Alexandre Carvalho, the Brazilian heading global marketing at the leader in food, nutrition and health ingredients

For him, one of the traits of Brazilian business culture that he applies abroad has to do with the ability to decide and deliver quickly. "We [Brazilians] always act as though there were a 'burning platform'. We have a very strong bias towards execution, towards making things happen without necessarily having all the answers first.”

Beyond the ability to decide and deliver quickly, what other traits of Brasilidade Empresarial do you bring to your daily work?

Lightness, I think, and flexibility in handling situations. Brazilians have a particular way of easing tension in the workplace, often with a joke or a friendly gesture. That ability to create a lighter, more collaborative atmosphere is essential. And flexibility matters enormously when you are dealing with cross-functional teams in a global environment with different cultures.

At any point in the past, did you think you would have a career outside Brazil?

Yes, it was planned. I was at Tetra Pak and went first to Colombia on an expatriate offer, then Panama, then Italy. In Italy I worked at DuPont, then IFF, and now I am in France, at Roquette. But I also had earlier international experience at secondary school and university, with shorter spells in Germany, Belgium and the United States.

Now that you are here, in the middle of the revolution artificial intelligence is bringing, how do you see the future of marketing?

I have been to and taken part in a lot of events about it. Artificial intelligence is going to transform marketing as we know it. We are already in that process. Things we used to send to an agency and that took two weeks to produce are now done in seconds. What is funny is that I am also noticing that, when I go on to certain sites, I can already recognise the images made with those tools. In a way, everything is starting to look the same. And in that sense I also think there will be a swing back, and that before long doing things by hand will be the prized thing. I see a future where AI and craft work coexist, with AI amplifying human creativity.

And how do you see your own role in that picture?

I think the leader's role in the digital age has to be more facilitator than commander. We have to be able to orchestrate cross-functional teams and foster a culture of continuous learning. Leadership today is no longer about having all the answers, it is about knowing where to find them and how to bring together the right talent to solve complex problems. The leader has to be a connector, able to build effective networks of collaboration inside and outside the organisation. My generation comes from that 'smartest in the room' culture, where you are paid for x and x is what is expected. Today, for me, it is exactly the opposite: the leader has to be invisible. The team is the star. And we have to empower the team.

Speaking of the team, how does it prepare?

It has to keep getting more digitally savvy, stay curious, and hold on to the 'learn it all' culture. The 'smartest in the room' will become obsolete, because so much is going to change that if you are not open to learning every day you will be left behind. You can have your experience, but you have to keep an open mind, and be able to admit you do not have all the answers and go and find the people who do.

To close, a line that has stayed with you:

’Data makes your briefcase heavy, insight makes you rich’, from Niall FitzGerald, the former CEO of Unilever. It underlines how important it is not just to collect data but to analyse and interpret it in ways that create real value. And I think AI will help us connect things up, and we will get that 'aha moment'.