The forum for technology leaders making an impact in Latin America

Mario J. Vargas is the CEO of a stealth-mode startup operating in the Agentic AI space. Prior to this, he served as Vice President of Global Technical Alliances at Protegrity USA Inc. Before joining Protegrity, Mario spent eight years at Microsoft Corp., where he held several leadership positions. His most recent role at Microsoft was as Pre-Sales Leader for Data and AI in the Americas and EMEA within the Global Black Belt organization.​

Between 2013 and 2015, Mario co-founded MeetingPulse and Waspe, two Latin American startups based in Miami and Monterrey, Mexico. He has also served as a board member for various system integrators across the region.​

Earlier in his career, Mario spent 15 years at Cisco Systems Inc., holding multiple roles. His final positions at Cisco included Managing Director of Cisco Services and Director for Public Sector in Emerging Markets, overseeing regions such as EMEA, Central & Eastern Europe, Russia & CIS, and Latin America.​

Throughout his professional journey, Mario has lived and worked in Caracas, Buenos Aires, São Paulo, Mexico City, Miami, Bangalore, London, and Barcelona. He is an active mentor with Endeavor Global, supporting branches in Mexico, Madrid, and Miami.​

Originally from Caracas, Venezuela, Mario studied Systems Analysis at ORT Technological Institute in Buenos Aires (1988) and earned a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from IUTIRLA in Caracas. He later completed the Executive Program in Strategic Marketing at IESA (Caracas, 1992), the Executive Development Program (EDP) at the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, and earned a Technology Entrepreneurship Diploma from Stanford University in 2006.

Santiago Fainstein currently serves as Head of Latin America at SAS, where he leads cross-functional teams and go-to-market strategies across Brazil, Mexico/Central America and the Caribbean, Colombia/Ecuador, and the Southern Cone (Argentina, Chile, and Peru). He brings more than 20 years of experience in Sales, Presales, and Business Development in the Analytics and AI space.

Prior to assuming his current role, Santiago served as Senior Director of Cloud Sales & Innovation at SAS, where he oversaw Cloud Sales, Industry Business Development, Cloud Architecture support, and Innovation teams across the Americas. He previously led Latin America's Cloud & Innovation and Customer Advisory teams, driving adoption of AI, digital transformation, and advanced analytics across enterprise and public sector customers.

Earlier in his tenure at SAS, Santiago held leadership roles in the Southern Cone region, including Manager of Solutions and Business Development and Senior Account Manager for Tier 1 banks and media companies. He initially joined SAS in 2009, building on experience gained during earlier roles at MicroStrategy and Ernst & Young.

Throughout his career, Santiago has developed deep regional expertise in analytics-driven transformation, building high-performing teams, and crafting value-based solutions for complex organizations. He is trilingual (Spanish, English, and Portuguese) and has delivered thought leadership at industry forums throughout Latin America.

Santiago earned a Bachelor’s degree in Business from the University of Buenos Aires and holds an Executive MBA from IAE Business School. He also completed executive education at Singularity University focused on exponential technologies and design thinking.