IT Trends 2025: International Market

22 September 2025

ERP

Analytics

Other

In a focused two-hour session, Trajano Leme (LATAM IT Director, Pernod Ricard; 30+ years in IT) outlines pragmatic 2025 playbook: centralize the core, localize the edge. Speaking from the vantage point of a company operating in 160 markets, Leme stresses that achieving scale requires a centralized core with localized satellites. This recap condenses the talk into an action-ready brief.

The Global Landscape Shaping IT

1) Globalization → Geo-Fragmentation

The old playbook of strategic centralization with cost arbitrage (1980→today) is shifting to geo-economic fragmentation: trade restrictions and tariffs, capital-flow limits, supply-chain rerouting, and rising protectionism.

For IT, this means architecting for country-by-country variability rather than a one-size-fits-all global models: multi-tenant but segmentable platforms, modular integrations, and contingency hosting options.

2) Regulatory Complexity

Data sovereignty and localization rules (EU, China, LATAM) are tightening; some markets (e.g., Kazakhstan) now require local data residency, pushing architectural and operational changes. Add waves of privacy regulations and the EU AI Act on top, and compliance becomes embedded into design, not left as an afterthought. The operating impact: regional instances, residency-aware data models, explicit logging/retention policies, and release/upgrade plans that account for jurisdictional lags.

3) ESG: From Reputation to Performance KPI

ESG (environmental, social, and governance) has shifted from reputation signaling to measurable performance metrics: investor scorecards now influence access to capital and insurance costs; consumers (esp. Gen Z/Millennials) punish brands that lack transparency; and global supply chains are required to prove compliance end-to-end.

For IT, that translates into audit-ready, traceable, tamper-evident systems, higher data-quality standards, and product/ingredient provenance you can defend under regulatory and investor scrutiny. Expect stronger demands for event lineage, role-based attestations, and reconciliations that survive external audits.

The Operating Answer: Global Governance with Local Flexibility

The target state is a product-oriented IT with a centralized core and localized edge. Domain product teams (e.g., Sales & Marketing, Finance, Operations, ERP/Master Data) deliver end-to-end value, while transversal services—Integration, Cyber & Risk, Data & Analytics, Governance—provide the shared guardrails and performance backbone. A Service Desk as the Single Point of Contact (SPOC) centralizes support to enhance control, visibility and service levels.

How the model operates locally. IT Business Partners sit in markets to mirror the business, capture pain points, and channel demand into centralized product teams; transversal programs (e.g., agile enablement, digital talent) raise execution maturity. The shift is explicit: from back-office support to business-transformation driver.