It was May 5, 2014, my first meeting as a CI&Ter. Around the table sat ten minds: architects, directors, executives, and two of the founders.

What unfolded before me wasn’t just a meeting; it was a vivid display of intellectual integrity. Ideas clashed not as weapons, but as instruments of refinement. When the architect gently disputed the CEO’s point, and the room rallied behind the more compelling argument, I realized I had crossed into unfamiliar territory. In the corporate worlds I had known, deference to hierarchy was the silent rule. But here, in this sunlit room of shared ideas, the old command-and-control model evaporated. I had witnessed a truth I would hear echoed often: the room is smarter than the individual.

In my first management PDCA meetings, it became clear that people were at the heart of this place. Conversations flowed across business, clients, and technology, always through the perspective of “people.” CI&T lived its creed: We develop people before we develop software. In a world still wrestling with the residues of 20th-century rigidity, this felt like the 21st century breathing fresh air on a stifling day.

Beyond being collaborative, the CI&T culture was invigorating. Here, authenticity had room to stretch. Eyes sparkled with purpose. And in this paradox of collective brilliance, the individual became more empowered than in cultures that glorify the lone wolf. CI&T understood something timeless and rare: collaboration is a multiplier. Back in 1995, to build a company around genuine collaboration was not just bold — it was visionary.

As I moved deeper into the weave of this culture, one feeling rose above the rest: gratitude. It emerged not as a fleeting sentiment, but as a quiet force — a recognition that none of us achieves anything alone. Gratitude humbles us, yet strengthens us. It dissolves barriers and reveals how much we owe to those around us. In this light, CI&T’s belief in diverse perspectives and collective building became not just smart, but sacred.
Gratitude is the unseen catalyst, the magic enzyme that activates the entire system.

Gratitude invites respect and nurtures humility. Together, they form the soil from which resilience and adaptability grow. It walks hand in hand with listening — a listening that is not passive, but profound. In that kind of environment, we are free to err, to learn, to evolve. We’re more resilient and adaptive individuals. It is the soil of win-win.

Those who live with gratitude see farther, feel deeper. They perceive the world not as lacking, but as full. They give more, and somehow, they receive more in return. This, to me, is the essence of a CI&Ter: someone who carries these values home, to clients, and back again, expanding a circle of positive influence. And who, in the end, is the utmost beneficiary? Society.

Perhaps that is why clients feel drawn to CI&T. Doing successful digital business requires quality, speed, and scale, all combined. And only a genuinely collaborative, creative, and innovation-oriented environment generates this ecosystem. And gratitude, ever quietly, oils this entire engine.

I owe thanks to so many along this journey. But above all, I’m grateful to be part of a place brave enough to lead change and humble enough to keep reinventing itself. CI&T makes me a better human being. And in the end, what more could we ask? We are, all of us, just human.

Thank you.