Key insights from APIX 2026: AI at the center of discussions and business

On May 21st, at the World Trade Center convention center in São Paulo, APIX 2026 took place, a significant milestone for the technology, APIs, and digital business landscape. This year, the event brought deep discussions about the evolution of integration architectures and the definitive impact of end-to-end artificial intelligence on businesses.

Promoted by Sensedia, a partner of Squadra, the event gathered over 1200 technology professionals and featured strategic panels that placed artificial intelligence at the center of discussions and business strategies for the coming years.

We also took the opportunity at the event to announce an unprecedented study that we will launch in partnership with Sensedia, conducted by MIT Sloan. The study sheds light on a topic that was heavily debated at the event: how to connect AI, data, security, and process orchestration to truly generate value through artificial intelligence.

Below, we have gathered the main insights and reflections that shaped APIX 2026.

From Legacy to Deploy in 90 Days: The Success Case on the CampFire Stage

For the fourth consecutive year, as sponsors and active participants in this innovation ecosystem, Squadra shared another in-depth conversation on the CampFire stage. We presented a success case to the audience that demonstrates, in practice, how we use AI to modernize a legacy core platform for MRS Logística's operation, in a talk led by Romulo Cioffi, Chief AI and Innovation Officer at Squadra, and Liliane Braga, Head of Software Engineering at MRS Logística.

MRS Logística, a benchmark in the national logistics sector, managed its high-traffic railway network through a mission-critical core system developed in C++ over a decade ago, containing more than 300,000 lines of undocumented code. The lack of documented support and the scarcity of professionals with in-depth knowledge of the system posed a risk to the evolution of the company's innovation roadmap.

Squadra executed an accelerated, AI-powered, and secure modernization journey in just 90 days, implementing a structured technological migration from legacy to a modern, intelligent, and scalable architecture.

Through Genius - Squadra's AI platform - and the intelligent agent Jack (turing bot), we processed all phases of the software development journey (discovery, design, build, deploy, and growth) to deliver the complete system without affecting operations. All this while prioritizing business context and working with an ecosystem of specialists, intelligent agents, and leading technologies.

What Else Happened on the APIX 2026 Stages?

APIs, Governance, and Orchestration to Mitigate AI Risks in Business

The event began with Kleber Bacili, CEO at Sensedia, and Marcílio Oliveira, CGO at Sensedia, discussing the risks associated with AI's execution power in controlling the scale of large companies.

According to them, it is difficult to measure the impact and costs of AI when you lack control. Furthermore, without governance, the business is exposed, data does not converge, and the company operates in technological and procedural silos. Control over agents and their actions is lost.

In response, the partners presented a new API architecture that considers the AI layer tied to business rules and guardrails, providing control, visibility, and security for companies using AI.

Companies That Are Already Ahead

The evolution of artificial intelligence and intelligent agents requires large companies to start thinking about how to incorporate this technology securely, with governance, and with scalability in mind. Throughout APIX 2026, we saw AI use cases across various market segments:

• In the healthcare sector, open APIs ensure interoperability, enabling technology integration, operational optimization, and improved patient experience and efficiency, without posing risks to the healthcare ecosystem;

• The insurance and public sectors are accelerating digital transformation with APIs that enable complex orchestrations, ensure stability, and provide greater control, reduced risks, and increased speed;

• Open finance is transforming the competitive landscape and accelerating innovation in the financial market, alongside lessons learned and challenges faced amidst regulatory and compliance changes.

• APIs being pushed to their limits to expose validation failures, inconsistencies, vulnerabilities, and inefficient integrations.

Ultimately, What Matters is the Problem

While the market discusses models, prompts, and agents, the vast majority of companies still face a more structural challenge: how to effectively solve complex problems through AI. To achieve this, artificial intelligence demands maturity in data, processes, culture, and people.

We can also add here: AI requires context and a deep dive into business problems. And here, we must ask ourselves several questions to truly transform AI into a competitive advantage:

• What is the problem I want to solve?

• How do I want to solve this problem?

• What are the inputs and what outputs do I expect from the solution?

• What are the internal and external factors affecting this problem?

• Who are the stakeholders affected by the problem and who will be affected by the solution?

• What process underlies this problem?

• What data is relevant in this context?

When the market reaches sufficient maturity to answer all these questions and others that may arise, we will finally see the true scope and potential of AI in business.

This is the reflection that remains from APIX, and this is how we need to challenge ourselves.

Squadra, with its decades of expertise in digital transformation, amplified in recent years by Genius, has Value First in its DNA, contrasting with AI First. We are committed to embracing our clients' problems and, from there, bringing all the technology and platform vision your company needs, using a holistic context to bridge the gap between those truly generating value and those still playing in the AI playground.

Squadra Receives Recognition: Certification Champion Partner

Further strengthening the partnership between Squadra and Sensedia, Rafael Cichini, CMO at Squadra, received the title of Certification Champion Partner on behalf of our company on the APIX 2026 stage.

This recognition reflects a continuous effort towards excellence, leadership, expertise in Sensedia's products, and strengthening of the partnership.

In 2025, we marked a significant milestone by certifying the largest number of professionals by Sensedia, with 84 Squadra employees certified as API Management Specialists. The Squadra team demonstrated mastery of concepts, best practices, governance, and platform usage, skills that led them to certification.

Until the next APIX.

Learn more about our legacy modernization cases with AI. Or schedule a conversation with one of our specialists: [email protected].