‘Brazil engineering’: VTEX’s ambitious plan to export Brazilian technology

VTEX, explains Gomide, is one of the companies that seeks to take the flag of what he calls ‘Brazil engineering’ around the world. “Today, the best-selling private jet in the United States is from Embraer. Weg is present in I don’t know how many places in the world. VTEX is in 43 countries”, he says to InfoMoney Interview.

For Gomide, Brazilian companies should not view foreign competition in a bad light. “This seems to me like that thing of a mother or father creating an overprotection in their child that doesn’t let them live and, deep down, when the child leaves home, they will suffer a huge blow. I’m in favor of opening the market so that these companies can enter and force companies in Brazil to leave too”, he says.

Check out the full interview on the InfoMoney YouTube channel and, below, some excerpts from the interview about Brazilian retail, international competition and the need, according to Gomide, to raise the flag for Brazilian engineering.

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Brazilian retail

“The more brand you have [no Brasil]more access to merchandise at a good cost the Brazilian consumer will have. Retail and companies in the sector benefit from this diversity of brands.

But is it possible to isolate this from the macro? Maybe not, because the macro has actually been swinging. Brazilian real interest rates are doing what they do best: killing economic activity and squeezing retail margins. As a result, we will not achieve very strong retail. But it is also worth remembering that in the same way that the interest was already down there and up there, it returns down there again. A year ago, if we said that the dollar would be at its current price, people would laugh.

The macro world changes very quickly. What doesn’t change is a company’s operational capacity. In this sense, there is a lack of homework for businesspeople and executives on efficiency, so that companies can choose their future.”

Internationalization of retail

“The way you prepare [para a chegada de empresas internacionais] is diluting the risk. Instead of waiting for others who are more capitalized or more prepared or with better cost structures than your company to enter your area, you have to prepare yourself in cost structure and capital structure to enter the area of ​​others.

The world of trade is global. Aberrations exist where brands live and survive locally, but the world of trade is global.”

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Innovation and development

“Was Brazilian retail prepared for the entry of Shein, Shopee and Temu? No. But, now, Magazine Luiza and Casas Bahia are much better companies in terms of operations than they were before, because they were dormant in the need to modernize.

In this sense, the entry of these other companies is very good, because, in this way, Brazil has become a truly free country, where companies from outside can enter and compete on equal terms. This is wonderful, because companies here, by competing on equal terms, create talent and a burden on their shoulders that allows you to fight abroad.

Brazil is too small for Brazilian companies. Today, the best-selling private jet in the United States is from Embraer. Weg is present in I don’t know how many locations around the world. VTEX is in 43 countries. How many more?

We shouldn’t see foreign competition as something we shouldn’t have. This seems to me like that thing of a mother or father creating an overprotection in their child that doesn’t let them live and, deep down, when the child leaves home, they will suffer a huge blow. I am in favor of opening the market for these companies to enter and force Brazilian companies to leave as well. “

“Brazilian engineering“: o “made in China” from Brazil

“VTEX is growing. If we operate correctly, arbitrating Brazilian engineering, which is our differentiator, and prove to the world that Brazil is not just soy or protein and that it also exports a lot of technology, this can generate value for the country and Brazilian companies in the very long term.

Brazilian engineering is one of the great weapons for a sustainable future in this country. Many companies around the world today choose Brazilian engineering as a safe and creative type of engineering.

Safe because it is in a protected region: we have no risk of war and we are in a much more protected region than China, Russia, India and Eastern Europe.

Brazil can surf a wave of 20 years of positioning, but it still needs to embrace this idea of ​​’Brazil Engineering’ as a brand. What made China the country of manufacturing is the ‘made in China’ mark, which is in the public domain.”

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“We’re going to start adopting ‘Brazil engineering’. Hopefully tomorrow an Embraer, a Weg, a Havaianas will adopt it. Imagine: you look at Havaianas and it says ‘Brazil Engineering’; you’re on a plane and you see: ‘Brazil Engineering’; you’re riding in a car and it says ‘Brazil Engineering’; you use software that appears with the brand ‘Brazil Engineering’.

Thus, people begin to believe that Latin America is not just a commodity. And then we can raise the bar of capital distribution in Brazilian capitals to another level, actually creating a society that populates the streets, bringing security back.

We have a wonderful advantage: we are one hour away [do fuso] of the United States. This is an advantage that no other engineering in the world has. There are a lot of elements to be optimistic about what is happening here and it is not possible to get caught up in almost haphazard discussions of what will happen in the next two years. VTEX’s agenda, my agenda with the country, the ‘Brazil Engineering’ agenda is much bigger than simply the next one or two years.”