A letter about the emotion that never left my side over the 30-year journey of CI&T, not as an enemy, but as the force that shaped our courage.

A letter about the emotion that never left my side over the 30-year journey of CI&T, not as an enemy but as the force that shaped our courage.

Over the 30 years of CI&T, one emotion has always been with me: fear. I learned early on that it never goes away, it only changes shape. At first, it was a flutter in my stomach, then a knot I could not untie. Today, it is a constant companion. Not an enemy, but the most honest way to talk to myself.

In 1995, at the age of 23, without fully realizing it, I made the riskiest decision of my life. Born in the countryside of Brazil, the son of a geography teacher and a dental technician, I had no entrepreneurial references in my family. I had no money and no influential connections to open doors. The safe path was right there: a PhD in the United States or job offers from giants like IBM and Oracle. Instead, I chose the uncertain path, starting a technology company in Campinas.

The fear was immense: fear of failing before even beginning, fear of wasting opportunities that seemed bigger than me, fear of bringing people into a dream that might not succeed. But fear gave me clarity. If I was going to be afraid, let it be the fear of regret for not trying. And so CI&T was born.

A few years later, already recognized as a relatively successful company in Brazil, in 2001 I was returning from an event in the United States when the internet bubble finally burst. On the plane, my heart was heavy as I saw fear splashed across the headlines, the markets, and within myself. And yet, mid-flight, my instinct told me that despite all that fear, the internet would transform everything. This was not the time to retreat. It was the moment to double down.

When I landed, I gathered all 80 people at CI&T, all of us cornered by the crisis, and I defended a bold thesis: it was time to internationalize the company. When we gave voice to the fear we all felt, it lost its poison and became energy. From fear came courage. Fear would paralyze many, but for us it became fuel. If the market froze, it was precisely the time to accelerate.

It took us years to find the path, but in that moment the plan was born that would lead us to become a global company. That decision set us on a path of global expansion. Fear did not disappear, it evolved, preparing me for an even more personal challenge.

In 2010, as we were accelerating in the United States, we were winning the growth game in the most competitive market in the world. It was a necessary climb, the chance to prove that a Brazilian company could compete globally. But inside me, another kind of fear emerged: the fear of becoming an obstacle to the very dream we had built. That fear was transformative. It forced me to evolve, to let go of control, to trust my team, and to grow alongside the company.

Years later, as CI&T reached new heights, fear revealed a different form. In New York, at the end of 2021, on the day of our IPO, amid bells and applause, it reminded me that success can be as dangerous as failure if it distances us from our essence. It kept me realistic, grounded, and because of that, courageous.

In early 2023, it showed up again, this time as something more urgent. For the first time, I clearly saw that artificial intelligence could pose an existential threat to our industry. That fear was visceral. Because of it, I made a decision: CI&T would not be a passenger in this revolution. We would be protagonists. There was no room for hesitation. Once again, fear ignited our future.

Courage is not the absence of fear. Courage is moving forward in spite of it. It is turning panic into discipline, anxiety into energy, risk into reinvention. And when fear is shared, it dissolves. I saw this in 1995, in 2001, in 2010, in 2021, in 2023, and many other times: entire teams transforming fear into action. That is the power of vulnerability. It builds trust, unites, and moves us forward.

That is why I do not wish for a future without fear. May it continue to guide us, as a mirror of what matters, as a warning against arrogance, as a force to keep us dreaming bigger.

Three hearts full of fear in 1995 became 80 determined warriors in 2001, and today, 8,000 minds across the world carry that dream forward. Fear is still with us, but it has become something greater: collective courage, the force that brought us here and will carry us beyond.