Head in the Cloud - A chat with Joao Cerqueira, our Head of Cloud

03 July 2024

A man of many talents, a man new to the world of construction: recently, I had the chance to speak to Joao Cerqueira, the new Head of Cloud at XYZ.

A background in computers

For Joao, computer science was embedded at an early age.

“Computers were always a big part of my family; we were all computer geeks. I used to assemble networks and systems with my uncle in the 90s, as a child, so I always had a lot of experience playing with computers and building stuff.”.

This was a passion that continued throughout Joao’s life.

“I went to university in 2001 for mathematics and computer science, when I was 17. My background is software engineering; a bit of everything in that space. That’s what I like to do, and that’s what I’ve been doing for 17, almost 18 years now. Something I have always wanted to do in that space was build something tangible, and XYZ and the Atom™ is something tangible, so this is a very rewarding experience for me.”

Bridging gaps between teams

Hardly a one-trick-pony, Joao is talented in several verticals and aims to put all his experience to good use at XYZ.

“I work in engineering, but I have a background in consultancy and delivery, so I can bridge between our current teams, and also the teams that we are looking to build. I have a lot of experience scaling teams. I know that scaling a team is a lot more complex than scaling a process or solution, and that’s where I can fill the gap.”

Having settled in quickly, this priority is fast being met.

“My objective is primarily to understand what the teams need and see where we need more resources; more people in engineering, in cloud, what the pain points are for different teams what systems, processes, tools need to be enhanced. That’s my forte, so that’s what I’m helping the team here to do”

XYZ is X-citing

Joao does not have a background in the construction industry, as he is the first to admit. However, he understands the quality and potential of what XYZ is offering.

“I am not and expert on construction, I have to say that. But what I can see is that the Atom is advanced and has a lot of potential to be widely used. I was, I would say, positively shocked when I saw the level of quality and capabilities of the Atom. For me, that was an eye-opener. I’ve never worked with a company that builds such an advanced device, so for me that was a ‘wow’ moment.”

This excitement is something Joao wants to spread throughout the construction industry.

“In the Atom, we have something that could become a standard of usage across construction; not just for our current Tier 1 customers, but also on more go-to-market, smaller impact GCs (General Contractor). I think that’s where we can evolve.”

The future of XYZ

As a natural innovator, Joao is already looking ahead to what XYZ can become in the future.

“A lot of good decisions have been made at XYZ over the last few years, and now there’s a drive to go more professional. Right now, we are primarily a supplier of services. There is little independent usage from the client side, so that’s something I am here to help with, so in the future our customers can use the Atom devices independently and with full autonomy. That’s what I’ll be focusing on with Cloud engineering solutions.”

With such drastic improvements on the horizon at XYZ, the sky really is the limit in Joao’s eyes.

“I think we can become a game changer. As our product becomes more tangible, more accessible to the end user, our product will become more widely adopted. Combine that with the expansions in other areas, like with the new SLAM functionalities and customer enablements that the company is building, that’s where we will make a massive difference.”

True to his word, Joao has quickly gone about implementing changes at XYZ and improving processes to achieve the vision that he shares with the company.

If you would like to join our Cloud team, or any other team at XYZ Reality, have a look at our open roles.