Joao Jacinto in São Paulo, Brazil
Let’s get to know Joao Jacinto:
City, Country: São Paulo, Brazil
Title:: Founder & Chief Strategic Officer, Zieger Learning Center
Industry: Project Management, Digital Transformation & AI
Number of years of work experience: 8+
Languages: English, Portuguese, Spanish
How do you say project manager in your language? Gerente de Projetos
Diploma: MBA in Project Management – University of São Paulo (USP); BTech in Industrial Automation, IFSP, Brazil
Certifications: PMP, CAPM, Academic Certification in Project Management Instructor Training by PMI, PSM, AI for Business, Citizen Development Business Architect (CD-BA)
Social Media: LinkedIn
Website: joaohjacinto.com (personal) zieger.com.br (business)
Awards:
PMI Rising Leader Award Honoree, PMI São Paulo Volunteer Recognition Award 2x, Honored by the Military Police of the State of São Paulo for contributions to project management
How would you describe yourself?
I am the Founder & Chief Strategic Officer of Zieger Learning Center in São Paulo, Brazil. He works at the intersection of project management, digital transformation, and AI, helping organizations build practical solutions that drive real impact. With experience across Latin America, North America, and Europe, I focuse on making complex ideas simple and accessible. I teach project management, AI, and innovation, and speak at global events, including PMI Global Summit. My mission is to empower professionals to grow faster than the challenges around them. I believe that education, curiosity, and thoughtful leadership can transform careers and the organizations they touch.
What are your passions?
I love discovering new cultures and talking to people from different backgrounds. Traveling and connecting with diverse perspectives has always helped me become a better project manager.
I’m passionate about developing AI-driven solutions that solve real problems in our day-to-day work.
I enjoy the analytical side of management—working with metrics, KPIs, and evaluations to understand performance and drive smarter decisions.
Why did you become a project manager?
I started my career in product development, where I had to work a little across every area, suppliers, deliveries, processes, engineering, operations. Project management quickly became essential to keep everything aligned. That’s when I realized how powerful it is: it brings clarity, structure, and collaboration to ideas that would never move alone. From that point on, I fell in love with the profession and decided to make it my path.
What would you recommend to a new project manager?
Focus on people first, and develop strong organization skills. Without organization, nothing moves. Listen actively, communicate clearly, build trust, and give yourself space to think, reflection is also productivity. Good project management is a combination of structure, empathy, and disciplined execution.
As a project manager, what is one thing you would like to improve or learn in the future?
I want to go deeper into how AI can support project work—especially Predictive AI for risk anticipation, and continue improving my analysis of project data and PMOs. The market evolves every day, and project leaders can’t afford to stand still.
Do you have any resources to recommend to a new project manager?
PMI’s StudyHall and PMIstandards+
Talks from Ricardo Vargas and PMI Global Summit sessions on YouTube
AI tools like ChatGPT or Copilot to support planning and writing
My own website and social media, where I share content in both English and Portuguese: linkedin.com/in/joaohenriquejacinto and https://www.instagram.com/hbj_joao/
