With almost every retailer, store, and company shapeshifting into the digital format, it isn’t hard to see the whole world is rapidly moving towards the digital realm.

In this climate, companies would ideally want to optimize the manner in which they are connected with their users and take full advantage of the efficiency that can come with digitization. This is where CI&T comes in to help.

The systems integrator offers end-to-end digital transformation services and delivers speed-at-scale with its innovative design, methodologies, and tech.

Bruno Guicardi and Cesar Gon co-founded the company in 1995, while the Internet’s commercial use was still emerging. Now, 26 years later, both Bruno and Cesar are still involved in CI&T’s development and growth.

The same way it helps its clients transform, the company itself is constantly changing and evolving. Let’s see how it all began and how exactly it’s gotten to be what it is today.

Core Components

Behind every huge entrepreneurial success is a long and arduous journey, and this one begins in the Campinas Region of São Paulo. The location remains significant throughout our story, acting as both the birthplace of the company and of our two founders.

Cesar Gon was born in 1971 in the city of Amparo. At a very early age, Cesar realized his great interest and enthusiasm for technology, and he dove straight into this new hobby with no hesitation.

Cesar started to teach himself to program, and by the time he turned 11, young Cesar had already gained a solid grasp on how programming worked. Cesar was tireless in his programming work and continued to pursue this interest with an ever-growing fervor.

By the age of 13, Cesar sold a code for a chess game to a tech magazine. At this point, it was becoming increasingly obvious that tech development was the chosen path for this young boy.

Bruno Giucardi had also had an undeniable love for tech, along with great ambitions when it came to business and entrepreneurship. Pursuing these things led Bruno to eventually enroll in one of the top universities in Brazil.

The university is where Bruno would meet Cesar, and little did they know but their mutual passion would change their lives forever, with the formation of CI&T.

Developing the Software Developer

As it had been his dream for years, in 1989, Cesar finally earned himself a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Engineering from the University of Campinas. This happened to be the same time when Bruno started attending the same university, going into the same field of study.

By 1983, both university colleagues had graduated as proud computer engineers. For Cesar, this meant it was time to go seek further education and earn his master’s in Computer Science. At the age of 23, while Cesar was still working on his master’s, he and Bruno came together and had an idea to take advantage of the great work opportunity within the IT sector.

Initially, the establishment and operation of CI&T were meant to fund Cesar’s Ph.D. However, the founders imagined the company as a long-lasting successful project, and thanks to their eagerness and devotion to this project, CI&T quickly took off and sprouted.

Following this development, Cesar eventually gave up on the idea of a Ph.D. and decided to focus all his efforts on the company as its CEO - a position he still holds. Later on, Cesar would also become Chairman of the Board at Sensedia.

Meanwhile, Bruno assumed the role of the president of the company. In 2004, Bruno specialized in Business Administration at Fundacao Getulio Vargas, gaining more experience for boosting his entrepreneurial career.

With the two hard-working colleagues at its helm, the company steadily grew and prospered.

Decades of Success

In May of 1995, Cesar and Bruno founded CI&T in Campinas, Brazil. The company is a pioneer and trailblazer when it comes to digital services, and has a decades-long background producing quality software and working with Fortune 500 companies.

It hasn’t always been easy, however, running a company for over 20 years in one of the most dynamic and fast-changing fields. Bruno and Cesar were constantly required to be innovative in their business moves and change along with the digital landscape around them.

In the beginning, the company’s main focus was software engineering within the national market. At the time, the internet was just starting off being used as an effective business tool.

However, even though the company started doing business 26 years ago, it still had to withstand some serious competition from companies like Coastal Cloud, Magna5, and G2 Deals, among others.

In the early 2000s, CI&T expanded and established development centers, division headquarters, and subsidiaries in other countries like China, the United States, and Japan. By 2014, there were a total of 12 establishments dispersed on 4 continents.

Soon, the firm’s focal point began to change, and it had their engineering and sales team work more closely together. It was a transition to their newest claim to fame - Lean Digital Transformation - which both Cesar and Bruno, speak very enthusiastically about.

The company’s methodology is mainly based on three pillars.

The first objective is to change the designs and builds of a company’s digital solutions by using the Lean philosophy. Also, emphasizing simplified flow, resource loss reduction, and increased customer value is within the company’s focus.

The second pillar is built upon the transformation of the management systems by adapting short learning cycles.

And finally, the third objective is to redesign the leadership model.

CI&T now finds itself mainly in the business of helping remold older brands that are unprepared for the flexible dynamic of the new digital era.

In 2020, Cesar co-authors the book “Faster, faster: The Dawn of Lean Digital” which serves to illustrate the experience and process of creating Lean Digital.

Finally Going Public

CI&T is a private equity-backed firm. In November of 2021, however, it announced its initial public offering launch.

The company has filed to raise $350 million in gross proceeds from an IPO of its Class A common stock. It plans to offer 19.44 million shares at a price range between $17.00 and $19.00 per share.

CI&T aims to list its shares on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol CINT. The proceeds from the IPO would serve to fund working capital, finance capital expenditures, as well as carry out future acquisitions and investments.

The Way Not Yet Paved

Throughout the years, CI&T has had some hugely successful achievements. In 2004, it became the first Brazilian company evaluated at a CMM-3 level, and in 2007, as the first company at a CMMI-5 maturity level. In 2013, CI&T won Google Partner of the Year LATAM for Cloud Platform.

In 2021, the firm has expanded to multiple international markets such as the United States, Canada, China, Japan, Australia, the United Kingdom, and Portugal. There are a total of 19 offices that accommodate over 5000 employees, working as strategists, designers, or software engineers. The main headquarters are located in the Prisma building in Campinas, Brazil.

Currently, CI&T’s goals are clearly Lean Digital Transformations. Cesar and Bruno have been working on these methodologies and technology since 2017, and seem satisfied with the results. Thus, it’s easy to see they are determined to continue down this path in the future.

Upon the horizon for the company, however, is its initial public offering. This will acquire the funds necessary for further innovative and pivotal ideas to be set into motion by the company’s leaders.

Whatever the future may hold for CI&T, we’ve seen them at the forefront of digital services for 26 years and can expect them to stay there for the years to come.

Know that you can confidently Lean on CI&T for an end-to-end transformation.