The traditional model of innovation diffusion, in which wealthy Western economies dictate the rate of adoption of new technologies, is being reversed. The latest Cisco and OECD data from 8 December 2025 shows that India, Brazil, Mexico and South Africa have become global leaders in the use of generative artificial intelligence. However, this technological accelerator has a second bottom – the growing challenges of digital wellbeing.
Until recently, it was assumed that infrastructure barriers in emerging economies would delay the implementation of advanced AI tools. Reality has verified these predictions. Not only do users from the Global South show a higher level of activity in using GenAI, but they also have significantly more confidence in the algorithms than respondents from Europe or the US. The Old Continent, despite easier access to technology, is currently characterised by greater scepticism and caution.
The key to understanding this phenomenon is demographics. We are dealing with the emergence of ‘Generation AI’ – a group of people under the age of 35 for whom artificial intelligence is a natural part of the digital ecosystem. More than 75 per cent of representatives of this group find AI tools useful, and almost half of millenials and Generation Z have already had their first training in this area. At the other extreme are the over-55s, where uncertainty is prevalent, often due to a lack of knowledge rather than the actual shortcomings of the technology.
An important conclusion flows from this: technology adoption alone is no longer a meaningful indicator of success. Research within the Digital Well-being Hub reveals a worrying correlation in countries with the highest digitalisation rates. There, intensive use of screens for entertainment (more than five hours a day) is associated with a decline in well-being and greater emotional vacillation.
Guy Diedrich of Cisco rightly points out that the indicator of success should not be the number of users, but the real impact of the tools on the quality of work and life. The challenge for 2026 and beyond therefore shifts from the area of infrastructure accessibility to the field of education and digital hygiene. Without bridging the skills gap – both geographic and generational – and taking care of ‘digital wellbeing’, the enthusiasm of emerging markets may quickly collide with the barrier of digital burnout. For integrators and solution providers, this means offering technology as a package with informed education, not just as a boxed product.
