Otávio Farah (FitBank): Capacity to Train Professionals

Otávio Farah, founding partner of FitBank

Created in 2015, FitBank is a Brazilian technology company, specializing in providing banking infrastructure. The only proprietary technology platform to be part of the Brazilian Payment System (SPB), FitBank has a client base of banks and fintechs, as well as companies that need to bring technology solutions to their customers. "Around 70 million Brazilians use products with technology developed by FitBank, through our customers," explains the company's founding partner, Otávio Farah.

FitBank has five offices, three of them in Ceará, which, according to Farah, has been emerging nationally as an important source of highly qualified labor in the development of information technology. To discover new talent in the area, the company, in partnership with the Federal University of Ceará, this year held the first CyberCamp, a collaborative project and free online training in technology and entrepreneurship, where participants seek solutions for the development of products and programs that improve the service processes developed by FitBank.

How did this initiative to train new professionals in Ceará's job market come about?
Real life needs compel us to seek solutions. The technology sector demands an increasing number of qualified professionals, which is a reality not only in Brazil, but globally. When we analyzed the expansion possibilities for FitBank, we chose Ceará. Today we have about 500 developers in the state. And we have a structure of professionals that goes beyond the technology sector. It was specifically the ability to train professionals in this segment that brought us to Ceará

What competitive advantages does Ceará offer?
Software engineering is a sophisticated activity, which demands qualified people, with a talent for exact sciences, and it is nothing new that Ceará stands out in the training of these professionals. It is highly prepared, dedicated and committed people, who embrace the professional opportunities we offer to operate in an increasingly competitive and profitable segment.

And how did the CyberCamp project come about in partnership with the Federal University of Ceará?
Fitbank worked with state-of-the-art technology, creating unique solutions, not only in  Brazil, but globally. Recently we launched a technology that allows the effective construction of digital banks. We simplified the processes and today we deliver technology that is a very strong starting point for the consolidation of a digital bank. We strengthened partnerships with universities and technical schools in Ceará to present this new Fitbank technology, forming working groups to bring new solutions to this technology we developed. That's how the CyberCamp came about. We discovered new talented professionals, and we will take advantage of these solutions in the development of products for our customers.

This synergy between academia and the technology sector is essential for the development of new products and services...
Absolutely. At university the student learns how to program. With us they learn how to apply everything they have learned and make money. Our objective is to show how technical knowledge can be used in practice.

How do you evaluate the business environment in Ceará?
Ceará favors the realization of cutting-edge projects. It has a business community that is open to new technologies. We have several clients in Ceará. And we are looking for new projects in the state. But above all, we are investing heavily in training our team. We had system developers and software engineers. But with the expansion of activities, we started to hire professionals in the area of products, sales and marketing. All of this was driven by technology. Today 500 of Fitbank's 650 professionals are in Ceará. The exact sciences brought us to the state and now we are encompassing professionals from all areas.