The digital maturity index of Brazilian agribusiness registered significant growth in the last year, rising from 3.1 in 2024 to 3.6 in 2025. This growth was one of the largest recorded among the industries evaluated by the Brazilian Digital Transformation Index (ITDBr), conducted by PwC Brazil and Fundação Dom Cabral (FDC). In the previous year, the overall average for all Brazilian companies was 3.7 on a scale of 6.0. The progress shown in the sector highlights structural gains and places agribusiness in a more competitive position in the national market. Conducted annually, the ITDBr uses its own methodology to monitor the evolution of digital transformation in Brazilian organizations, allowing it to measure digital maturity in the country. In this edition, the index seeks to understand whether Brazilian agribusiness is keeping pace with the new levels of productivity and competitiveness imposed by innovation. Among the positive points are infrastructure (4.4) and strategy (4.2), with performances above the overall average of 4.3 and 4.1 respectively. The people and culture dimension also evolved significantly, reaching a score of 3.7, more effectively meeting market expectations. “Digital transformation in agribusiness has moved beyond a discussion about technology adoption and has become a leadership priority. Progress depends less on available tools and more on organizations' ability to structure processes, develop people, and make data-driven decisions. Brazilian agribusiness is facing a scenario that demands action: evolving from efficiency-focused digitalization to a truly strategic transformation capable of reinventing business models, expanding global competitiveness, and sustaining long-term growth,” says Mayra Theis, partner and leader of the agribusiness sector at PwC Brazil. Direct Results The ITDBr also shows progress in direct results: 90% of agribusiness companies report increased operational efficiency as the most evident impact of their digital journey. There is also progress in decision-making processes, cited by 54% of organizations. The data confirms another percentage of the index: 49% of companies already classify themselves as "optimizers," compared to a general average of 33.5%, which demonstrates a more favorable stance towards the evolution of agribusiness.
AI Challenges
Despite the progress, the digital transformation of Brazilian agribusiness still faces challenges when compared to other sectors. The adoption of Artificial Intelligence (AI) grew to 3.4 in the index, but is still below the overall average of 3.7. The biggest difference lies in the technological frontier dimension, with a score of 1.8 after a drop of 1.4 points, reflecting low adoption of emerging technologies. The biggest challenge, for 54% of companies, is structuring digitalization as an organized process. Following this, 46% highlight the need to integrate digital transformation into ongoing projects. As most organizations remain focused on short-term operational gains, the adoption of disruptive approaches is also limited: only 8% fit the "visionary" profile, while the overall average is 16%. "The results show that agribusiness is going through a period of transition, mainly focused on optimizing its current operations. Even so, the absence of a more future-oriented vision may limit the speed of the sector's evolution in the face of growing global market demands, where continuous innovation is increasingly critical for the longevity of companies," comments Hugo Tadeu, director of the Innovation, AI and Digital Technologies Center at Fundação Dom Cabral.
Opportunities for improvement
Finally, the content demonstrates that there are opportunities for improvement in the evolution of the digital maturity of agribusiness. The first of these is in process optimization and efficiency. This theme leads with 21%, above the average of all industries. Next is the culture of innovation and experimentation, with 18%. “The data shows that the sector recognizes the importance of testing, learning, and evolving. The alternative is the definition of strategy and roadmap, which is rarely mentioned in agribusiness (5%), compared to 14% on average. Although it is one of the biggest gaps in other sectors, in agriculture it is not yet perceived as a critical point of evolution, which may indicate a greater focus on short-term tactical and operational improvements, instead of structured planning,” adds Mayra Theis. The ITDBr shows that agribusiness therefore has the opportunity to evolve from a digitalization focused on efficiency to a strategic transformation, capable of reinventing business models, expanding its global competitiveness, and sustaining long-term growth.
This text was translated by machine from Brazilian Portuguese.