Portugal is quickly becoming a powerhouse for Indicium AI. Our team there is growing fast, and taking AI into production for enterprise clients across the globe. With Pedro Ferreira recently joining as Managing Director for Portugal, that momentum is about to accelerate.
Pedro has already built a Portuguese tech operation from the ground up, and he brings that experience to Indicium AI together with an unshakeable belief that Portugal can and will compete with the best in the world.
From start-up founder to building a 130-strong team
Pedro's career has never followed a straight line, from co-founding and selling a start-up in Portugal to becoming a creative director at a UK digital agency. That blend of design and technology took him to a UK technology consultancy, where he built a 20-person team focused on Design Thinking whilst serving as principal service designer for the NHS App, the UK's public healthcare app, now used by 40 million people.
Then came the move that would define his following career iteration. "I challenged the board of the consultancy I was working for, to open in Portugal," he says. Over the following couple of years, he grew that team from one person to 100+, opening offices in Lisbon and Porto. After his company was acquired by a larger global consultancy, Pedro became VP for Innovation, Data and AI for Portugal, where his team went on to help establish the consultancy’s first global AI Centre of Excellence.
Choosing an AI-native home
After learning from a larger and established global consultancy, Pedro decided to seek his next chapter of growth.
"I wanted to join an organization that was a bit more nimble, ideally AI-native, very transformative, very contemporary, and akin to the type of work I was already doing with the teams I was leading," he says. Indicium AI ticked every box. "I really fell in love with the proposition, the people, the culture. It was exactly what I was looking for."
Helping Portugal stand on its own two feet
As Managing Director of Portugal, Pedro will oversee everything in the region, from growth to sales, delivery, quality, culture and operations - keeping the business growing while protecting what makes the team in Portugal special.
Pedro is a positive disrupter, someone who is curious, inquisitive and driven to unlock projects with tangible impact. "In essence, I like bringing meaning to what we do through culture, quality and impactful deliveries."
Over the next 12 to 18 months, he wants to make Portugal self-sufficient, unlocking new clients across Europe alongside colleagues in the UK, the US and Brazil, and build a tech advisory presence that puts top Portugal talent in front of C-suite leaders at global organizations.
Playing the Premier League out of Portugal
Ask Pedro why Portugal is such a strong base for Indicium AI, and he's quick to admit some bias - but the case he makes is hard to argue with. "The quality of our talent here is on par with the UK and the best leagues. I normally joke that we can always play the Premier League out of Portugal."
He points to a strong English-speaking base, technical universities that keep pace with the latest technologies, and an outward-looking culture. "We are one of the oldest global villages in the world," he says. Those strengths add to what Indicium AI's teams already bring across Brazil, the UK and the US, giving clients one connected team with deep expertise in every region.
Where the big opportunities lie
For Pedro, the most exciting work ahead sits in outcome-based process re-engineering, where AI, combined with deep subject matter expertise, transforms the way a business runs.
Indicium AI is a Preferred Partner in the Anthropic Partner Network, and Pedro says this plays a big part in why he believes the timing is right. "Of all the partners, it's the one that seems to be making the most sensible decisions. The culture there is very close to ours," he says. "As we help our enterprise clients make the most of applied AI, having partners who share our values means we know we’re heading in the right direction."
Pedro has no doubts about his move. "We have an incredible team spread across four countries, an amazing track record, and a unique global positioning with regards to Anthropic. We have huge momentum, so now we just need to continue to leverage it to propel our business forwards, with purpose."
Want to be part of our growing team in Portugal and build AI that runs in production, at scale? Explore our open roles.
