This thesis investigates how the role of business trust (CE) influences the effects that barriers to innovation (BI) have on the integration of companies into business ecosystems (IEN), as well as analyzing to what extent this integration, associated with the adoption of Artificial Intelligence (AIA), impacts innovation in sustainable business models (IMNS). The study specifically analyzes to what extent CE - measured from the Industrial Business Trust Index (ICEI), measured by the CNI in May 2023 - influences cause and effect relationships, whether in the analysis of how IEN impacts the performance of IMNS and whether AIA mediates this relationship, or in the analysis of how BI varies its effects on IEN, AIA, and IMNS according to the different levels of CE. With a sample of 302 companies from the Brazilian manufacturing sector, data collection was carried out through a survey applied in May 2023, focusing on IMNS practices, with questionnaires directed to the leaders and strategic C-level executives of these companies. The results reveal differentiated effects between high- and low-trust contexts, offering and strategically valuable empirical evidence on the systemic role of business trust, especially as a mitigating mechanism for BI, strengthening the integration of companies into business ecosystems, driving AI adoption, and driving IMNS performance. Thus, the thesis contributes to the theoretical and managerial advancement in discussions on trust, ecosystems, business models, innovation, and sustainability.