

AI Salon Rio #17
From AI-Enabled to AI-First: How Companies Rebuild Themselves
AI-first sounds great in a CEO memo.
And so many of them have been circulating since 2023. Google, Dropbox, Intuit, Shopify, Duolingo, Unilever, Santander, Aker BP, etc. etc. etc....
But announcing an AI-first strategy is one thing. Actually rebuilding a company around AI is another.
And here's the catch: some companies are calling themselves AI-first while they're still figuring out how to become AI-enabled.
So we wanted to understand: how do you do it?
For this edition, we're bringing together two companies born in Rio to tackle this question.
OceanPact is a carioca maritime company taking on the AI-first challenge.
This is no startup. We're talking 70 vessels, 5,000+ employees, and over R$4 billion in annual revenue.
That's tough to do alone... so they partnered with Visagio (proudly carioca!), which helps companies navigate exactly this kind of transformation.
We want to know what happens after the memo.
Where do you start?
What gets redesigned?
How do you get 5,000 people on board?
Can every company become AI-first?
Bring your CEO. Bring your CTO. The AI-first era is coming.
(Visagio has also backed AI Salon Rio since edition #1. We're biased, happily.)
AGENDA
18:30 | Check-in & Networking
19:00 | Welcome Remarks a.k.a Luana's pep talk
19:10 | Startup Pitches
TributoIQ; co-founder Carlos Augusto Neto
Pix Force; founder Daniel Moura
TideWise; co-founder Rafael Coelho
19:20 | Short Panel: TDA
19:30 | From AI-Enabled to AI-First: How Companies Rebuild Themselves
Arthur Kós | Director of Technology and Innovation, OceanPact (with the company since day one; UFRJ)
Leonardo Machado | Co-founder and Sr. Managing Partner, Visagio (23+ years in management engineering and business transformation; Stanford Executive Program)
Also, meet our host: Luana Helsinger (ex-private equity turned AI creator, between Silicon Valley & Rio).
20:30 | Networking with Beer & Snacks
Founding Partners:
Visagio: a global consulting firm born in Rio de Janeiro and now with 1,000+ professionals worldwide, six offices, and 500+ projects delivered per year across 50+ countries. They are experts in solving complex technology challenges, with a strong focus on AI and analytics.
There wouldn’t be food, drinks, or functioning Wi-Fi without our incredible sponsors:
AWS Startups: supporting 280,000+ startups worldwide, AWS helps founders bring their world-changing ideas to life: from building an MVP to scaling towards an IPO. Learn more at AWS Startups.
Instituto 12: where business meets innovation in Rio. With striking architecture and a mission to accelerate Rio’s innovation ecosystem, Instituto 12 is a landmark for the city’s future.
Join Our Private Group on LinkedIn
AI Salon Rio is not an event, it's a movement. Join our private group here. Need to live in Rio de Janeiro to be part of it!