Big Plans for LATAM

by Gabriel Queiroz, Senior Director (LATAM)

My name is Gabriel Queiroz, and I am the Senior Director for all of LATAM’s SIS operations. I am here to give you a glimpse of our plans for South America. Before I do so, let me tell you a bit about myself.

I am a proud father of Tofu (he is my dog) and a Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioner who loves long hikes and drives motorcycles. Before joining SIS and transitioning my career to a managerial role, I worked for thirteen years as a lawyer in the Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) and Corporate Law practice of the law firm representing SIS in its legal matters in Brazil. That is how I first heard of SIS, but let me tell you about how I really got to know SIS.

After three years of handling SIS Brazil’s legal matters, I finally had the pleasure of meeting someone from the company—CFO Tom Seltz. The reason for this in-person meeting? My first job interview for the position I am currently and very fortunate to hold today. As I prepared for that interview, I learned more about the company and came to truly appreciate what makes SIS special. The company's values stood out to me. I saw the commitment to excellence, transparency, integrity, and hyper-responsiveness. I appreciated the innovative management approach: "Ideas are welcomed, failure is seen as a learning opportunity and not redundant, and experimentation is encouraged.” The client-centered philosophy, where tailored solutions are built for an impressive client portfolio, stood out. Combined with my own desire for new challenges, these were the key factors that convinced me SIS was the perfect fit.

A few weeks later, through CEO John Spesak, I had the opportunity to visit some of the US offices and meet some of the people who work there. For someone working many years as a lawyer, you might suspect that I can be inquisitive, so among the batch of questions I had for our US colleagues, one stood out: what do they like most about working at SIS? The repeated answer I received was the following (and it seemed almost as if they rehearsed the answer!): What they most liked about SIS is the people–the notion that everyone helps each other. I genuinely believe that this spirit of collaboration and unity positively affects the company; it was palpable in my conversations throughout the offices.

That is the story of how I really got to know SIS.

Bolstered by my conversations and the inspiration that all the employees gave me, I have developed a strategy for building up our LATAM Operations. This strategy is defined by three distinct pillars, which I am happy to share with you.

Pillar One: Establishing a positive work environment

A positive mentality in the workplace is essential for success. With this in mind, new ideas and initiatives are being tested in the Brazil and Mexico offices—some of them in the implementation process—to ensure that everyone feels happy with where they work and with whom they work.

Pillar Two: Growing the LATAM business

Equally important and challenging is our focus on growing our business in the LATAM region. For this second pillar, our short-term goals focus on boosting traditional approaches to actively promote our brand and bringing new ideas for becoming more competitive in LATAM. Our presence in private security-related events is already being strengthened, institutional materials for Brazilian and Mexican markets are being localized, new (and exciting!) projects within Brazil and other LATAM countries are being examined, and a tremendous amount of effort is being allocated to fine-tune our pricing structure, to name a few of the initiatives that are in motion. The energetic personality I and the team bring ahead of developing business in LATAM will also be used to strengthen our relationships with existing clients and regional partners.

Pillar Three: Work smarter

Last but not least, our third pillar of the strategy for LATAM focuses on streamlining and optimizing all behind-the-scenes processes. This includes implementing an annual budget, perfecting cost control mechanisms, and renegotiating terms with our suppliers. We are also developing new training workshops, conceiving data privacy policies to meet our clients' needs, and revisiting our business practices to mitigate legal risks. All of these efforts, which are already in progress, aim to ensure that the quality of our internal processes aligns with the high standards of the services we provide to our clients.

As we navigate an era defined by information, data analysis plays a crucial role in our work routine and decision-making process. This is not just about numbers—it is about understanding the story that the data tells us. Whether optimizing our pricing structure or improving our internal processes, data analysis is certainly one of the keys to unlocking new insights and opportunities.

As you might suspect, bringing these ideas and initiatives to life requires a vast amount of work, dedication, and the composure to navigate the inevitable challenges.?

We are laying the groundwork for a future that is not only prosperous but also sustainable. The objectives we have set forth are ambitious, and while we will face hurdles along the way, I have no doubt that we will achieve them—sooner or later.