Culture and collaboration as critical factors in sustaining growth within a constantly evolving sector
By Leticia Breviglieri, Innovation specialist and Team Leader at PwC Agtech Innovation
Innovation has always been a driving force for transformation throughout human history. From the moment early humans learned to use chipped stone as a tool, harness fire for protection and light, and caves as shelter, each advance represented the overcoming of limits and the opening of new paths.
But what explains this dynamic of constant renewal? The expression “creative destruction” is not new; it was coined by Joseph Schumpeter in 1942 and describes the process by which new solutions replace old ones, keeping the wheel of the economy and progress in motion.
In agribusiness, this movement is also evident and is not limited to the use of technologies or economic logic. The sector is entering a phase in which innovation requires going beyond tools, involving people, culture, collaboration, experimentation, and the ability to orchestrate ecosystems.
Today, eight decades later, the concept gains renewed momentum through the work of Joel Mokyr, Philippe Aghion and Peter Howitt, who were awarded the Nobel Prize in Economics in 2025. In their research, they showed that creative destruction is not an isolated event, but a continuous process that underpins economic growth. Aghion and Howitt formalized models explaining how innovation drives cycles of renewal, while Mokyr emphasized the role of technology and knowledge as historical engines of development.
The transformation of brazilian agriculture
If innovation has been able to transform the way we live and consume, it has also reshaped how we produce. In Brazil, this force has been decisive in driving a historic shift: the country moved from being a food importer to becoming one of the world’s leading exporters.
Today, agribusiness accounts for around 25% of the national GDP and underpins Brazil’s position as a global powerhouse in food production. This trajectory has been marked by successive waves of innovation that have transformed the way production and competition take place.
In the 1970s, the adaptation of crops to local biomes triggered a productive revolution. In the 1980s and 1990s, driven by agricultural policies and new crop varieties, the country increased its productivity by 200% with only a 50% expansion in cultivated area. This was the turning point that established Brazil as an exporter.
The global Green Revolution introduced mechanization and agricultural inputs, strongly influencing Brazil from the 1990s onward. In the 2000s, precision agriculture—enabled by sensors and GPS—was incorporated into Brazilian farming, followed by Digital Agriculture 4.0, which brought automation and connectivity.
Today, Agriculture 5.0 is emerging, integrating sustainability, artificial intelligence and biotechnology—a model with enormous potential given Brazil’s biodiversity and the growing demand for regenerative practices.
This trajectory reinforces what Nobel Prize laureates in Economics have argued: innovation is the primary driver of long-term growth. In Brazilian agribusiness, it has been decisive in repositioning the country as the breadbasket of the world.
A deep dive into corporate innovation
The same force that repositioned Brazil as an agricultural powerhouse is also reshaping companies across all sectors. Innovation is no longer optional—it has become a matter of survival. Never before in history have changes unfolded at such speed, demanding swift responses and the courage to reinvent.
The 29th CEO Survey, published in 2026, indicates that innovation remains at the core of the global leadership agenda. Worldwide, 50% of CEOs state that innovation is a central pillar of their company’s strategy, reflecting the pressure to adapt in an environment shaped by rapid technological advancement. In Brazil, this figure is even higher, reaching 56%, signaling a strong level of strategic ambition around the topic.
However, when examining the practices that support this ambition, a clear gap emerges. Only 25% of CEOs globally say their companies tolerate high-risk innovation projects, discontinue initiatives that fail to deliver results, or maintain dedicated structures such as innovation hubs or corporate venture arms. In Brazil, this number drops to 20%. Innovation is a declared priority, yet it still faces clear limitations in execution.
This paradox highlights that corporate reinvention depends not only on acknowledging risk, but on actively cultivating innovation through a culture that values experimentation, knowledge sharing and the pursuit of solutions aligned with customer realities. Sustaining innovation requires the courage to test, fail and learn—alongside clear metrics to guide decision-making.
This is precisely where the Nobel Prize–winning research offers a critical insight: technology alone does not guarantee progress. Mokyr emphasizes that cultural acceptance of change is as important as the invention itself. Aghion and Howitt demonstrate that institutions and companies must evolve for creative destruction to generate growth. Without cultural adaptation, innovation faces barriers and loses its impact.
Innovation ecosystems
No transformation happens in isolation. Just as in nature—where symbiosis creates balance and strength—innovation also depends on ecosystems. As Aghion and Howitt point out, innovation flourishes in environments that foster interaction and knowledge exchange. This is why ecosystems are essential to accelerating change.
One of the most well-known examples in the world is Silicon Valley, born from the connection between academic research and entrepreneurship. It was there that Fairchild Semiconductor emerged—often regarded as “the mother of all startups”—giving rise to companies such as Intel and AMD.
In Brazil, a “rural Silicon Valley” can be found in the city of Piracicaba. The region brings together the pillars of research—centered around the Luiz de Queiroz College of Agriculture (Esalq-USP)—market presence, with major companies from the sugar-energy sector; production, particularly sugarcane; and technology, supported by an innovation corridor that extends through neighboring cities, including Ribeirão Preto and São Carlos, reaching Campinas and São José dos Campos.
Within this context, PwC Agtech Innovation positions itself as an orchestrator of the agribusiness innovation ecosystem. Acting as a collaborative hub, it connects universities, startups, producers, industry players, and investors, fostering the exchange of knowledge, the development of new technologies, and the implementation of sustainable solutions. By promoting open innovation and integrating multiple stakeholders, PwC Agtech Innovation accelerates the digital transformation of agriculture, supports the adoption of regenerative practices, and helps make Brazil’s agribusiness more competitive and better prepared for future challenges.
But what does the future of food look like?
New provocations are already on the table. Technologies such as precision fermentation promise to redefine the logic of food production: imagine bioreactors capable of producing proteins, fats, and nutrients with high efficiency, eliminating the need for vast areas of farmland and livestock production. This shift could reshape entire value chains and open the door to new priorities, such as energy crops and biomass designed to feed fermenters.
The transition will not be purely technological, but also cultural and economic. Producers, industries, and consumers will need to be prepared to take part in a decentralized food ecosystem—one grounded in science and data, shaped by global trade, and rooted in the essence that connects traditions with local markets.
Leticia Breviglieri, Corporate Innovation Lead at PwC Agtech Innovation (PwC Brazil), formally trained in Hospitality and Veterinary Medicine and has built her career in innovation, specialized in Strategic Foresight and currently completing postgraduate studies in Applied Neuroscience (human performance and productivity) and Agribusiness Value Chains.
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