Open to opportunities

Rafael Tiba

@rafaeltiba

Message

I’m an executive leader building scaled AI-driven enterprise and digital transformation businesses.

Brazil

Message

What I'm looking for

I’m looking to lead enterprise transformation where I can pair operational rigor with hands-on AI delivery—building agentic/automation solutions, aligning teams around OKRs and KPIs, and scaling revenue with measurable outcomes.

I’m an executive with 20+ years building, scaling, and running businesses in Brazil—combining commercial leadership, operational ownership, and hands-on technology delivery. As CEO of Zappts, I tripled annual revenue over four years and personally closed 13 new enterprise accounts, while repositioning the company from mobile application development into digital transformation and AI solutions.

I also bring deep operational excellence: as COO of Costa Brava, I led core functions across Operations, Finance, People, Customer Care, Shared Services, Account Management, and IT, implementing OKRs and zero-based budgeting. I’m “build with AI” in practice—taking an AI-enabled platform from concept to production-ready release in five months—and I advise executives on AI adoption plans, agentic workflows, and automation for organizations in Brazil and North America.

Experience

Work history, roles, and key accomplishments

Current

Technology & AI Advisor

Current

Independent

Oct 2025 - Present (9 months)

Advises organizations in Brazil and North America on strategy, operations, technology, and AI. Designs AI adoption plans and builds agentic workflows and automation solutions for executive reporting and document processing use cases.

Process Redesign AI Agentic Workflow Automation Document Processing Information Retrieval Executive Reporting

Current

CTO / CAIO

Current

MapNexus

May 2025 - Present (1 year 2 months)

Co-founded and led an AI-enabled geospatial intelligence platform supporting territorial decision-making for the U.S. market. Built the product hands-on, including analytical logic and integrations, and delivered a production-ready release in five months.

Geospatial Intelligence Generative AI Product Architecture Software Implementation Integration Reporting Workflow

Current

Board Member and Former CEO

Current

Zappts

Nov 2020 - Present (5 years 8 months)

Led a software development and digital transformation company serving medium and large enterprises, tripling annual revenue over four years. Acquired and closed 13 new enterprise accounts and expanded the offering from mobile application development into enterprise software, data, analytics, digital transformation, and AI-enabled solutions.

Enterprise Sales Revenue Growth Digital Transformation Generative AI Enterprise Software Data Analytics and AI Product Strategy Governance KPIs Business Development

Partner and CEO

Estatística.Digital

Oct 2019 - Nov 2020 (1 year 1 month)

Founded and led a statistical modeling and software-enabled consulting firm for pharmaceutical manufacturers. Built a continued process verification software product and combined statistical expertise with software-enabled consulting delivery.

Statistical Modeling Continued Process Verification Pharmaceutical Consulting Software Product Development Consulting Delivery Client Acquisition

Co-Founder

AIE

Nov 2017 - Oct 2019 (1 year 11 months)

Co-founded a corporate learning company focused on emotional intelligence and professional skills for the B2B market. Won and served major corporate clients and scaled digital delivery to 43,000+ learners using a proprietary statistical assessment.

Corporate Learning Professional Skills Digital Learning Proprietary Statistical Assessment Learning Assessment

Chief Operations Officer

Costa Brava

Nov 2016 - Oct 2017 (11 months)

Led three business units and the operational backbone, including Operations, Finance, People, Customer Care, Shared Services, Account Management, and IT. Implemented OKRs and zero-based budgeting, redesigned performance indicators, and led process optimization for operational efficiency.

Operations Leadership OKRs zero based budgeting Performance Management Customer Service shared services Account Management IT Operations Process Optimization Leadership Development

Master Black Belt / Managing Partner

Seta & Nova Consult

Jun 2011 - Nov 2016 (5 years 5 months)

Structured and led continuous improvement and business transformation programs across multiple industries as Managing Partner. Managed and certified 350+ improvement projects, delivered 10,000+ hours of training, and generated USD 45M+ in audited savings.

Lean Six Sigma Continuous Improvement Process Transformation Audited Savings Financial Validation Value Stream and Deployment Program

Quality Systems Specialist

Johnson & Johnson

Jun 2010 - Jun 2011 (1 year)

Owned non-conformance, CAPA, and change-control systems across 13 manufacturing plants in Brazil. Served as Site Leader for Quality & Compliance CAPA projects and acted as a Statistical Data Analysis subject-matter expert.

Quality Systems Non Conformance Management CAPA Change Control Compliance Statistical Analysis

Partner and Consultant

Auctus

Jan 2007 - Jun 2010 (3 years 5 months)

Led business transformation and value-stream initiatives connecting strategy, process improvement, analytics, and operational performance. Translated performance issues into structured initiatives and practical execution plans.

Business Transformation Process Improvement Analytics operational performance Strategic Planning Initiative Execution

Lean Six Sigma Instructor

UNICAMP Extension School

Jan 2006 - Dec 2009 (3 years 11 months)

Served as Lean Six Sigma instructor and project coach for Green Belt and Black Belt programs. Taught structured problem-solving, statistical analysis, process improvement, and data-driven decision-making across multiple industries.

Statistical Analysis Process Improvement Data Driven Decision Making