The Brazilian subsidiary of cloud computing and virtualization company Citrix has started the year with a major leadership change as its general director announced his departure.

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Luis Banhara, who has led Citrix's Brazilian operations for seven years, will be replaced by sales director Luciana Pinheiro on an interim basis.

"Already well known by customers, Luciana now has the mission to leverage the use of solutions that not only allow them to work from anywhere, but that can unlock their full potential", Banhara said in a LinkedIn post, announcing his decision.

Banhara joined Citrix in 2014 from Microsoft Brazil, where he worked for 12 years as a sales director before doing the same job at SAP Brazil.

Reflecting on the years since taking over the highest job at Citrix Brazil, Banhara noted the debate around remote working and employee experience was "something novel, disruptive even", and that the company was predominantly associated with virtualization at the time.

Banhara also argued that an aspect of the corporate culture of 2014 which can still be seen today and "slows down the evolution of companies in Brazil" is conforming with technology solutions that are "good enough".

"In other words, in addition to updating the company's position in the country and contributing to the discussion around remote work, [I] would also have to deal with the tendency of IT [departments] to adopt palliative solutions", Banhara pointed out.

"Obviously, all that has changed with COVID-19. Projects that used to take months were completed in weeks, and Citrix's revenue worldwide grew dramatically", Banhara added. "Now, with the advance of vaccination and the gradual return to offices, another challenge is imposed: the adoption of a hybrid model -- but we will be very well prepared for that."

The executive did not say where he would be working next but noted his next role "will surely make history in the Brazilian technology market".

Banhara's departure follows the appointment of Marcelo Giampietro as general manager for Americas at Citrix in April 2021, and his departure a few months later, in November 2021. Formerly a global head of commercial sales at SAP, Giampietro was responsible for all sales, marketing, services and operations in Citrix's Latin American and Canadian markets. According to the company, a replacement for Giampietro is due to be announced.

CXO

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