// MISSION SOLUTIONS · TECHNICAL SALES LEADERSHIP · DEFENCE & INTELLIGENCE

Giovani
Lucasech

Mission Solutions & Technical Leadership

Solution Architecture · Customer-Facing Technical Leadership · Opportunity Lifecycle Ownership
AI-Enabled Mission Systems · C4ISR & ISR Workflows · Multi-Country Technical Teams · Government & Defence

// ABU DHABI, UAE · IN-REGION · LEADING DISTRIBUTED TECHNICAL TEAMS FOR GOVERNMENT MISSION SOLUTIONS

DOWNLOAD CV LINKEDIN PROFILE
gh.santos@icloud.com +971 50 785 9491 gio.lucasech.com
// 01 · PROFILE
VETTING: UAE Government Security Vetting — Active MOD Programme Engagement  ·  Eligible for Client, Government & Programme-Specific Security Checks

Customer-facing technical leader with 15 years across defence, government, and intelligence mission systems — combining deep solution architecture credibility with senior stakeholder engagement and commercial acumen.

I currently lead the C2/CUAS and Border Surveillance product lines at a UAE defence technology company in Abu Dhabi, owning the full technical opportunity lifecycle for government customers: requirements discovery, solution design and mission architecture, executive technical briefings, complex demonstrations to senior military and international delegations, technical proposal authorship, formal validation, and transition to delivery. Promoted twice in four years.

Prior to the UAE, seven years at Embraer and Saab delivering classified defence programmes across five countries — including the F-39 Gripen NG fighter programme, as the primary technical interface between two national prime contractors under bilateral government agreements. Proven leader of distributed technical teams across Europe, Asia, and the region.

I translate complex mission requirements and concepts of operation into credible, differentiated, operationally feasible solution approaches — and into winning proposals. In-region in Abu Dhabi with established government and defence relationships, immediately available.

15
Years in mission systems
5
Countries across career
2×
Promoted in 4 years
5
Languages: EN · DE · PT · ES · AR
// 02 · WHAT I BRING
01 ·
Technical Credibility Meets Commercial Instinct
The rare combination this kind of role needs: the credibility of a subject matter expert who can go deep on solution architecture, plus the commercial awareness to shape pursuits, differentiate in competitive procurements, and move customers from concept to commitment.
02 ·
In-Region, With Live Government Relationships
Based in Abu Dhabi with active UAE MOD programme engagement and established relationships with senior government and military stakeholders. No relocation, no ramp on regional access — immediate credibility with customers who value it.
03 ·
Leader of Distributed Technical Teams
Directed technical organisations spanning Austria, China, and the UK, and bilateral engineering delivery between national primes in Brazil and Sweden. Equally effective managing dispersed reports across time zones and building local capability from the ground up.
04 ·
Full Opportunity Lifecycle — Proven, Not Theoretical
Discovery → qualification → solution design → demonstration → proposal → technical validation → transition to delivery. Every stage delivered on real UAE government defence programmes, from CONOPS authorship to fielded operational systems.
05 ·
AI-Enabled Mission Solutions
Architected AI-enabled C4I frameworks for autonomous ISR-and-strike demonstrations — object detection and classification, multi-source sensor fusion, real-time exploitation, and decision workflows — presented to senior military leadership.
06 ·
Reusable Technical Assets & Competitive Intelligence
Built repeatable evaluation frameworks and field knowledge that scale a team — including a standardised multi-vendor sensor comparison methodology producing competitive intelligence and trade-off analysis that drove customer selection decisions.
// 03 · OPPORTUNITY LIFECYCLE
From mission requirement to operational impact.

Government customers need more than product demonstrations — they need a technical partner who owns the full arc from first conversation to fielded capability. This is the lifecycle I run, and the technical organisation I build to run it at scale.

01
Discover
Engage senior stakeholders, assess the technical environment, map operational workflows, security requirements, and mission outcomes.
02
Qualify
Understand buying dynamics, competitive pressures, and decision criteria; prioritise technical resources against the highest-value pursuits.
03
Architect
Translate mission requirements and CONOPS into credible, differentiated, operationally feasible solution approaches across deployment models.
04
Demonstrate
Lead compelling capability demonstrations and executive technical briefings for senior government and international delegations.
05
Propose
Author winning technical proposals; differentiate the solution in competitive, regulated defence procurements.
06
Validate
Conduct technical feasibility assessments and formal validation; define acceptance criteria and requirement traceability.
07
Deliver
Transition to delivery: integration, FAT/SAT acceptance, field deployment, and operational handover to the customer.
08
Feed Back
Escalate customer requirements, competitive insights, and product gaps into roadmap and regional strategy.
// 04 · TECHNICAL DOMAINS
Mission Solution Architecture
CONOPS/OCD, solution design, deployment across cloud, on-prem, hybrid, edge
C4ISR & ISR Mission Workflows
Multi-sensor architecture, data fusion, sensor-to-decision chains
AI-Enabled Mission Systems
Object detection & classification, computer vision, multi-source analysis
Autonomous Systems & UAS
AI-enabled C4I, autonomous mission orchestration, ISR platforms
Customer-Facing Technical Sales
Opportunity lifecycle ownership, technical validation, transition to delivery
Executive Stakeholder Engagement
C-suite, senior government & military technical discussions
Solution Demonstrations
Capability demos & technical briefings to government delegations
Technical Proposals & Capture
Winning proposals, competitive differentiation, regulated procurement
Multi-Country Team Leadership
Distributed technical teams across Europe, Asia, and the region
Systems Engineering
INCOSE full lifecycle, requirements engineering, V&V
Technical Feasibility Assessment
Mission-critical platform evaluation, integration pathways
Competitive Intelligence Frameworks
Reusable evaluation methodologies, trade-off analysis, field knowledge
// 05 · CAREER TRACK
AUG 2022 — PRESENT
Product Line Lead — C2 / CUAS / Border Surveillance
Confidential UAE Defence Technology Company · Abu Dhabi, UAE
Own the full technical opportunity lifecycle for UAE government and defence customers — discovery, solution architecture, demonstrations to senior military and international delegations, technical proposals, validation, and delivery. Lead cross-functional technical resources and multi-vendor partner ecosystems. Architected AI-enabled C4I framework for autonomous ISR-and-strike demonstrations.
↑ PROMOTED TWICE IN 4 YEARS: Senior Eng → Integration Manager → Product Line Lead
Solution ArchitectureTechnical SalesAI-Enabled C4IGov Customer EngagementUAE MOD
2019 — 2021
MA — International Management & Leadership
Fachhochschule Vorarlberg · Dornbirn, Austria
Master's degree in International Management and Leadership — international strategy, cross-cultural management, and organisational leadership. Completed alongside professional roles.
International StrategyLeadership
FEB 2018 — DEC 2022
Global Product Manager · International Technical Operations Manager
Neutrik (Liechtenstein) · Tridonic / Zumtobel Group (Austria)
Owned global product portfolio strategy and go-to-market; deployed a global KPI monitoring tool across international leadership. Led an intercultural technical organisation across Austria, China, and the UK — standardising process and reducing single points of dependency across three sites.
Distributed TeamsAustria · China · UKGlobal Portfolio
JAN 2011 — JAN 2018
Technical Manager & Senior Systems Integration Engineer
Embraer + Saab AB · Brazil & Sweden · (Saab Linköping, 10 months on-site)
Primary technical interface between Embraer and the Swedish national defence establishment (Saab, FMV) on the F-39 Gripen NG fighter programme — a classified government-to-government bilateral acquisition. Delivered systems engineering across five platforms: EW self-protection and weapon aiming (A-1M), navigation and mission systems (E2, Safety-of-Flight certified).
F-39 Gripen NGBilateral ProgrammeSystems EngineeringANAC · FAA · EASA
2007 — 2011
BEng — Electrical & Electronics Engineering
Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP) · Brazil · Academic Excellence Award
Foundation in electrical and electronics engineering — antenna design, RF systems, control systems, and embedded electronics.
Electrical EngineeringRF Systems
// 06 · SELECT MISSION SOLUTIONS
AI-Enabled Autonomous Mission Architecture — UAE Gov
C4I solution architecture for coordinated autonomous ISR-and-strike demonstrations — object detection & classification, multi-source sensor fusion, platform tasking, real-time telemetry exploitation, operator decision workflows. Demonstrated to senior UAE military leadership.
Border & Maritime Surveillance Mission Solution — UAE Gov
Full operational concept and solution architecture for multi-domain surveillance: sensor coverage modelling, EO/IR integration zones, air and maritime patrol coordination, C2 node topology, intelligence dissemination protocols.
C4ISR Counter-UAS Solution — UAE MOD
Led technical engagement across the full opportunity lifecycle: requirements discovery, multi-sensor solution design, competitive differentiation in a regulated procurement, capability demonstration, technical validation, operational deployment.
Standardised Multi-Vendor Evaluation Framework
Reusable technical evaluation methodology comparing four vendor systems against operational criteria — producing competitive intelligence and trade-off analysis. Deployed as a containerised analysis tool (Python/Streamlit).
F-39 Gripen NG — Bilateral National Fighter Programme
Primary technical interface between two national prime contractors on a classified government-to-government acquisition. Avionics, EW, and navigation systems integration across the programme.
Embraer E2 — Safety of Flight Certification
Navigation and mission systems integration and certification — GNSS, INS, AHRS, VOR, ILS, DME, ADF, FDR, CVR. Full verification through Ground Test Certification.
CERTIFIED: ANAC · FAA · EASA
// 07 · LANGUAGES
PortugueseNATIVE
EnglishFULL PROFESSIONAL
GermanPROFESSIONAL WORKING
SpanishCONVERSATIONAL
ArabicELEMENTARY · DEVELOPING
// 08 · CONTACT

Let's connect.

Leading customer-facing technical organisations that turn complex mission requirements into operational impact — across defence, government, and intelligence programmes in the Middle East, Africa, and the wider region.

DOWNLOAD CV LINKEDIN EMAIL ME
+971 50 785 9491
gh.santos@icloud.com
Abu Dhabi, UAE