It is not new that the government and industries have been giving importance to optimizing the way we produce and consume energy. Much of this focus has been on the conversion of electrical energy into mechanical energy. One reason is the fact that 53% of all electrical energy is consumed by electric motors, according to the International Energy Agency of the United Nations. Considering that the adoption of electric mobility is on the rise, this percentage is likely to increase in the coming decades. However, to meet this energy demand, approximately 6,800 Mt of carbon dioxide (CO2) is emitted, equivalent to the emissions of 2,200 thermal power plants. Therefore, the use of more efficient electric motors could mean a reduction of 6 billion annually in environmental costs, considering only Europe. For the European industry, this optimization currently means saving 10 billion euros annually. As a result, various projects and products have been offered in the market to reformulate and update industrial processes to make them more energy-efficient. Despite the economic factor being quite attractive, transforming existing products and processes can be a very challenging task for the professionals involved. Within some organizations, such projects conflict with certain departments due to the availability of resources, a good understanding of costs, and impacts on the resulting product’s life cycle. A good example is the fact that the energy savings brought by frequency converters carry with them an increase in sensitivity to voltage sags and the introduction of harmonics, raising costs in system risks as a whole. Coupled with this are warranty contracts that are resilient to changes, especially with very new technologies. Can a system using a permanent magnet motor have the same longevity warranty as an induction motor? Thus, many new technologies or solutions that seem very economically attractive in isolation always bring with them challenges and impacts when integrated into large systems, mitigating their benefits. In this lecture, I will present some examples of what I have experienced and learned over 15 years as a professional dealing with the updating of processes/products for greater energy efficiency. In the cases presented here, I hope to be able to explain how important it is to understand that any change in a product requires a holistic view. Sometimes, decisive technical and economic factors are initially invisible in layers of complexity of a process or product production. Identifying them at the earliest possible stage can be the essential element for a successful project.