Brazil’s most successful digital entrepreneur has a clear message for German business leaders.

In an interview, Marco Stefanini, Global CEO and founder of the Stefanini Group, articulates Brazil’s offer to German industry. It is worth considering his proposal for joint value creation—even beyond the exciting days of HANNOVER MESSE 2026.

Marco, if you look back to 2012, when you came with President Dilma to CeBIT and she said Brazil wants to become a leading country in digitization – what are the biggest changes you see now?
After 2012, just one year later, Brazil went through a very serious crisis. Almost three years. It was a very tough time for Brazil. And I have to say, unfortunately, I think we lost some opportunities during that period. After that we had this political turbulence. And if you evaluate the total package of the years since then, it was not so great.
In terms of digitalization, though, I understand Brazil is doing a good job. Brazil has a large population – more than 200 million people – very open to new ideas, to innovation, to digital solutions. In that respect, I think Brazil is doing well. That is a turning point.
In the past, when I spoke to the press, the world was more stable. Developing countries, developed countries – there was a certain order. Nowadays I see the opposite. The developed countries are becoming unstable. We are in the middle of extreme geopolitical tensions. With military pressure from Russia, political pressure from the US and economic pressure from China – Germany is like a barometer for Europe – you have serious challenges, including not only energy but the total package of the economic situation. This is the big difference. The world has changed a lot – maybe not in the direction we expected.

In the past, developing countries were unstable and developed countries were stable. Nowadays I see the opposite.

You had lunch with Chancellor Merz. Is Germany more open now – not only for commodities from Brazil, the old export model – but for Brazil as a partner in digitization and development in general?

I think so. Of course, we are not at the same level. Germany is a much more developed country. But I think Germany, even more than other European countries, is more open. They see the advantage of opening new markets. When you make agreements with other countries, there are always pros and cons – you give something, you receive something. I think Germany has a better understanding of that than some other European countries.

And I think Germany now understands: we need to look for alternatives. Because the largest economic impact from Chinese competition is felt most strongly here in Germany – especially in the manufacturing and automotive sectors. Competing with Chinese companies is not easy. I think Germany has changed its perspective.

Germany is facing more challenges with digital transformation. A very high level of quality, the country has worked very well, but there is a difficulty in embracing a digital mindset.

Of course, it also depends on us, on Brazil’s side – we need to do our part. But what I like is this: Germany has always been very proud of its history, its quality, its process in manufacturing. That is great. But since then, and especially in the last few years, Germany is facing more challenges with digital transformation. Sometimes I compare it with Japan – very high level of quality, the country has worked very well, but there is a difficulty in embracing a digital mindset. In this sense, I think Brazil can bring a more open digital mindset.

And part of my vision for the future of manufacturing is delivering more value-added services alongside products.For example – and I like tangible examples – look at elevators. You don’t make money with the elevator itself. You make money with the maintenance services. And to do that, you need a slightly different mindset that combines service, manufacturing and production. In this way, I think Brazil can genuinely help with this combination.
„Germany has always been very proud of its quality and its manufacturing processes. But combining service and manufacturing requires a different mindset – and this is where Brazil can help.“

One of your core messages is about reducing costs through AI implementation – and that a 5 % cost reduction these days is often easier to win than a corresponding increase in turnover and profit. Do you have the impression that German industry is open to this message?

I think so. It is beginning to create opportunities. In manufacturing, the sector tends to be more conservative – more or less like the insurance industry. Not a criticism, just an observation. But I think there is a good opening, because it is very clear that AI can bring a lot of value. This morning, in fact, I read something in the Financial Times: in terms of energy efficiency, an AI application achieved 17 %. That is an incredible number, at very low CapEx, in a short project timeline of six to nine months. But we need to change the mindset. This is a challenge globally, not only here. And when you are under pressure – as Germany is right now – you are almost obliged to do things differently. That can be a good thing.

 We are also proud of our diversified delivery centers. Most of our competitors – not only the Indian companies – centralize almost all deliveries in India, for cost reasons. We have a different strategy.

Stefanini is global – like Mercedes, Bosch, or many of the German Mittelstand companies you know from Sao Paulo. Does that global presence help you in the sales process? And is your strategy driven more by headquarters relationships or local subsidiaries?

We are always stronger in markets where companies are more global themselves. Germany and Switzerland are good examples – their businesses are much more global, so our global presence is a natural advantage. If you look at individual countries, we are quite small. But when you look at the total, we are well positioned. In countries like Italy and Spain, where businesses are much more local, we have more difficulty. That is exactly why we made an acquisition in Italy – to have a strong local delivery capacity, speaking Italian, understanding the culture. So yes, when we have a client that is global or at least multi-country, our model is an advantage. We are also proud of our diversified delivery centers. Most of our competitors – not only the Indian companies – centralize almost all deliveries in India, for cost reasons. We have a different strategy. Of course, we also deliver from India. But we are much more diversified: Brazil, Latin America, North America, Eastern Europe – Poland, Romania, Moldova – and also Asia, including India, the Philippines and China. This means we can offer a better balance between senior and junior talent, and more cultural proximity to the client. We position ourselves as a challenger. We have 35,000 employees today – which sounds large, but our biggest competitors have 300,000 or 400,000. We are mid-sized: large enough to be global and have good structure, small enough to remain customer-centric and flexible. That is our positioning.

We are a challenger. Large enough to be global, small enough to still be truly customer-centric.

Stefanini’s growth over the last 15 years – is it driven by a strict strategy, or also by the good old Brazilian tradition of seizing opportunities?

We have a strategic plan. In the last 15 years, we have deliberately avoided big deals. Statistically, most acquisitions globally fail. So we prefer mid-sized or small deals: we spread and mitigate the risk, and we build our portfolio incrementally. We are a private company – we don’t have the funds of a publicly listed giant. We need to be efficient. We prefer to buy solutions and capabilities rather than pure market share.
Organic growth is still more important to us than acquisitions. The combination of organic growth plus targeted acquisitions is more difficult – it’s easier to grow through one big deal that brings a big number. But I think our model is more sustainable. We fight small battles all the time, rather than one big event.

How do you keep the Stefanini spirit of customer orientation, culture, consistency across all the acquisitions, subsidiaries and verticals?

It’s not easy. We are not perfect – we are always working on it. But a few things matter. First: in the last 30 years, we have always given more autonomy to the frontline. That is our DNA. Second: part of my job is to be a cultural ambassador. Our culture is what we call „frontline obsession“ – listening not only to clients but also to our own teams. Third: we continuously upgrade our business model. Because when you give a lot of autonomy, businesses can become too independent, and it becomes difficult to keep quality consistent. Balancing autonomy and standards is a constant challenge.

Maybe we are a little like a German company: not the loudest in the room, but with good products and solid results. We need to change that – a little.

We are also organizing ourselves into verticals. Today we have seven of it. That is a simple and effective way to expand the message, internally first, then externally.
And honestly, one of our biggest challenges in the next two to three years is marketing. I think we have been too shy. We haven’t invested enough attention or budget in presenting ourselves to the market. Some of our competitors do a much better job at marketing – maybe, I joke, because we are a little like a German company in that respect: we are not the loudest, but we have good products and solid results.
In the end, you need both: good content and good marketing. We should have both. Being a little less shy – sustainably, without overpromising – that is one of our important goals.