From tropical Brazil to sub-arctic Luleå – All about Bruna Nervis

Interview with Bruna Nervis, Product Manager of Skyresponse
Having come all the way from South America we interview our new product manager Bruna Nervis and ask her about her experiences in the tech field and how it is to move to the city of Luleå in northern sweden to work for an IoT focused company.

How long have you been in Sweden and how is it working out for you?
I came here in the beginning of april, 6-7 months ago.The weather here is very nice in a way that’s different from what I’m used to. People ask me all the time what I will do during the winter, if I can stand the cold and darkness but I’ve been here before 2-3 times in the winter so I’ve learnt a bit about it. It’s just so beautiful here in the winter, as well in summer. What I also see as a brazilian, is that in Sweden you’re able to go for a walk and exercise outside safely, even during the cold dark winter. I love the nature here, I really do, so I appreciate things like that a lot.

What is your background in the field? How did you come to tech?
I’ve been in this area my whole professional life. I graduated in computer science and have been working ever since with digital products and applications. I started while I was in University, as a developer, then became a system analyst and later on business analyst and product leader. When I finished my degree in Caxias do Sul, my hometown I moved to Porto Alegre, a big city in southern Brazil looking for better opportunities. I worked as a coordinator in a digital company and as a business analyst and product leader for a broadcast media company. I built my career in this area. My last position in Brazil was as a consultant in a tech company.

“Skyresponse is able to handle so many different areas such as automation industry and healthcare which gives it a huge potential for growing. “

What made you interested in Skyresponse?
What I’m looking for in a company is a digital business that can improve people’s lives. I see that in Skyresponse, as the application possibilities of IoT is huge. Skyresponse is able to handle so many different areas such as automation industry and healthcare which gives it a huge potential for growing.

They are also very professional, concerned to grow in a fast-pace and doing it in the right way. Old companies are usually bureaucracies and hard to maneuver in.

How do envision your role here at Skyresponse?
I am building my vision right now but I need to know more about everything. What I can see right now, is that I want to help Skyresponse achieving that right way to grow. I can see my ability to help Skyresponse by being the bridge between tech and business. We need to align the business goals and use what technology can offer to achieve that. In my experience, good communication is the most difficult thing to achieve in businesses. You can’t grow if you don’t align properly the goals, and make everyone inside the company aware of it. Especially not if the dev team is isolated. Skyresponse is very lean and ready to grow, so we need that right way. That is what I see for the future. For every single feature we will build, we need to analyze what can be improved, thinking of both short and long term implications.

“I can be tough, sometimes too much, but you have to be to fix problems.”

How would your old colleagues describe you?
They usually say I’m good at what I do, leading the business decisions and being the bridge between operation and tech/dev areas. They say I’m a very friendly colleague too. I can be tough, sometimes too much, but you have to be to fix problems. In my experience, leading dev teams and planning product evolution needs someone who’s good at making decisions based in all constraints and aspects.

What makes you excited about coming back to the office on mondays?
I’m all about great – not big – challenges. I need to believe in the business and its goals. I see people here at Skyresponse that I admire for their experience, professionalism, what they can offer to the world, and to the customers. Those are some of the things that bring me back every week.

With your experience, do you see any competitors in the field?
No I don’t, not yet, because Skyresponse can be a partner to so many businesses, instead of being competitor. Any company that can build services over IoT, can be a potential competitor. However that is of course talking very broadly, since IoT services are still developing. What Skyresponse is doing differently is to build services that can be applied in a huge range of devices and also platforms to help other businesses to improve their offers to the market in a high level of strategy, security and quality.

What do you like to do in your free time?
I love to ride my bike, in the future I’m getting a mountain bike to ride in the forest, like i did in Brazil. I want to learn to skate too. There’s a river in Luleå that freezes over winter where you can skate and it seems so much fun. I also used to dance in a gymnasium so maybe I will find some dance class here. It might seem like I’m all for winter sports though skiing is too much for me, but who knows about the future. Life is about challenging yourself.