Romania is a strategic tech hub for the operations of the Brazilian technology multinational Stefanini in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. Farlei Kothe, newly appointed CEO of North America, EMEA, and APAC, shares more on the company's expectations for the year to come, how its growth strategy informs its recruitment plans, and its work in AI.

Some 1,500 people work for Stefanini in Romania, from where the Brazilian-born company delivers services such as application development and maintenance, cybersecurity, the M365 platform, cloud infrastructure, and remote technical support.

The company has global delivery and development centers, with Romania as the main hub for Europe, especially in technology solutions and AI. Romania's skilled talent pool, proficient in various programming and spoken languages, allows the company to meet diverse needs, Kothe explained.

The company already introduced its generative AI assistant, SophieX, which is fluent in over 60 languages and provides real-time translation. Overall, the company anticipates technologies such as AI and automation will be key in optimizing operations and improving customer service, including in Romania.

Stefanini expects another two-digit growth this year, reaching some 14-15%. It comes after two years of notable increase – more than 40% in the EMEA region - fueled by the strong push for digitalization associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, the CEO explained at a press event to announce his expanding responsibilities.

Stefanini, which previously took over a cybersecurity company and a digital marketing agency in Romania, is also considering further acquisitions here or elsewhere. "We look for cloud transformation companies, companies in the AI world, business consulting, companies that are delivering services for the financial market," the CEO said.

Asked about the coming year, Kothe called it "the foundation for the next cycle of four to five years" as the company announced the integration of three of its large regions under his leadership. The operations of Stefanini have been historically split into four regions: Brazil, Latin America, North America – APAC (North America, Asia Pacific), and EMEA. This July, the company decided to group APAC and North America - EMEA, with Kothe taking over as CEO for all the regions. The move is designed to strengthen the company's global presence, enhance operational efficiencies, and help integrate teams across continents for seamless collaboration. For customers, it is meant to offer a unified, consistent experience. For Kothe, who has lived in Romania for the last eight years, it means relocating to the United States.

More about Stefanini's business in Romania and Europe and the company's work in AI in the Q&A below.

How do you expect the role of the Romanian market to evolve in the short term? Do you think it will keep its standing? What factors would influence it?

Farlei Kothe: We are growing here because it is our main delivery center in EMEA. It's expected that the growth is going to show in our numbers here as well. 2022 was a spectacular year. This year, it is not at the same level, but it is still more than the average in the market.

Romania is still a very competitive location. We can deliver a high level of service. That is basically because we have people that are well-prepared here.

What do the plans look like in terms of recruitment?

Farlei Kothe: When we need to grow the business, we need to hire people. Usually, because we have a stronger presence here and the market knows about us, it is easier to attract talent. In Romania, it is true that the country has prepared the young generation for the technology world.

You have recently opened an AI Center of Excellence in the US. How is it different from the centers you have in Romania or in Mexico?

Farlei Kothe: The team there is working on the tools and technologies that we use to provide services for the customers. They are the team working on the Stefanini Artificial Intelligence (SAI) Library or platform. They are based in the US because the person leading the AI division was one of the founders of the AI startup we acquired [e.n. Woopi]. It was how we brought AI to our Stefanini environment, by acquiring this company in Brazil.

How would you compare European and North American companies in terms of AI adoption?

Farlei Kothe: There are some clear differences in how different regions are approaching AI. European countries tend to be more cautious, with regulations like GDPR helping to slow down the rapid adoption of AI. This careful approach is reflected in some countries choosing to limit AI technologies while figuring out the rules. On the other hand, the United States has been quicker to adopt AI, partly because of its large tech companies, which include employees from all over the world. For example, Italy was the first country to restrict ChatGPT when it came out, showing Europe's focus on following rules and ethical concerns while still trying to innovate.

Did you find a regulatory framework in Europe a challenge for Stefanini?

Farlei Kothe: Yes, it was a challenge. The reason is that SophieX, our virtual assistant, performs voice translation, which involves processing personal data from individuals. We found that we spent more time and effort navigating the legal requirements of GDPR to ensure compliance than we did on the actual implementation of the voice translation tool.

Among the companies you work with, what sectors are quicker at adopting AI solutions?

Farlei Kothe: I think the digital banks and the automotive world are key industries speeding up AI adoption. The automotive industry needs to go for it because it's not just the electric cars but the autonomous cars that are coming.

AI is going to play a bigger role when you have scale. Scale is fully connected with automation. Once you have more scalable activities, you will have more benefits from automating. One of our nicest AI implementations is for a manufacturing company, the paint and coating industry. We built one AI solution, which is an algorithm that checks the production line. Each time there is a new product, you need to change the setup of the production line based on the product they produce. If you produce different colors, materials, textures, you need to set up the production line. AI can see the 30-40-50 programs for the production line and see which ones are closer to the ones that are being used at that moment. The AI reads all of them and tells you when to change the order to spend less time changing the production line. It is saving time. If we are talking about 100 factories, even if it's just saving 3%, it is a big scale.

Stefanini has been working with AI for more than ten years. What were some challenging aspects during this time?

Farlei Kothe: [e.n. Fifteen years ago] we acquired Woopi, a Brazilian startup focused on chatbot automation. Now, we have voice automation, but in the past, the chatbot was very new on the market. The chatbot was using AI technology already because AI is not ChatGPT. AI is a concept that has existed for more than 50 years.

When ChatGPT came around, we integrated it with SophieX. The integration of ChatGPT with SophieX demonstrates the tool's adaptability and value. Like any forward-looking company, we leverage emerging market opportunities to enhance our solutions. Many startups fail because they become too focused on their product and overlook external market dynamics that could impact its relevance.

What are you taking away from Romania after eight years here?

Farlei Kothe: My main learning here was to understand the difference between or among different cultures. This experience of facing different types of cultures is helpful, not just in your personal life but in your professional life as well. If you start to understand the difference between regions and countries, you use that to your advantage when you need to make some decisions and drive the organization, because you cannot apply the same recipe - with Romania it's one, in the US it's going to be another one.

The experience was really good on the professional side. On the personal side, I found a country where, by choice, I stayed here for eight years. It was my choice. I could have lived in a different country. We have a great team here and we are getting along very well with everybody.

This new role, along with the integration of the NA/AAPAC and EMEA regions, will require increased travel and a relocation to the USA. Somehow, I'm going to be here; because Romania is our main delivery in Europe. Every 45 days I'm going to come and stay for two weeks in Romania, as here I have the heads of the departments; the other half I will be around Europe visiting customers because I like to stay close to them.

I had my personal life here for many years, my daughter was born here so I'm taking good memories.

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*This interview was edited by Romania Insider for Stefanini.