Carly Pepin sits down with Carlos Diego Cavalcanti, CEO and CTO of Valcann and cloud services leader for EPI-USE Latin America, for a thoughtful conversation about entrepreneurship, leadership, technology, and the human relationships that drive long-term success.
In this episode of Built For This, Diego shares the story of founding Valcann in 2014 as a cloud computing startup and navigating its evolution into a thriving professional services business. Rather than pursuing outside investment early on, he chose to grow independently, allowing the company to experiment, adapt, and find its footing without sacrificing its culture or vision.
Throughout the conversation, Carly and Diego explore what it means to build a company around people rather than processes. Drawing on his experience as both a technology leader and university professor, Diego explains how education, mentorship, and talent development became central pillars of Valken's growth strategy. By partnering with universities and developing talent internally, the company has built a pipeline of highly skilled professionals while strengthening its culture from within.
The discussion also explores leadership, remote work, resilience, company culture, strategic partnerships, and the rapidly evolving role of AI in professional services. Diego shares practical lessons on scaling teams, navigating uncertainty, and maintaining strong relationships in an increasingly digital world.
At its core, this episode is a reminder that while technology continues to evolve, business remains fundamentally human.
Key Themes
Relationships Are One of the Most Powerful Business Assets
Diego believes that while systems and processes are important, meaningful relationships create the foundation for sustainable growth. Strong connections with employees, clients, partners, and students have been instrumental in Valcann's success and long-term resilience.
Independence Can Create Space for Innovation
By avoiding outside funding during the company's early years, Valcann maintained the flexibility to test ideas, pivot when necessary, and grow organically. Diego explains how this freedom allowed the company to innovate without external pressures dictating its direction.
Resilience Is Built Through Daily Discipline
Rather than viewing resilience as something people either have or don't have, Diego sees it as the result of consistent habits and disciplined action. The routines leaders establish today determine how effectively they navigate tomorrow's challenges.
About Carlos Diego Cavalcanti
Carlos Diego Cavalcanti is the CEO and CTO of Valcann and leads the cloud services division in Latin America for EPI-USE. EPI-USE Services for AWS is an enterprise cloud expert with deep roots in SAP and ERP, serving enterprises running mission-critical workloads on AWS and tech-intensive SaaS companies.
With a Master's degree and Ph.D. in Computer Science, Diego combines deep technical expertise with a passion for education and leadership development. He serves as a professor at the Recife Center for Advanced Studies and Systems (CESAR) and has also been a Visiting Fellow at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, conducting research in Cloud Computing and Artificial Intelligence.
Known for his people-first leadership style, Diego has built a reputation for developing talent, fostering innovation, and creating organizations where both individuals and businesses can thrive.
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Memorable Quotes
"You don't scale relationships."
"We make our own champions in-house."
"Discipline creates the structure that allows you to be resilient when challenges come."
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Host: Carly Pepin
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West Coast Growth Advisors
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