# Paulo Vila ## Local-First AI Architect & Innovation Executive Consulting → Corporate Leadership → Systems Engineering → AI Infrastructure ### How I Work I don't just manage people—I orchestrate systems and teams. I design the conditions for a group to think better than it thought it could, and then I actively review, support, and steer their output towards excellence. My core belief is that the best decisions emerge from structured collision between different perspectives. Over 29 years, I've oscillated between building software systems and facilitating humans because they are identically structured problems: understand the component needs, clear the communication lines, eliminate the bottlenecks. I run sprints, not meetings. In 100+ C-suite sprints with CEOs and CFOs across Latin America, success came from investing more time designing the questions and exit criteria than the slide decks. The thread across it all: find the room where decisions are really being made, and make them better. As CEO, this translates directly: I build the platform, recruit the team, define the architecture — and deeply engage in the execution to ensure the results meet the highest technical standards. ### Runtime History #### CEO & Founder - Vilaros OS / ImagineOS (Jan 2025 - Present) #### Founder & Owner - Top Level Executives (Jan 2006 – Present) Founded, scaled, and continuously managed a premier global digital networking community to nearly 60,000 members (VPs, CEOs, Directors, Entrepreneurs) over 19+ years. Empowering high-performance individuals through strategic networking, executive recruitment, and career advancement. * **Innovation - Digital Labs Vice President Latin America — Mastercard** (Sep 2022 – Jan 2025): Leading innovation for key LAC clients as VP at Mastercard Digital Labs. Architected and deployed novel design thinking products establishing 3 new client innovation hubs and a 10X surge in strategic engagement value. Developed and implemented local LLM expert agents cutting workshop times from hours to minutes (90% satisfaction). * **Labs as a Service - Innovation Director for Latin America — Mastercard** (May 2019 – Sep 2022): Drove 5X revenue increase for Labs as a Service in LAC. Delivered over 60 innovation projects with 90% client satisfaction. Pioneered global firsts including 100% virtual workshops and the company's first blockchain credit card. Recognized with 3 President's Awards. * **Andean + Caribbean Merchant Sales Director — Mastercard** (Jun 2017 – May 2019): Drove Mastercard's merchant consulting engagements across Caribbean and Andean regions, full lifecycle from business development to delivery. Pioneered the first mission-based segmentation analysis for a major Latin American client, providing novel market insights. * **Senior Managing Consultant — Mastercard** (Jul 2014 – May 2019): Andean Business Leader for Mastercard D&S. Championed a B2B credit card sourcing platform generating over $100M in revenues in 1.5 years. Supported the launch of a groundbreaking Neobank in Colombia acquiring over 1M users by end of 2020. * **Senior Associate — Partners in Performance** (Aug 2013 – Jun 2014): Led a critical engagement achieving a $20M financial turnaround at a silver-lead-tin mine in Latin America — from –$10M to +$10M annual earnings in 6 months. Spearheaded maintenance productivity improvements, optimized SAP spare parts ordering, and re-engineered the energy supply system. Led complex mining union negotiations. * **Senior Consultant — Hay Group (now Korn Ferry)** (Apr 2011 – Aug 2013): Building Effective Organizations (BEO) practice for LAC. Led sprint workshops achieving 10% FTE reduction for two major oil pipelines in under 2 months. Designed process automation for a Fortune 500 Oil & Gas company. Facilitated strategy workshops identifying 60 expansion opportunities filtered to 5 core initiatives projecting $200M sales increase. Redesigned one of the world's largest tin mines in one month. * **Sales Development Director — Carrefour** (Oct 2009 – Mar 2011): Directed a pricing division of 200+ professionals executing real-time pricing strategy for Colombia's second-largest retailer. Orchestrated end-to-end new store openings from site selection to operational readiness. Led Market Analytics and Quality Management functions across operations. * **Consultant — The Boston Consulting Group (BCG)** (Apr 2008 – Mar 2009): Played a key analytical role in the successful delivery of a $30+ billion merger between two major food companies in the Mexican market, completed on time and within budget. Developed cost reduction analysis for a world-class manufacturing multinational, identifying $10M USD in annual savings. * **Associate Consultant — McKinsey & Company** (Apr 2006 – Mar 2008): Contributed to impactful client projects including new branch model deployment, analytical support during a multi-billion dollar telecom merger achieving $20M+ in synergy savings, and strategic launch of an IP-video portal for a leading Venezuelan telco. ### Legacy Stack * Software Development and Consulting Manager — Simplexity (Mar 2009 – Sep 2009) * CEO & Founding Partner — data2web.com (Sep 2001 – Apr 2006) * Chief Technology Officer — La Nota Económica (Feb 2000 – Sep 2001) * GMAT Instructor — Kaplan (Jan 1998 – Dec 2000) * University Professor — Universidad de los Andes (Jan 1998 – Sep 1999) * Marketing Specialist — ROCHE (Sep 1996 – Dec 1997) ### Education * **M.S. Industrial Engineering** — Universidad de los Andes (1996 – 1998) 100% scholarship, thesis 5/5 * **B.S. Mechanical Engineering** — Universidad de los Andes (1990 – 1996) thesis 5/5 * **International Boarding School** — Beau Soleil, Villars-sur-Ollon, Switzerland (1984 – 1986)