Chief Data Architect & Mentor

Thiago Menezes

I help technologists, data engineers, analysts, and aspiring architects level up their careers and grow into leaders. And for newcomers or those preparing to immigrate, I help with resumes, interview prep, and breaking into the North American tech market.

AI · ML · Data Science · Databricks · Lakehouse architecture

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20 yrs in IT

18+ yrs in data

5 cloud platforms

12 industry clients

3 languages

About

Who am I?

I'm Thiago, a Chief Data Architect based in Calgary, with a little over twenty years in tech, with 18+ of those years spent in data. I came to Canada from Brazil and built my career here from the ground up. That means I've designed enterprise data platforms for some of the largest banks, airlines, and energy companies on the continent. It also means I've been the new arrival staring at an unfamiliar job market, trying to figure out how to get a foot in the door.

What I bring?

Both sides of that story. I know what hiring managers and architects actually look for, because I've been the one making those calls. And I know what it takes to break in from the outside, because I've done it. When I mentor, it's not generic career advice. It's the specific, sometimes uncomfortable feedback I wish someone had given me earlier: where to focus, what to stop doing, and how to turn experience into the kind of work that gets noticed.

Data science and machine learning have been part of my work since 2015. More recently I've made a deliberate choice to focus my career on AI (it's where the world is heading) and I'm pursuing a Master of Interdisciplinary AI to go deep on it. The aim stays the same throughout: helping teams put these tools to practical use, not treat them as buzzwords.

Winner — Databricks Data+AI Summit, AI Agents Hackathon (March 2026). View certificate ↗

Outside of client work, I mentor with SPE Calgary and CRIEC. I work in Portuguese, English, and Spanish.