At a time when the world revolves around artificial intelligence and digital transformation, Big Techs play an increasingly strategic role in strengthening the innovation ecosystem. To better understand this dynamic, the innovation trail talked to André Barrence, Google’s head for startups for Latin America. With over two decades of experience in building public policies and supporting entrepreneurship, Barrence is one of the most influential voices in the sector in Brazil.
During the conversation, he set a precise panorama about the ways that startups and investors are traveling, the challenges and opportunities that AI brings to the market and the decisive role that companies like Google foster new solutions and business models.
From public policies to startups: a trajectory of impact
Barrence started his professional journey in the public sector, focusing on the creation of structures for innovation, such as technological parks, incubators and development programs in Minas Gerais. The international experience in London – where he did a master’s degree at the London School of Economics and founded a startup – consolidated his systemic view on how a vibrant and sustainable ecosystem is built. “Innovation leads to economic development and prosperity. This is what motivated me to continue on this path,” he says.
Back in Brazil, he co -fired one of the first accelerators in the country, Seed (in Belo Horizonte), and in 2015 he received Google’s invitation to lead Google for Startups in Latin America, which began its local operation with the inauguration of the campus in Sao Paulo. Today, the initiative has accelerated over 470 startups.
The strength of the big techs as innovation vectors
Throughout the interview, Barrence highlighted the role of Big Techs as catalysts for innovation – not just for their technologies, but for the ability to connect talents, distribute knowledge and create global entrepreneurship support networks.
“Companies like Google have the privilege and responsibility of being present since the” zero day “of the startup. From the moment a founder buys a domain and creates an email in Gmail, we are there,” he says.
For him, this involvement goes beyond technical support: it is about offering tools, mentoring and even capital to foster new solutions, while democratizing access to technology.
“Today it is possible to build an MVP in a few days using only AI tools. Founders who are not technicians can create functional prototypes that, a few years ago, would require entire teams. It changes everything,” he adds.
Ai Academy: Brazil leads Google’s new global program
As part of this innovation support strategy, Google for Startups announced the launch of AI Academyan acceleration program aimed at Brazilian startups that use artificial intelligence in their solutions. Brazil is the first country in the world to receive this initiative.
Lasting 10 weeks, the program offers access to Google Cloud tools, Machine Learning, security and application modernization, as well as networking opportunities with other startups and Google for Startups Alumni community. The proposal is clear: to increase the ability of Brazilian startups to develop advanced technologies and consolidate Brazil as a reference in innovation with AI.
“The idea is to put this superpower – artificial intelligence – in the hands of more entrepreneurs. We want to form a new generation of startups that will be born prepared for the future,” says Barrence.
AI-FIRST startups and the reinvention of business models
When asked about the impact of AI on the market, Barrence highlighted a profound change in the foundations of entrepreneurship. According to him, there are two large groups of startups: those who use it to gain efficiency and those who are already born as AI-firstwith products built from zero about foundational models such as Google Gemini itself.
“These startups are reinventing the way products are designed, delivered and monetized. They are not just competing, they are creating new categories,” he explains.
In addition, he points out that the greatest potential for innovation in Brazil is in the application layer – that is, in the intelligent and localized use of technologies already developed by Big Techs, personalized with proprietary data. “The data is gold. The startup that knows how to use it well can create solutions that solve specific problems in a unique way.”
The Brazilian ecosystem and the new phase of Venture Capital
The interview also addressed the oscillation of the capital venture market in recent years: the boom between 2020 and 2021, the subsequent retraction and the signs of resumption. Barrence notes that although large rounds are less frequent, the early stage (Early Stage) remains promising.
“Capital is more selective, but good ideas with good founders continue to attract investors. And with current tools, it is possible to do a lot with little. This makes the Early Stage even more interesting,” he says.
It also points to the growth of M&A operations and the interest of Corporate Funds (CVCs), signaling a growing maturity of the Brazilian ecosystem.
The future is now – and it will be immersive
For Barrence, the future of startups undergoes a transformation not only technological but experiential. During Google I/O, he highlighted the launch of Project Astratool that uses the camera of my cell phone and was multimodal for real -time interactions with the environment – without new devices. “You point the camera to something and the assistant guides you in real time. It’s like having an expert with you. This is the new border of man-machine interaction.”
Entrepreneurship with purpose in exponential times
Finishing our conversation, André Barrence shared a simple and powerful advice for those who want to get their idea of the role:
“Choose a problem that you really care about is to wake up every day enthusiastically to solve this problem. Combine it with curiosity, speed of execution and clarity of purpose. And remember: you don’t have to know everything, you just need to know enough to start.”
