Santos Brasil

In an interview with Ricardo Miranda, CIO, CTO and Technological Director of Santos Brazil, he elaborates on his experiences and shares insights from a technological perspective.

1. As the CIO, CTO and Technological Director of Santos Brazil, what, according to you, are the significant factors that are driving the need for increasing spendings on data management and other digital technologies?

It´s very clear that the world is increasingly sophisticated. I have no doubts business competitiveness necessarily involves the correct usage of technology. In this context, digital technologies are more complex because they are pulverized and with few pre-built models – there is no one size fits all. We invest in data management to support our decisionmaking in several fronts such as market intelligence, people management, operational and financial forecasting. Thus, we democratize the power of data and its insights for the entire company. The aim is to make more assertive and bold decisions. We have truly revamped ourselves into a data-driven company.

Beyond analytics, we also take good operational advantages by making use of Internet of Things, Optical Character Recognition, Robotic Process Automation, Biometric, Digital Twin, among others. In addition to investing in digital technologies, we cannot overlook investments in classic technologies, hybrid infrastructure and people development. Digital technologies alone do not go very far.

Furthermore, Santos Brasil seeks to actively contribute to environment sustainability. Electrical equipment and artificial intelligence play an important role at Container Terminal Santos for its expansion and modernization. It’s part of the decarbonization strategy that is being developed by the company.

2. What is your opinion on the long-term impact of digitizing finance and operations within an organization?

Even if the term digital transformation is not recent, I understand digitalization still has a lot of space to conquer in companies. In finance, for instance, accounting closings will require minimal human intervention and results will be available within minutes after the closing period. In operations, decisionmaking based on artificial intelligence will be widespread and execution will be done by autonomous equipment. We will have simplification of the front-end but much more complexity behind the scenes – all organizations will become more and more dependent on technology.

“Another point to highlight, companies are not alone anymore, the more technological the chain of suppliers, customers and other stakeholders is, greater are the opportunities to gain efficiency”

3. Along with the extensive use of data analytics and robotic process automation, what are some of the new technological innovations that enable an organization to take operational efficiency to the next level?

I have to mention human being even if it´s not a technological innovation. But it´s the core to evaluate, adapt and integrate a set of technologies. People are the enablers.

According to my experience, the best results come from simplification and integration. Another point to highlight, companies are not alone anymore, the more technological the chain of suppliers, customers and other stakeholders is, greater are the opportunities to gain efficiency. In a highlevel technological scenario, Robotic Process Automation has its value reduced since we can apply more robust integration techniques.

Operational efficiency means using fewer resources – all kinds of resources – to make it fast and customized without losing quality. In that direction, technologies such as IoT, Robotics, Drones, Artificial Intelligence and Extended Reality can bring huge business benefits. For example, we take advantage of advanced algorithms to simulate capacity constraints and optimize operational flow.

4. Before your stint at Santos Brasil, what experiences empowered you to gain deep expertise in creating disruptive solutions directed towards leading large-scale digital transformation projects?

I have had amazing experiences while working with a great mix of leaders, large-scale companies, global projects involving multicultural environment and pioneering technologies. At the end, disruptive solutions touch people and the sense to see what is not on the table is a key point.

Innovation is to make it different and better. Disruptive solutions mean unconventional choices. Choosing an immature or non-scalable technology will probably make the project sink. The shipwreck of projects is usually not related to technology. Never underestimate the power of people´s eyes and minds. Classic pitfalls such as poor change management, lack of transparency, mutant scope and weak sponsorship cannot bloom.

5. On an ending note, what is your advice for other senior leaders and CXOs working in the digital transformation space?

We are bombarded by new technologies from all sides, at all times. Deciding by an early-stage technology is not an easy task. Quite often I see myself in the ungrateful mission of trying to predict the future in order to understand if certain technology will survive and be prevalent. Be careful when expectations are at the peak and always trust distrusting.