AI Agents: The New Frontier of the Job Market

The Brazilian tech market is booming. After ChatGPT launched, the entire industry pivoted toward artificial intelligence, creating unprecedented demand for specialized professionals.

But here’s the problem: there aren’t enough people.

The Market Paradox

Chris Faig, VP of Technology at Microsoft Brazil, summarized the situation precisely: “There’s a ton of opportunity, but few people to do the work.”

The numbers are impressive. According to Robert Half’s 2025 Salary Guide and Michael Page research, AI professionals in Brazil command monthly salaries ranging from $3,000 to $6,400. The average for a junior professional already exceeds $3,200. Seniors can expect $4,200 or more.

Technology, banking, startups, and retail lead the hiring. But sectors like healthcare, education, and media are also competing for the same limited talent pool.

The Two Pillars of AI

To understand the market, you need to distinguish between two branches of artificial intelligence:

Predictive AI (Classic): Focus on data analysis, pattern recognition, and predictions. This powers facial recognition, semi-autonomous vehicles, assistants like Siri and Alexa, and recommendation systems.

Generative AI (GenAI): Focus on creating original content — text, images, videos, code. This is the territory of ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and crucially, autonomous agents.

The second branch is where demand is growing fastest. And it’s where AI agents enter the picture.

What Are AI Agents?

AI agents are systems that go beyond answering questions. They can act autonomously to execute complex, multi-step tasks.

Unlike simple chatbots, agents can:

Make decisions based on context
Execute actions in the real world
Learn and adapt through feedback
Orchestrate multiple tools
Work in collaboration with humans

The applications are vast: automated customer service that resolves issues without human intervention, document analysis at scale, assisted software development, and automation of complex processes.

What This Means For Your Company

Here’s the question business owners and executives should be asking: while we compete for scarce talent, how do we build internal capacity?

The answer isn’t waiting for the perfect professional to appear on the market. They’re probably busy and too expensive anyway.

The answer is building strategically. This means:

Developing your existing team: Professionals with solid foundations in programming and data analysis can be upskilled in AI with the right investment.

Identifying high-impact applications: Don’t try to boil the ocean. Find the processes where AI agents can generate measurable returns.

Implementing with governance: Speed matters, but not at the cost of control. Poorly implemented AI systems create more problems than they solve.

The Skills That Actually Matter

The market demands a specific combination of technical and soft skills.

On the technical side: knowledge of AI and Machine Learning, programming (especially Python), cloud computing, and familiarity with immersive technologies.

On the human side: leadership, emotional intelligence, creative thinking, and critical thinking. These are the skills that differentiate a technician from a professional who can lead transformation initiatives.

The good news? Soft skills can be developed. And many companies already have professionals with the right profile — they just need the proper training.

The Path Forward

If your company is looking at agentic AI, there are three questions to consider:

Where are we today? Maturity assessment before any investment.
Which processes would be most impacted? Focus on high-value applications, not technology for technology’s sake.
How do we ensure control? Implementation with governance built in, not bolted on afterward.

The talent shortage isn’t going away anytime soon. But companies that invest in internal capacity — developing people and implementing systems with the right support — will navigate this shortage better than those simply competing for hires in the open market.

Victorino Group works with companies that want to implement agentic AI without losing control. If you want to understand what this means for your operation, let’s talk.