About Marcelo Boccuzzi

The Brazilian MBA graduate smiles when he thinks back about the Irish rain, but remembers the networking opportunities and technical skills he picked up from his MBA year in Dublin. 

Marcelo Boccuzzi now lives and works in sunny Sao Paulo and has big ambitions to become a CFO (chief financial officer). He says the MBA he took in academic year 2017/2018 at UCD Smurfit  has equipped him to take that final step at some point in the future.
He says his first connection with Ireland came after the earlier phase of his career in finance in Brazil including a stint with food and agriculture giant Monsanto. He always wanted to go abroad for a period of time, but an earlier planned foray to the United Sates fell through.  “Any plans or any possible moves like that, were all canceled,’’ he recalls. “And I decided it's better for me to create my own opportunities, so I thought the MBA would be the best way to open the doors for me abroad.’’

European Heritage Kicks In

For a time it was a toss-up between Canada and Europe, but Europe won out, possibly, because of his own European connections. “Europe for me was probably the best option, because I I have a European passport and my family going back were Italian, they were from south of Italy, from Puglia,” he explains. 

He was glad he opted for UCD at that point. “ I mean, it was a great experience. I learned a lot during the course, but the main thing that the MBA provided me with was really, opening doors, by having that on my CV,’’ he states. 

He found a cultural difference too from doing the MBA and afterwards- Irish companies preferred those with a strict accounting qualification as well, but overseas, particularly American firms, were particularly keen on MBA with or without a strict accounting qualification. However Boccuzzi rolled with the different tastes of different companies and recruiters and eventually secured a great job with Kellogg's post his MBA in Dublin. The Kellogg's operation had leading European responsibilities and Boccuzzi enjoyed the work, doing financial planning and analysis (FPA).

“I stayed 3 years in the role that I was hired for, and after 3 years I was promoted to be a senior manager, and it was a role that was not only a regional role, but it was a global role in the corporate treasury team,’’ he explains. While Dublin and Kellogg's was enjoyable, like a lot of people the call from home had not fully abated since doing the MBA and he decided it was time to answer that call.

Return Home to Brazil

“So my initial plan was to stay 5 years abroad, and I was already there. I had already passed the 5 year mark. And so that's when I decided actually to come back to Brazil.  I usually used to come back like at least once a year to visit anyway. But back in 2022, I stayed here almost 2 months, and during that time I decided that it would be probably a good idea to come back,’’ he recalls. Lack of direct flights between Ireland and Brazil also made connecting back home a little tricky. 

He returned to Brazil and took a role with big 4 consultancy, EY, in the investment banking/corporate finance area, and it was a very different role to his previous more strict finance work and as a result he describes as a ‘crazy ride’.

“I learned so much in one year. To be honest, it felt was similar to the MBA. It was a crazy ride but it was great. I learned a lot but, I realised that basically for me, it was a little too commercial,” he explains.

“I'm not saying that my previous roles in finance were only passive, like, I had a lot of input, working as a business partner. But it was different this time. It was a lot more commercial, business development-type of role and not necessarily a fit with my profile, but also I felt, it was probably taking me on a different route,’’ is how he summarises things. 

Following the ‘North Star’

This leads him on to discuss what his ultimately ‘dream’ job or role might be and he cites the position of chief financial officer (CFO).  Bringing him back towards that goal was his next job since coming back from Ireland- a finance role in FPA with Mastercard. He points out that regular outbursts of inflation in Brazil means the payments industry (and forms of instant payment) are quite a well developed in the country. He is now well settled into the role as a manager and asked does his MBA help him in such work, he replies:

“I mean, the MBA was very important in terms of technical skills. But 70% of your skills come from on the job experience,” he states. He adds that both are important, as is networking and coaching in that context he says engaging with executives doing the executive MBA at Smurift was highly important. “Yes we had plenty of chances of interacting with the executive MBAs. So that was really important, even nowadays I still maintain contact with them, as we did a few subjects together with the executive MBAs, and even like the trips we did with them,’’ he says. He also continues to engage with his own MBA class, via that most noisy of social outposts- the WhatsApp group! “I have at least 5 or 6 pretty close friends that I directly talk to,’’ he says.

Meanwhile the goal of getting that CFO role occupies his mind. “Yeah, its still, my north star and I’m taking the steps and working on the the skills, I don't have,’’ he says. “But yeah, to be honest, if I don't get there, it's fine. But as long as I continue to develop,’’ is how he describes his key to job satisfaction.

Irish reminisces

As for his time in Ireland, he is more than content he made the educational voyage he did.

“The MBA was my first time in Ireland, and I would have liked to have lived longer in Ireland. To be honest, it's a great country. It's a beautiful country. I mean, the people there, like everyone, is so welcoming. I think we, the Brazilians and the Irish are more similar than different, and terms of historical background it's a Catholic country like Brazil, so  we have a lot more common things between us than difference’’ he explains. However he does deduct a point or two from his Irish experience due to the wet weather, an experience he laughs about now. “So I remember the first year I didn't have a car. I only had a bike. I remember every time I I went back home, cycling. I was like, oh, what am I doing here like? It's so soaking wet!"

But there were other compensations. “Also back then the nightlife was amazing, like, Dublin is such a vibrant city. And then you have so many tourists at any single point of the year. Yeah, I mean, I really love enjoyed living there. I would have been there longer, and but at the same time I felt like it was time for me to come back,’’ he states. 

With his skills enhanced from his MBA journey and the temperatures a little warmer in Sau Paulo, it sounds like he is ready to reach his goals.

March 2024