kind. Although human labor is no longer the same before and after this disruption, it has not been eliminated: In 2024, when this solution was announced, the company had 600 employees in software development. They are the ones who, when necessary, rewrite the obsolete code that was automatically identified.

In virtually all areas, AI-based solutions are already automating processes, anticipating trends, reducing inefficiencies and costs, supporting decision-making, personalizing the customer experience and promoting more innovation. And if, on the one hand, AI requires high levels of energy, on the other hand, it can help offset them by supporting a more efficient use of resources, which reduces waste and increases circularity and synergies. 

The companies that, at the beginning of the last century, preferred to continue moving around on horses rather than in cars have not gone down in history. To be part of this new chapter, the ability to adapt and innovate to these new drivers of the economy are fundamental. They will dictate the competitiveness of our companies, economies and each one of us.