Tech Talks Portugal

Today's guest is Bruno César Rocha — Principal Software Engineer at Red Hat, Python Software Foundation Fellow, and creator of the widely-used Dynaconf library. He's also maintained 18 open source projects at once, because apparently free time is optional. In this episode, Bruno breaks down what "principal engineer" actually means (spoiler: it's not a step toward management), why he'd choose Python for humans, Rust for AI, and Go for infrastructure, and shares his surprisingly candid take on where engineering is headed in the AI era: master the foundations, then focus on being more human than ever.

This episode features Rita Tavares from Natixis discussing recruitment challenges in Portugal’s tech and banking markets, including skills shortages, hybrid work, and competition for talent. She explains how Natixis has grown in Portugal, why the company values office presence while staying flexible, and how it uses academies and training programs to develop hard-to-find skills like COBOL. The conversation also covers diversity and inclusion, the role of blind CVs and manager training, and a cautious, human-centered approach to AI in hiring.

Ana Neto exemplifies a builder with a unique career path that defies traditional categorization. Her journey spans competitive sports, biology, and software development, all fueled by curiosity, discipline, and a hands-on approach to learning. Ana is a national record-holding athlete, a full-stack developer, and a co-founder of a software agency where she has successfully built projects from the ground up. Central to her work is a passion for practical problem-solving, creating impactful solutions, and fostering environments where individuals can be their authentic selves.

In this episode, we dive into the shadowy world of AI espionage, with Jonathan Care—cybersecurity's master spy-catcher. He has cracked the code on fraud empires and insider threats, battle-tested expert witness, and forensic investigator. Now, he's arming IAM leaders against AI's double agents: rogue copilots, agentic infiltrators, and ops gone dark. Tune in as Jonathan reveals the covert ops for ironclad identity vaults, privilege kill-switches, telemetry traps, and safety perimeters that turn hype into fortified leverage.

In this episode, we sit down with Sofia Correia de Sousa, a dynamic leader shaping business growth and operations at Happyfact while building meaningful projects across entrepreneurship, community leadership, and hospitality. As co-founder of W35 and One Shot, and board member at ANJE. Sofia brings a broad and practical perspective on what it takes to create, grow, and sustain ventures with vision and resilience.