AI Salon Rio #15

Inside CEIA: How a University in Goiânia Became an AI Company Factory

The largest applied AI research center in Latin America is not in São Paulo. Not in Rio either. Mexico? Nope.

It is in Goiânia. (And you thought Goiás was only agro...)

If you have not heard of CEIA, prepare to be mesmerized. A research center inside the Federal University of Goiás (UFG). 1,100+ researchers. Around 90 active projects. Roughly R$500 million attracted. Solutions reaching some 150 million Brazilians, about 70% of the population.

Here is the rest of it:

CEIA + Google DeepMind built GAIA, an open-source Portuguese LLM

Over 100+ corporate clients, among them Itaú, Natura, iFood, Vivo, WEG, CEMIG, Volkswagen and TV Globo.

Software running in Canada, Ireland and Malaysia.

Strip away the superlatives and CEIA is what happens when a university decides applied research is the product, then goes out and finds the customers (a novel strategy, apparently).

Which is the interesting part, because Rio has the deepest bench in the country to run that play. PUC-RJ, IMPA, IME, COPPE, CBPF. Decades of it.

So we invited Anderson Soares, founder of CEIA, to share his secrets so we can replicate CEIAs in Rio.

AGENDA

18:30 | Check-in & Networking

19:00 | Welcome Remarks a.k.a Luana's pep talk

19:10 | Startup Pitches:

Farmie.io; co-founder Bernardo Madeira

TBA

TBA

19:20 | The Energy Transition Hackathon by COPPE & Made in Rio

The world's best cleantech should be built in Rio. COPPE's business incubator and Made in Rio are running a hackathon on energy transition. Marcos Chaves, who heads the COPPE incubator, joins us to tell you how to get in [Online training Sept 8 to 10, ideathon Sept 11 to 13, and the in-person hackathon Sept 25 to 27].

19:30 | Inside CEIA: How a University in Goiânia Became an AI Company Factory

Anderson Soares; professor at UFG, PhD from ITA. Founder of Deep Learning Brasil. Personally credited with raising R$400+ million for R&D projects.

Also, meet our host: Luana Helsinger (ex-private equity turned AI creator, between Silicon Valley & Rio).

20:30 | Networking with Beer & Snacks

Founding Partners:

Visagio: a global consulting firm born in Rio de Janeiro and now with 1,000+ professionals worldwide, six offices, and 500+ projects delivered per year across 50+ countries. They are experts in solving complex technology challenges, with a strong focus on AI and analytics.

There wouldn’t be food, drinks, or functioning Wi-Fi without our incredible sponsors:

AWS Startups: supporting 280,000+ startups worldwide, AWS helps founders bring their world-changing ideas to life: from building an MVP to scaling towards an IPO. Learn more at AWS Startups.

Instituto 12: where business meets innovation in Rio. With striking architecture and a mission to accelerate Rio’s innovation ecosystem, Instituto 12 is a landmark for the city’s future.

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