According to the UN, there will be around 8.2 billion people in the world by the time we reach the first quarter of the century we live in.

Out of these people almost 5 billion will be in a productive age, considering a population group between 15 and 64 years old who are classified by the International Labor Organization.

At that time, the economic and social order we currently know might have changed in several aspects. For example, it is possible that almost half of the professions we currently know are automated by that moment. And, as it is common when speaking about automation or robotization, assumptions and predictions on unemployment levels rise when thinking of the replacement of human labor by machines.
However, organizations in any industry must thoroughly prepare and plan ahead while this future reaches us so that they are not affected by the ongoing changes and instead be benefited by them while achieving a higher market involvement, in the case of companies.
Besides sharing the same language, the companies in the Latin American region also want to take advantage of the business opportunities they face and want to meet with the demands of global markets in our current economy which is characterized by technological improvements and
the evolution towards a digital economy.
According to specialists, this region is facing the challenge of reaching a deeper commercial integration, besides trying to expand to other parts of the world. Likewise, it is a region that must work on an economic and technological integration while analyzing the possibilities to interrelate, as well as strengthen its interregional commerce and support environmentally friendly and sustainable production along with diversifying its exports. The horizon shows challenges because the region ’s economy is facing growth problems4. Despite this, the companies continue to forecast, plan, and prepare to grow in their different markets and industries. This is because, even if the region as a whole in an economic downturn, some of its countries show a more promising future.

Technology is changing industries directly as well as the way in which we make business, sell, manufacture and process products. In addition CEOs clearly, express that the role technology has in our lives is changing and at the same time creating more opportunities.
First of all, changes are perceived in consumers. People do not only buy more online, but also are allowed by technology to get information before buying goods.
They can find reviews about a product or service, the can now participate in the companies’ social networks and relate to their stance about the environment, health, nutrition, among other things. With this, companies have a different relationship with the consumers and the products they look for. There has been a dramatic change in the emotional
bond that a brand creates with its consumer.
“And it’s just that we are living a very different world from the one we had ten years ago”, says Patricio Greco, Vice President and General Manager Southern Cone at SC Johnson. “These are different challenges. But it is also
true that every time we find more technology that allows us to make better real-time decisions and to improve the way in which we measure results. That is why we need to evolve as an organization and improve our systems while we help people align in the same direction. I believe that in the near future the amount of real-time information available will exponentially increase and, therefore, we will have to improve our abilities to interpret results and make decisions.” One of the greatest challenges that have come with this technological change is finding and adapting to the new ways of communicating with our customers by using a more inclusive way of thinking. It can be advantageous to have a more informed customer when they are about to buy a product.
However, this can also represent a challenge because if they are misinformed, we face the need to change their mindset.
On one hand, some consumers find added value in companies that have a good social involvement, integration, sustainability and when they are environmentally friendly. On the other hand, companies that belong to industries such as the automobile or energy industries find more complex challenges on these topics, even weaknesses and threats to their strategies.
Another important factor in this digital transformation era, according to the main Director at Visa Mexico “is to encourage collaboration among companies.
The CEOs have to prepare such platform in order to work along with different important parts of the ecosystem. Collaboration among several industries is a key to success and it means that such CEOs will have to prove more developed collaboration abilities than the one that have been required in the past.”
Jose Carlos Azcarraga, CEO in Posadas de Mexico mentions it “is very important to work with external teams and have trustworthy relationships with other companies in order to create alliances. This is because we see a
trend indicating we will depend more and more on third parties to help us reach our goals.”