Career story: Felipe Piccirilo

4.11.2021

The taste for technology started at an early age 

It was 1989 and I was only 9 years old when my father purchased an awkward new type of TV. The first time I laid my eyes on that grey box with black-and-green letters blinking, it was pure joy – to my father's despair: ‘Don’t touch that! It’s not a toy!’ After school, my favourite game was trying to guess my father’s password for this old XT PC computer and try out some DOS commands. The enthusiasm continued into my teenage years when I was working part-time in my father’s accounting office and made myself responsible for understanding and fixing whatever I could in those old computers. 

After realising that problem solving through technology was my game, I gained a bachelor’s degree in  system analysis. I then continued by gaining a lato sensu degree in information technology, followed by many other micro courses – ranging from technical to methodological courses.

Accelerating the CIO Programme and Tech Eminence in Brazil 

After being with IBM for 12 years, I first joined Deloitte in January 2017. My friend introduced me to the Partner Leader in Technology, Strategy & Transformation. We immediately found common ground and remain friends today. At that time, Deloitte Brazil wanted to leverage the CIO Programme and Tech Eminence. I helped to build the go-to-market strategy and the programme capabilities, and acted as a speaker for tech trends, digital transformation in companies and conferences, and many other initiatives in order to help shift Deloitte’s technology capabilities in the market. We even ran the first Deloitte Hackathon in 2017, and it was an enormous success. 

Technology is a powerful tool, but you have to understand the user and business perspective - then you can work back from that to select precisely what technology to choose and how to use to it.
 

A new chapter at Deloitte Finland 

We moved to Munich, Germany, in 2019 where my academic wife was doing her research on renewable fuels. I took a position in a fintech company in a payment business, but in autumn 2021, as my wife had completed her research, I found myself missing the consulting work and the dynamics of working with different executives, industries and environments. We started to plan our next steps. Soon my wife got an offer at Neste, and we got extremely excited when we learnt more about Finland. Quite quickly it became clear that it would be a great option to move here. 

I immediately contacted Deloitte Human Resources through LinkedIn and they were delightfully welcoming. We discussed the opportunity and my experience in leveraging the CIO Programme and Tech Eminence. 

After two years away from my family and friends from Brazil, and unable to travel due to Covid-19, being back at Deloitte was like returning home again. The atmosphere, the people, the culture and the coffee from Brazil in the office really made me emotional on my first day.

It was great that I could again effortlessly contact friends from Deloitte around the globe. I also noticed that the ‘Deloitte factors’ – such as strong ethics, transparency and collaboration – are the same despite the location. However, there are a few distinctive characteristic differences between Finland and Brazil; the way people connect and work is a bit different. I really love the flattened hierarchy and way of working in Deloitte Finland. It is so easy to reach anyone, and especially in a smaller group, this strengthens collaboration.
 

Taking over as Global CIO Programme Manager 

As part of the Global Executive Programmes, the CIO Programme empowers CIOs and tech leaders to achieve their bold visions through customised experiences and insights. Through our set of immersive labs, technology research and insights, we support leaders to connect and discover – and transform – their organisations.

Our global and diverse experience, together with our technology and leadership research, helps us to create relevant content for strategical decision-making. I am honoured to take this position and responsibility as they are extremely meaningful for both Deloitte and for our clients. 
 

We are committed to taking the CIO Programme and Tech Eminence to the next level with relevant and tailored content that supports our expertise and dedication.

I will be working closely with country leaders to build further capabilities, explore ideas and foster diversity and inclusion. Every member firm has unique needs for supporting their clients and has different stories to share. It is my job to orchestrate these diverse needs and leverage Deloitte worldwide. No matter where our clients are on their journey, we will provide a superior advisory experience, grounded in meaningful and tailored content.

Felipe Piccirilo

• How do you keep professional skills up to date?
  I always try to learn something new by taking courses, reading a lot and listening to podcasts. Even though I had been absent from the academic world for so long, I started a master’s degree in Politics & Technology at TUM, Munich. In addition, I took another specialisation course at LMU Munich on Competitive Strategy & Organisation Design. 
  
• How do you take care of your wellbeing?
  When it comes to physical well-being, I go to the gym and I am hoping to learn snowboarding this coming winter. When it comes to mental well-being, music is the key thing: from bossa nova and blues to heavy metal. I really hope to join a band in Finland. 
  
•  Surprising fact about Felipe
  I have recorded two heavy metal albums, in 2000 and in 2010, and opened a concert for Sepultura in Brazil. Both are still available on media streaming services and one of the bands is still active and recording a new album.