Credit operations
How to build and evolve credit operations that scale — from underwriting to recovery. Lessons from the McKinsey Lab to Principia. What changes when data becomes the protagonist.
CO-FOUNDER · VP OF OPERATIONS, PRINCIPIA · CERTIFIED BOARD MEMBER
Building credit, collections and customer service operations at scale.
Nearly two decades rebuilding credit recovery, customer experience and operations at McKinsey, Mutant, TIM and — today — Principia, where he is a co-founder. Active in 10+ countries.
McKinsey · Mutant · TIM Brasil · Azul · Principia · Best Performance · Risk & Finance 50 · Board Academy
THE GUIDING THESIS
The invisible engine that makes the economy run.
Credit and collections are the invisible engine that makes the economy run. Behind every dream that fits in someone’s wallet, there’s someone approving a limit, organizing cash, building conditions. That’s the work Marco chose — and it funds the most precious asset there is: education.
WHY YOU LANDED HERE
Four doors.
For a talk
Credit operations, digital collections, fintechs. Stages: Financial Innovation (CMS), Score25 Summit, EBDI, FEBRABAN TECH, Bett Brasil.
See topics →For a board seat
Certified by Board Academy (PFCC). Sectors: fintech, edtech, telecom, consumer credit.
Capabilities →For a read
Pieces on credit risk, AI in collections, the board director role, and scale-up building.
Latest writing →For a story
Bio in PT/EN, high-resolution photos, press kit. Reply within 24h on a business day.
Press →CAREER
Nearly two decades. Ten-plus countries. One thread holding it together.
Customer service, credit recovery, and operations at scale — always on the frontier between technology and what it means to whoever is on the other side.
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McKinsey & Company
Collections Excellence Lab
Joined the innovation hub testing high-impact strategies for large credit operations. Piloted digital tools, segmentation models, and negotiation approaches across projects in Latin America, the US, China, and Europe. The place where the conviction took shape: collections is not coercion — it is incentive architecture.
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Mutant
Pioneering digital collections in Brazil
Led the structuring of one of Brazil's first 100% digital collections departments, impacting thousands of customers and setting a standard much of the market still follows. The right channel at the right time returns the customer — and the payment.
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TIM Brasil
Reducing default without losing the customer
Deployed strategies to reduce default and involuntary churn, balancing financial performance with customer experience. A recovered customer is worth more than a collected one.
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Azul Linhas Aéreas Brasileiras
Operations under pressure
Operations through one of the most turbulent stretches of Brazilian aviation. The lesson that stuck: a good process is one that survives the worst-case scenario.
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Principia
Co-founder · VP of Operations · today
Co-founded Principia, the AI Operating System for Education with embedded financial solutions, focused on Latin America. Today the ecosystem serves more than 760,000 students and 1,200 educational institutions. Marco leads operations, designing data-driven strategies that tackle the two biggest challenges of Brazilian higher education: default and dropout. Principia is part of the Endeavor (ScaleUp Ventures) network.
EDUCATION
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MBA in Business Management
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Master of Science in Emergent Technologies in Education
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Certified Board Member
WHERE HE IS A REFERENCE
What he brings to your stage, your board, or your table.
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Credit recovery & digital collections
McKinsey Lab, Mutant, TIM, Principia.
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Student credit risk & predictive models
Underwriting with income uplift, ML, academic and financial data integrated.
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Dropout prevention
Predictive analytics and emerging technologies (master's thesis topic).
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Operations at scale
Data integration, ML, and generative AI across service and collections.
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Fintech & payments
Omnichannel, BNPL, embedded finance applied to education.
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Corporate governance
Board service, financial risk reading, communication with collegiate bodies.
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Customer Experience (CX)
CX integrated with financial operations.
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Financial inclusion
Democratising access to education through well-designed student credit.
TALKS, PANELS, CLASSES
Where he has spoken. What he can bring.
Speaks to technical audiences (operations, credit, edtech) and executive ones (CXOs, board members, investors). Connects concrete experience — McKinsey Lab, pioneering Mutant, today’s Principia — to a thesis. Doesn’t pitch a deck; brings a conversation.
RECENT STAGES
- Financial Innovation (CMS Brasil)
- Score25 Summit
- MASTERING | FUTURE PAY (EBDI)
- FEBRABAN TECH
- SAB CFO (EBDI)
- Bett Brasil
- Endeavor Annual Gathering
- MVP CONF
- CCX Summit
- Podcast Made in Brazil: Buy Now Pay Later
- Kollecta — Desenrola Brasil
THREE OFFICIAL TOPICS
Digital collections
Collections as incentive architecture, not coercion. Dynamic cadence, native channel integration (WhatsApp, voice, email), AI agents negotiating. How to size capacity across human and digital.
Fintechs
Embedded finance, BNPL, omnichannel. How the future of payments takes shape at the boundary between channels — and why that has become architecture, not a feature.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS AND ADVISORY
Certified board member by Board Academy.
Serves as an independent board member across three fronts: mature governance, credit risk management, and building operations that scale. Combines concrete operating experience with the fiduciary training of PFCC — the Board Director Training and Certification Program.
WHAT HE BRINGS TO THE BOARD
- Reading financial and operational risk (not only what the C-suite presents)
- Hands-on experience leading digital transformation of operations
- Connection to the fintech, edtech, and credit ecosystem
- Communication with collegiate bodies — reports, recommendations, well-grounded votes
- Integrated view: people, technology, and impact
SECTORS WITH TRACK RECORD
- Fintech
- Edtech
- Telecom
- Financial services
- CX
- Collections ops
MENTORING & ACCELERATION
Partner at Credi+ Club.
Credi+ Club is the Credit and Collections Club inside MLS — Mentoring League Society, the largest mentoring ecosystem in Brazil. 100% focused on credit and collections. Led by Marco Sousa and Jorge Azevedo (28 years building credit decision systems, ex-McKinsey/EY/Accenture, with 400+ models deployed across 15+ countries).
The club does not deliver slides. It structures decision architecture.
Analytical intelligence
Risk-Based Pricing (EVA), IFRS9, KS simulator, Psychometric Score.
60+ specialised AI agents
Diagnosis, negotiation, risk/legal, productivity copilots.
Smart digital collections
Dynamic cadence, native WhatsApp/Email/Voice integration, human + digital capacity sizing.
Intellectual depth
Books (Risk-Based Pricing, Financial Management Shock), playbooks, governance academy.
- Limited spots
- 100% focused on credit and collections
- ROI within 2 months
WRITING
Everything he publishes, in one place.
Marco writes regularly about the three threads that hold his career together: corporate governance, AI applied to customer service and collections operations, and leadership in education and fintech scale-ups.
First posts are on the way. What used to be marcosousa.blog now lives here.
RECOGNITION
Awards and seals that validated the path.
PERSONAL
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Risk & Finance 50
CMS People, 2025. Collections category. Among the 50 most influential and innovative professionals transforming Brazil's credit, collections, and financial cycle.
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Best Performance Award
Multiple trophies for credit and collections strategies.
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Certified Board Member
Board Academy, PFCC (2025).
PRINCIPIA · under his leadership as co-founder and VP of Operations
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Banking Transformation Award
20th edition, Digital Channels category.
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LinkedIn Top Startups Brazil
Two consecutive years (2024 and 2025).
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Cuantico VP — Top Startups to Watch for 2026
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Principia Best Performance Award
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Reclame AQUI Award
Consecutive nominations, recognition for excellence in customer service.
PRESS & PRESS KIT
What journalists, podcasters and event organizers need.
Bios
3 lengths (mini 50 / short 150 / full 400 words), PT + EN.
Download bios (.docx · .md) →Photos
High-resolution, vertical/horizontal/square. Cleared for editorial use.
Download pack (.zip) →Contact
Reply within 24h on a business day.
Get in touch →CONTACT
How to start a conversation.
For talks, board seats, mentoring, consulting, or press — pick the channel that fits. Marco answers personally within 24h on a business day.
To write
Send email →To connect