Amazon, including Amazon Web Services, and Lexi AI (Boston, MA) have won the Grand (“best of show”) Stevie® Award trophies in the second Stevie Awards for Technology Excellence. 

The Stevie Awards for Technology Excellence is an international business awards competition open to all organizations worldwide. The awards recognize the remarkable accomplishments of individuals, teams, and organizations shaping the future of technology across all industry sectors. The competition’s Gold, Silver, and Bronze Stevie winners in the various categories were announced last week and are listed at www.StevieAwards.com/Tech.  

This is the second year in a row that Amazon, including Amazon Web Services, has won the Grand Stevie for Organization of the Year in the competition, with 49 award points earned through three Gold, eight Silver, and 16 Bronze Stevie wins. To determine the Organization of the Year Grand winner, each Gold Stevie win counts for three points, each Silver Stevie for two points, and each Bronze Stevie win for one-and-a-half points.

The Grand Stevie Award for the Highest-Rated Nomination of the Year goes to Lexi AI, a Boston-based healthcare startup that helps people with Limited English Proficiency (LEP) navigate the healthcare system.

Founded in 2025, Lexi has gained traction with top institutions including Mass General Brigham, Mayo Clinic, and Lowell Community Health Center. The company has secured $100K in non-dilutive funding and won numerous other awards, including the HBS New Venture Competition Grand Prize, the iF Gold Design Award, and first place at the Longevity Venture Summit. In the Stevie Awards for Technology Excellence, the firm won a Gold Stevie for Best New Healthcare Technology Product, with an average score of 9.5 out of a possible 10.

Winners will be celebrated and presented with their Stevie Awards during a joint awards ceremony with the tenth annual Stevie Awards for Great Employers at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in New York City on September 16. Tickets are now on sale. The presentations will be broadcast live.

More than 1,500 nominations from organizations in 35 nations and territories were evaluated in this year’s competition. Winners were determined by the average scores of more than 160 professionals worldwide, acting as judges. Some of the other organizations with winning nominations announced last week include Apple, Bank of America, Capital One, Cisco Systems, Dell, Doordash, Ford Motor Company, Google, IBM, Intuit, JPMorgan Chase, Meta, Microsoft Corporation, Salesforce, and Snowflake, among others.

The Stevie Awards for Technology Excellence recognize achievement in many facets of technology. Categories are grouped in 20 technology-industry sections:

• Advertising, Marketing & Public Relations Technology
• Aerospace Technology
• Agricultural Technology
• Architectural Technology
• Artificial Intelligence
• Assistive Technology
• Biotechnology
• Business Technology
• Communication Technology
• Educational Technology
• Energy Technology
• Entertainment Technology
• Financial Technology
• Government Technology
• Green and Clean Technology
• Healthcare Technology
• Information Technology
• Manufacturing Technology
• Marine Technology
• Transportation Technology

The awards are presented by the Stevie Awards, which organizes nine of the world’s leading business awards shows, including The International Business Awards® and The American Business Awards®.

As little as 20 years ago, there was hardly any discussion of technological advancements coming out of Latin America. Rather, people were laser focused on Silicon Valley and the waves of talent and innovation flocking to San Francisco, California, United States. However, with the help of government initiatives, large private investments, and significant economic growth in the early 2010s, as well as the sheer will and drive of local citizens, many Latin American countries entered into the technological arena. They were soon producing products and talent on a scale comparable to anything seen in the First World. The countries most often associated with this boom are Brazil, Chile, Argentina, Colombia, and Mexico.

Fully understanding this phenomenon is not possible by simply identifying individual contributing factors. The movement is a response to many complicated and interconnected social, political, economic, and geographic influences. Here are just a few of those constituent reasons Latin America has enjoyed this development.

The Transformative Influence of the Internet

In this instance, the transformative effect of the internet cannot be understated. While many industries rely on physical infrastructure or advanced equipment, IT companies can thrive with little more than internet connectivity, a laptop, a proclivity for the material, and hard work. Coming from a place with limited physical infrastructure or resources does not preclude you from succeeding in the digital sphere, and the opportunities that affords people throughout Latin America have been statistically significant.

One 2015 report by the World Trade Organization identified Argentina as the world’s eighth-largest exporter of computer services. This can be seen in companies like Belatrix Software, which was founded in Mendoza, Argentina, and currently innovates and thrives in the digital arena.

“Belatrix Software helps companies turn ideas into great software products,” says Alex Robbio, the company’s president and cofounder. “We currently have over 700 employees, as well as offices in the United States, Argentina, Peru, Colombia, and Spain. We’re growing rapidly, but our vision remains the same: to be the best Latin American software product development and innovation firm.”

The work being done in these Argentina-based computer companies isn’t isolated to Latin America, either. Many of the companies are earning international acclaim and recognition. Belatrix Software, for example, was recently recognized with a Silver Stevie® Award for Company of the Year in the category of Computer Services in The 2019 American Business Awards®. Robbio also earned an individual Bronze Stevie Award for Executive of the Year in Computer Services.

The 2020 edition of The American Business Awards will open in October. If you are interested in winning a Stevie Awards in 2019 request the entry kit for The International Business Awards.

English as the Unofficial Language of Business

Despite not being the world’s most widely spoken language, English is, for all intents and purposes, the de facto language of international business. While China used to top the charts for English proficiency, Latin American countries have started to surpass the Asian power in this metric. According to the 2018 EF English Proficiency Index, Argentina was the highest-rated South American country on the list (coming in at #27), while China fell to the 47^th spot.

Many speculate that its increasing proficiency in English has helped launch Argentina to the forefront of international business, including those projects within the technological realm.

Time Differences Make a Difference

Especially when technology and innovation are involved, it’s more conducive when people work collaboratively. Although it might seem like a throwaway factor, the time difference between the United States and any given Latin American country is significant. For example, the time difference between San Francisco, California, United States—a major U.S.-based technological hub—and Beijing, China, is 15 hours. That makes coordinating workdays and efforts extremely difficult. The time difference between California and Buenos Aires, Argentina, however, is only four hours—a much more surmountable obstacle.

Government Initiatives Provide Financial and Logistical Help

Arguably one of the most significant factors that pushed technology throughout Latin America is the support and efforts of the nations’ governments. Argentina, for example, offers all adults free higher education. Plus, its government invested significantly in Program.AR, an initiative to help teachers integrate computer programming into the national public-school curriculum.

Similarly, in Colombia, 80 percent of the costs associated with studying in the information technology field are covered. In Mexico, thanks in part to governmental initiatives, the country produced the eighth-highest number of engineer graduates in 2015.

With the financial backing and logistical support of national-level governments, results in this sector have been quick and effective.

The Future of Tech

While no one can say definitively what the future of technology holds, Latin America seems poised to continue ascending in the industry. If more national-level and regional policies throw money and support behind engineering and computer science education, it’s conceivable the next seat of tech insight will be a lot farther south than Silicon Valley.