Banca de DEFESA: PAULO ROBERTO BARBOSA DE MIRANDA

Uma banca de DEFESA de MESTRADO foi cadastrada pelo programa.
STUDENT : PAULO ROBERTO BARBOSA DE MIRANDA
DATE: 27/02/2026
TIME: 09:00
LOCAL: Sala de videoconferência do Google: meet.google.com/rqi-daep-zkj
TITLE:

SABIDO: A JOURNEY TO BOOST THE COMPETITIVENESS
OF NECESSITY-DRIVEN EARLY-STAGE ENTREPRENEURS

KEY WORDS:

Entrepreneurial science; Necessity entrepreneurship; Generative Artificial Intelligence; Individual Microentrepreneurs; WhatsApp Business

PAGES: 107
BIG AREA: Ciências Sociais Aplicadas
AREA: Administração
SUBÁREA: Administração de Empresas
SUMMARY:

The dissertation starts from the diagnosis that necessity entrepreneurship in Brazil results from the combination of persistent unemployment, high informality, low levels of schooling, and financial exclusion, which leads millions of people, especially in the North and Northeast, to rely on subsistence microbusinesses operating with thin margins, intuitive management, and intensive use of WhatsApp, but with very low levels of structure in terms of planning, market, and finance. In this context, a gap is identified: although WhatsApp is the main technology channel for small businesses, most of the available digital solutions are transactional (sales, billing, customer service) and offer little guided support for the basic structuring of the business in accessible language for low‑income, low‑literacy entrepreneurs. The overall objective is to develop and evaluate a SaaS platform, called SABIDO, that automates WhatsApp conversations using generative AI to boost the competitiveness of first‑time necessity entrepreneurs by supporting the organization of their businesses across four dimensions: planning, market, finance, and implementation of ideas. Methodologically, this is an applied, mixed‑methods study structured along two axes: technological development and innovation management. The technological development axis follows stages of problem validation (Problem Tree, 5 Whys, and field research with microentrepreneurs), ideation using the i9W matrix, prototyping of a “lean conversational canvas” with 12 questions grouped into four blocks, and usability testing with 23 artisans in Mossoró/RN, including usage log analysis and application of a structured questionnaire. The innovation management axis encompasses market analysis (TAM, SAM, and SOM), competitive analysis involving fintechs, automation platforms, support institutions, and face‑to‑face methodologies, as well as business model design for the platform and discussion of its SDG and ESG impacts. The results show that participants exhibit low managerial and financial maturity, intensive use of WhatsApp, and almost no prior experience with AI; however, 100% state that SABIDO helped them gain a clearer view of management and innovation, and 65.22% report that the tool was their first contact with AI applied to their business. The study concludes that the combination of generative AI and WhatsApp, operationalized in SABIDO as a guided conversational journey, can translate entrepreneurial science concepts into simple language, acting as a first digital step in business structuring for necessity entrepreneurs and opening up scaling opportunities for productive inclusion policies and small‑business support programs.

COMMITTEE MEMBERS:
Presidente - 1753896 - ZULMARA VIRGINIA DE CARVALHO
Interno - 1753123 - CARLOS ALEXANDRE CAMARGO DE ABREU
Interno - ***.133.498-** - CRISTIANO ALVES DA SILVA - UFSC
Externo ao Programa - 1675779 - LUIZ EDUARDO CUNHA LEITE - UFRNExterno à Instituição - RAFAEL DEMETRIUS RODRIGUES DE SOUSA - UERN