Why implement a DAO?

About a year ago, my partners and I decided to lead the creation of a DAO - a decentralized autonomous organization - which, to date, is the first in Latin America in the communications and marketing sector. With four service brands and hundreds of employees, in addition to the partners, we wanted to get away from traditional management models, which are verticalized and in which the few decide for the many. We wanted a collaborative, truly inclusive alternative that allowed for a plurality of opinions.

With the pandemic, we realized, like most companies, that it was possible to work from home without losing quality or productivity, which ensured that we could keep - and include again in our work - professionals from other states and even from outside Brazil. We had already been working with squads - groups of professionals from various areas who serve specific clients - and a horizontal agile management model for more than five years and we realized that creating a DAO was the natural evolution for our operation.

The concept of decentralized autonomous organization emerged in 2015 based on blockchain and was a real paradigm shift in the very idea of economic organization, since it guarantees total transparency, control of all members, flexibility and independent governance.

What attracted us most was the fact that the organization is operated without the need for an 'authority', since decisions can - and should - be made together with our employees, which certainly provides a sense of belonging, as well as increasing their engagement and connection with all our brands and business units.

All the work created and carried out by the squads is shared in the DAO, which allows each member to give their opinion on any project, regardless of whether or not they are part of the client's group. Good ideas come from this way of working and often from the least obvious situations and professionals.

Another valuable contribution of the DAO is the possibility of sharing knowledge between the various players in the market and, more than that, training people from different areas to do what the market demands. Proof of this is what we did recently. We invited the members to a course on the latest artificial intelligence tools available. As further training, we decided to hold a competition for participants to create images using what they had learned. We set up a virtual gallery with everyone's work, highlighting the three winners. The winner's work will be turned into an NFT to be sold.

But the DAO's relevance goes even further than that and we are moving towards exploring all its possibilities. Our plans include opening up our organization to any professional who wants to be part of it, including the opportunity to participate in our projects and suggest new ideas and solutions, receiving rewards and co-participation according to their level of involvement. We are in the process of launching our own DAO token, currently operating on the Polygon network. In addition, as leaders and professionals in the communications sector, it is important to know and test the technology, models and add knowledge so that we can apply them with authority in the day-to-day solutions for all our clients.

The new working model - hybrid or even home office - requires a change in corporate mentality. It was in a DAO that we found the tools we needed to give even more voice and opportunities to those who work with us, as they are obviously the people most responsible for the success of our brands.