Challenge
Following investment from Prosus Ventures, Madrid-based AI platform, Luzia, moved into a new phase of accelerated growth. With user numbers scaling fast and a clear ambition to lead in consumer AI, the leadership team recognised the need to professionalise the organisation and strengthen its executive bench.
The first priority was a Chief Technology Officer who could scale the product and infrastructure at pace. Luzia needed someone with genuine startup DNA who could operate as a true partner to founder and CEO, Alvaro Martinez, alongside credible AI expertise gained either professionally or through clear personal engagement in the field.
After successfully appointing the CTO in November, Luzia retained Finatal on a second critical mandate: Chief Product Officer. This role would support bold product decision-making and help Luzia stay ahead of the AI innovation curve. The CPO also needed strong exposure to the Brazilian market, which had rapidly become Luzia’s largest user base.
Across both searches, competition for senior leaders with commercially relevant AI experience was fierce. The talent pool is small and heavily targeted across the global technology ecosystem.
Action
The Finatal team worked closely with Alvaro Martinez and Chief Operating Officer, Isabel Gil-Casares Lacambra, to define the leadership requirements, then executed targeted searches across the European and Latin American startup and venture ecosystems.
For the CTO mandate, Finatal targeted founder and startup technology leaders with clear entrepreneurial DNA and genuine, hands-on AI experience. The focus was on individuals who had built or scaled products in fast-growth environments and who could combine technical depth with a practical, outcome-led mindset.
On the back of this success, Finatal’s Technology Leadership practice was retained to deliver the CPO search. Given the strategic importance of Brazil, the mandate prioritised product leaders who had operated in, or scaled products for, the Brazilian technology market.
Across both roles, Finatal’s team carried out detailed market mapping and engaged founders, operators and venture-backed leaders across Spain and Latin America.
Shortlists were delivered within one week of launching each search, enabling a rapid, structured interview process. An offer for the CTO role was secured within three weeks, with the successful candidate joining in November. The CPO search followed shortly after, with the preferred candidate accepting the role and joining in late March.
Impact
In strengthening its technical and product leadership to expand platform capability and infrastructure, Luzia can maintain the speed and agility of a high-growth business, positioning it to make decisive product moves in a rapidly evolving AI market.
Together, new appointments to the positions of Chief Technology Officer and Chief Product Officer leave Luzia perfectly placed for its next stage of growth following the Prosus Ventures investment, with the leadership required to scale globally – while continuing to innovate in one of the most competitive areas of technology.
Isabel Gil-Casares Lacambra, Chief Operating Officer, Luzia, said:
“Our experience with Finatal has been fantastic. After months of searching on our own, they helped us close a very strategic role in under a month with a truly exceptional candidate. We were impressed not only by the person we ended up hiring but also by the overall calibre of the shortlist. Lewis [Wilson] and Niamh [Currie] made the whole process incredibly easy: they were fast, responsive, proactive and genuinely lovely to work with. We’d happily partner with them again.”
The search was led by Lewis Wilson, Managing Consultant, Data & Tech, and Niamh Currie, Consultant, at Finatal.