Felipe Parra
Marketing Manager
Rubens, an electronic engineer, born in San Roque, Sao Paulo, has traveled to different geographies of the world, and today he is focused on listening to customers to be the best possible partner.
Rubens has developed a professional career that has taken him to different countries such as the United States, India, Argentina, Chile and some places in Europe, where he acquired an apprenticeship that he still appreciates today. “Everything I did since 1997, when I started working with the Cisco team, then at Alcatel and other more global companies, allowed me to gain experience and get to know the markets that mattered to me, but I wanted to return to Brazil and work in more local companies that saw the part of the infrastructure, data center, personal computers, in general, services. After that, I started connecting with Microsoft partners who saw more global business and was able to achieve a pre-sales leader position,” he recalls.
Rubens currently enjoys the hybrid modality that the pandemic opened and that has allowed him to spend more time with his children (4 and 11 years old), disconnect and “clean his mind” as he tells. In fact, the flexible work model offered by Connectis was one of the aspects that seduced him. It was at the beginning of 2022 when he joined the company in the position of Head of Pre-Sales Latam.
“I’ve only been here for a short time, but in reality, it seems to me that I’ve been at Connectis for years. They received me very well, both the leaders and the companions. What I see is that it is a company that promotes that closeness between people”, he says smiling.
Rubens speaks serenely as if caressing each idea, he transmits. That peace of mind is the same one he must apply to the process of making his own craft beer. “I love making my own beer. It is a 2-to-3-hour process that I take it easy and enjoy. I do it to share with friends and for when I have events or meetings… for the end of the year with Connectis, for example”. And it has a name. It is called Angel Ale, after his wife.
The DNA of the company is as important as its own workers and in this sense, the engineer has a clear vision. “At Connectis there is a very clear culture oriented towards innovation and service because it is what the client must have no matter what. We understand the business of our clients with a future perspective, we seek to understand their needs and identify a service offer”.
Rubens is convinced, after his long career, that companies or organizations require a more creative and interactive environment where there are no rules for everything. “Microsoft, for example, did an internal survey that showed that 60% of people who want to go back to the office do so because they need to be more connected to their teams. On the other hand, 68% of those who prefer the home office feel that this way they have more interaction with their colleagues. So, if you look closely, everyone wants the same thing: to be connected with others.”
Listening is a verb that is present all the time in Rubens’s conversation. “Our great challenge is to listen a lot to the client and try to understand and identify where we can contribute. The client has to feel heard, and understood. That is why our team is made up of highly technical professionals, spanning various technologies and partners, but also strong and honest communication skills.”
The centrality of listening does not only respond to the imperative of adjusting the offer of services and products to the specific and differential needs of each client. It is also a more central aspect of the Connectis philosophy, which is knowing and recognizing the customer’s culture. “Just as there is diversity among people, there is diversity in the world of organizations. There are companies whose culture is highly oriented towards merit, or autonomy, or social or financial recognition. You have to recognize them to make the best possible contribution.”
In the end, Rubens concludes, “we are people who are going to talk to other people to find the best solution together”.
