|---Module:text|Size:Small---| In a featured interview with Human, Sónia Vasconcelos, People Executive Director at Celfocus, explores how technology, data, and people intersect to drive digital transformation and sustainable growth. She discusses how Celfocus leverages innovation, AI, and analytics to help companies become more competitive and “future ready”.
Here’s the full interview transcription:
How would you introduce Celfocus and how do you view its journey in the corporate world?
Celfocus is a European company that develops information technology and systems integration solutions that promote and accelerate its clients’ digital transformation, contributing decisively to the sustainable growth of their businesses. To this end, it focuses on maximising the value of data, realising the potential of the interaction between human capital and artificial intelligence, in the areas of Analytics, Machine Learning, Cognitive and Automation. With solid experience in sectors such as Telecommunications and Financial Services, it has more recently been developing IT solutions for Retail, Energy & Utilities, and the Pharmaceutical Industry.
With clients in more than 25 countries, Celfocus was founded in 2000 as a joint venture between Novabase and Vodafone Portugal and is now fully owned by Novabase. Throughout its journey, Celfocus has stood out for its ability to innovate, learn and adapt, always driven by the purpose of using technology and people to anticipate client needs.
What is the company’s value proposition to the market?
To create value for all stakeholders, with a focus on our clients’ business. We aim to contribute to more competitive and sustainable businesses that turn data into added value. From identifying data to creating mechanisms and infrastructures that ensure its quality and usability and identifying actionable information. We do this through Analytics, Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence to enable better decision-making and optimise operations. We help our clients move from reactive to proactive behaviour, simplifying and automating processes, improving productivity and predicting or preventing errors, with the goal of making operations increasingly robust and efficient, while significantly reducing human intervention.
What does the rapid technological innovation we’ve witnessed mean for the company?
It represents both an opportunity and a responsibility. On one hand, an opportunity to explore new technologies to create real impact on our clients’ businesses, on the development and fulfilment of our people, on society and individuals in general. On the other, it brings the responsibility to do so in an ethical, sustainable and human way.
The speed of innovation forces us to adopt an agile, flexible culture, open to learning and experimentation across all areas of Celfocus.
From a business perspective, rapid technological innovation is always an opportunity for Celfocus. It is through these technological evolutions that our clients’ challenges arise, and where our commitment to knowledge and engineering enables us to develop truly innovative projects, based on real use cases, with direct impact on our clients’ business and on the development of our people.
How has the company leveraged it to generate value in its activity?
Digital innovation is Celfocus’ DNA. It is our main driver to create impact in our clients’ business and to attract and develop the best talent.
Through the positioning “Making Data Actionable”, Celfocus helps companies leverage their data in new ways, evolving towards intelligent and autonomous operations, reducing costs, making increasingly accurate decisions adapted to ongoing market challenges, and freeing people from repetitive and routine tasks, allowing them to focus on more rewarding and higher-value activities.
In the specific case of human resources, what has technology brought us in recent times?
Technology has enabled the dematerialisation and automation of a set of tasks, making processes more consistent and efficient, and work more fulfilling. It has also increased the quality and speed of decisions by democratising immediate access to curated information for those who need it.
From the employee’s perspective, technology improves the experience by making it easier to interact with different processes and teams at the most significant moments in people’s lives.
Do you believe the impacts will be truly significant in people management? Or are they already being felt?
Without a doubt, particularly regarding the development of the talent needed to achieve the company’s strategy and goals. The ability to quickly and securely cross high-quality information from various sources will allow us to align needs, skills and motivations, better meeting the expectations of different stakeholders. Whether it’s those looking for talent to join their teams, or those seeking growth and development opportunities.
On the other hand, as artificial intelligence takes on part of the work, it will allow us to invest more in human skills such as critical thinking, creativity, emotional agility and conscious leadership, all essential for the sustainable development of companies and society.
What are the main changes you foresee?
There are professions that will disappear and new ones that will emerge, making it urgent to prepare accessible reskilling plans for those whose jobs may be at risk. It is also necessary to communicate and discuss these changes clearly and objectively.
Even professions that remain will undergo changes requiring the development of new skills. In simple terms, we are talking about structured Upskilling and Reskilling programmes adapted to different needs. It is also necessary to prepare children from an early age to understand and use technology safely, appropriately and universally.
Is it possible to imagine the world of work five or six years from now? Or does the speed of technological development call for caution when drawing scenarios?
I like to believe that work will become more rewarding, either because it will be more interesting, more rooted in social and human skills, or lighter, allowing more time and energy for other activities. However, technological development brings ethical concerns that cannot be overlooked. The power of technology is immense, for better or worse. Finding regulatory mechanisms for its responsible use is critical. In today’s world, uncertainty and ambiguity are everywhere.
From a less positive perspective, there are controversial movements advocating for a significant increase in working hours as an inevitability for corporate success, particularly in highly competitive industries such as technology. One example is the “996” schedule – working from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., six days a week. Originating in China in 2019, it was adopted by multiple companies and declared illegal in 2021. However, more companies in the US are now adopting this model to increase productivity in response to the accelerating pace of technological change in an extremely competitive market.
What are your main challenges at Celfocus, in management and leadership?
Balancing the focus on business growth and financial results with investment in employee development and well-being. We believe that the daily business challenges are what contribute most to developing our people. We therefore aim to build an environment conducive to individual and collective growth, based on a culture of value, continuous learning, trust, autonomy and accountability.
Seeing people’s development as a lever for more positive and sustainable results translates into a more resilient Celfocus and a stronger, longer-lasting relationship with clients, employees and other stakeholders.
What kind of people are you looking for to work with you?
We are looking for people with a strong technological appetite and a drive for continuous learning, capable of operating in complex, global projects. To this end, Celfocus encourages curiosity, collaboration, commitment to delivery and to the value created for the client, personal and collective development, openness to multicultural contexts and willingness to work across different geographies.
At present, we are particularly focused on top profiles such as Data Architects, Cloud Engineers, Enterprise Architects, Solution Leads, Product Owners and Program Managers. These roles are critical to accelerating clients’ digital transformation, leading multidisciplinary teams and ensuring sustained innovation in areas such as Data & Analytics, Cognitive Automation and Digital Experiences.
Can you share some figures about the company, particularly regarding employees and presence in other markets?
Our team currently has around 1,600 people distributed across several geographies in Europe and the Middle East, involved in international projects of high technological complexity. We work across multiple time zones and in multicultural ecosystems, which reinforces the need for a strong culture of collaboration, trust and continuous learning.
Do the new generations in the market require a new perspective from you as a company?
New generations bring new expectations regarding the purpose of work, flexibility and work-life balance. They also value collaborative environments, diversity and continuous development opportunities.
At Celfocus, we seek to respond to these motivations through a culture of proximity and active listening. Our People and Communication teams play a key role in this process, promoting regular conversations to understand each person’s joys, frustrations and aspirations. This connection allows us to adjust practices and create opportunities that align individual expectations with business needs, reinforcing our commitment to ensuring that every employee feels part of a meaningful project.
And how do you see Portugal as a workplace and as a user of technology? And as a point of contact with the world?
Portugal is increasingly positioned as a European technological hub, with qualified talent, a focus on innovation and the ability to attract international professionals. It is a privileged point of contact between different markets.
I see Portugal as the ideal ecosystem to attract and develop people who best fit Celfocus’ culture and strategy, complemented by our clear and distinctive value proposition, built on our core strengths such as technological innovation and client focus.
Is there any additional aspect you would like to mention?
I would like to highlight that Celfocus’ greatest asset is its people. It is through them that we can reinvent practices and transform challenges into opportunities.
The future will demand increasing speed, adaptability and the ability to align talent with technology. We are confident that, with the right culture and with teams that experiment, collaborate and learn every day, Celfocus will continue to be at the forefront of innovation and in creating business value for our clients.
