What happens to a company the day after the CEO departs? For Jo\u00e3o Modesto, Co-founder and CEO of Crossjoin Solutions, this is perhaps the true test of leadership: determining whether the organization remains capable of deciding, evolving, and creating value without depending on a single individual. This vision is one that Crossjoin has sought to materialize through a model of distributed leadership, operational autonomy, and knowledge transfer across generations. In this interview with Revista Pontos de Vista, as part of the “CEO O QUE FICA” [CEO What Remains] initiative, Jo\u00e3o Modesto shares his reflections on legacy: what endures is not the figure of the CEO, but the values, the people, and the capacity that one generation builds and passes on to the next.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The “CEO O QUE FICA” initiative begins with a particularly challenging question: when a leadership cycle ends, what remains? For you, what should remain from a CEO’s tenure in an organization?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
For me, there is a very simple test: what happens to the organization the day after the CEO leaves? If everything is put on hold, if decisions cease to be made, or if everyone keeps asking what he would do, then there was probably too much CEO and too little organization. What I would like to leave behind is precisely the opposite: an organization capable of continuing to make decisions, evolve, and create value.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, it would be inaccurate to present this merely as a future ambition. For nearly a decade, Crossjoin has been building a distributed leadership model. Many operational, tactical, people management decisions, and a growing share of strategic decisions are no longer concentrated in the CEO. They have been progressively taken on by the Board, the Founders, and a second line of management with genuine autonomy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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![\"Jo\u00e3o](\"https:\/\/crossjoin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/joao_modesto_interview_office_photo_14_10_26.webp\")
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nCrossjoin’s merit does not lie in a CEO who decides everything; it lies in leadership that builds teams capable of making sound decisions and taking accountability for results. My own role has evolved. Today, it is less about stepping into operations and more about vision, policies, governance, internationalization, and the investments that build the next growth platforms. Even in these areas, I always seek to discuss, challenge, and align first with the leadership team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Therefore, preparing for what remains after the CEO does not begin at the moment of succession. At Crossjoin, it began many years ago. I want the DNA, culture, and values that took us years to build (integrity, sustainability, communication, transparency, and diligence) to endure, serving as a real filter for decision-making. And our “Perform to Perfection<\/a>” motto must continue to mean that we never consider ourselves good enough to stop improving. The legacy of a CEO is not an organization that memorizes what he would do, but an organization that knows why it exists and has people capable of deciding without depending on him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Crossjoin was born toward the end of a longer journey. My exposure to the business world started in my youth through my father’s businesses. I saw commercial relationships, management efforts, and what entrepreneurship required up close. In 1996, I joined Airtel in Spain (now Vodafone) as an analyst programmer, progressing to enterprise architecture. There, I realized that technology is only relevant when it transforms business and the human experience. Later, during periods in Germany and Belgium, I made strategic choices focused on continuous learning, sometimes accepting a step back in title to advance in knowledge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I returned to Portugal to resolve a critical availability and performance issue at a major telecom operator, bridging applications, infrastructure, architecture, and business. It was in that context that I identified market demand for a company specialized in the intersection between technology and business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Crossjoin was born when I was around 40 years old, but it was not created by one person alone. We were seven co-founders: Jo\u00e3o Modesto, Eug\u00e9nia Modesto, Rodrigo Garcia, Ricardo Canossa, Bruno Ribeiro, Pedro Coimbra, and N\u00eddio Cruz. Everyone brought distinct and complementary strengths: rigor in quality delivery, pragmatism, a proactive consulting mindset, and the ability to unite architecture with management. I like to think of that group as a molecule: atoms do not need to be identical to form a strong structure; the difference and complementarity between them are what make the bond valuable. That cohesion and integrity were the foundations of our results and the transmission of Crossjoin’s DNA to subsequent generations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We are witnessing a major technological evolution alongside a profound transformation in management. On the technology side, the shift lies in moving from simple automation to intelligent automation (Agentic AI<\/a>), incorporating agents capable of interpreting context, executing actions, and proposing decisions at unprecedented scale and speed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This convergence alters a historic trade-off: the choice between good, cheap, and fast. Today, well-prepared organizations can simultaneously improve quality, speed, and unit cost by turning the knowledge of people and projects into a repeatable platform: methods, data, components, and controls embedded directly into the solution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The deepest transformation occurs in the distribution of responsibility. When repetitive execution is absorbed by machines, people move up the value chain, shifting from being valued for tasks to being valued for outcomes. This demands greater judgment, observability, and data interpretation skills.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There is, however, a non-negotiable principle: the more autonomy we delegate to machines, the greater the clarity must be regarding who retains control and remains accountable for the decision. Technology can gain autonomy, but accountability can never be left ownerless.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n What is still missing in many organizations is working on the foundations first. There is an enormous temptation to jump straight to the most visible technology, especially with Artificial Intelligence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I often compare this to building a house. We look at the IT stack and assume the roof is missing, representing business optimization via AI. But to install a heavy, sophisticated roof, the first question must be: can the foundations support it? In an enterprise, those foundations are processes, accountabilities, logical architecture, data, single sources of truth, governance, and security.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Before automating, you must streamline processes, remove bottlenecks, and ensure reliable data. Applying technology with massive execution power to inefficient or flawed processes does not solve the problem; it amplifies it on an enormous scale. Technology only produces value when there is an explicit link between investment, process, and business outcome. You must know which KPI you want to move, who is responsible for it, and how you will measure real impact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Internationalization begins with risk management. Entering a new market is not just about closing a contract; it involves dealing with local legislation, taxation, operations, partners, and distinct cultures. In analyzing this risk, we use structured methodologies (such as the MEFLO framework) to evaluate every dimension of growth.<\/p>\n\n\n\nYou are a co-founder and CEO of Crossjoin Solutions. Looking back on this journey, what decisions and principles do you consider to have been decisive in building the company that exists today?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"Team](\"https:\/\/crossjoin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/crossjoin_office_almada_photo_15_26-800x1200.webp\")
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nThe convergence of Artificial Intelligence, data, and automation is reshaping business models. What transformations do you believe will have the greatest impact on leadership and process management?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Crossjoin operates at the intersection of technology, performance, and business. What is still missing in organizations to successfully turn technology investments into concrete value?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
What challenges did you face in establishing Crossjoin internationally, and what can Portugal do better to empower tech companies to reach a global scale?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n