At Softway, no one is surprised to see Nuno with pruning shears in hand, installing mini solar panels for the plant watering system, or drilling through walls and lifting the floor to install a new water line. Because yes, Nuno solves any problem.

The son of artists and grandson of one of the pioneers of artificial intelligence in Portugal, he inherited both technical and human qualities in generous measure. He founded Softway with a visionary spirit and an unshakable belief that anything is possible, provided you think it through, of course.

In this interview, he talks about music, his ventures into molecular gastronomy, and shares life advice handed down from his grandfather... advice that stuck forever. Let’s get to know him!

1. If you could switch roles with anyone at Softway for a day, who would it be and why?
   I'm not sure I’d switch with anyone. I sometimes miss the early days of starting from a blank slate, developing or solving problems from scratch. But nowadays, I have a team that’s faster, more agile (and younger) than me at doing that. Now I enjoy being involved in the overall picture, tackling bigger, more strategic problems. Ultimately, staying focused on keeping the engine running and moving foward.
2. Imagine you suddenly had the chance to be an expert in any area. What would it be and why?
   It’s hard to pick just one because I tend to dive deep into any topic that interests me, I’ll study and explore it to the limit. I did this with photography: learned all the technical aspects, lighting, and the artistic side too. Once I feel like I’ve learned all there is to know, I might lose interest, but the knowledge stays with me.
   Maria: So you almost have hyperfocus, right?
   Yes. The same happened with cooking too. I started reading about molecular gastronomy and experimented a lot with my son, from melon spaghetti to olives that explode in your mouth. Then I’d pick a dish and perfect it until I reached its best version.
   The only area where I feel I’m still far from mastering - and maybe never will - is music. That’s probably the one I’d love to be an expert in. But I don’t think I have the right traits (I don’t have perfect pitch, for instance). I really admire those who do.
3. If you could have a superpower, what would it be and how would you use it?
   Since I was a kid, I’ve always said I’d like to stop time, for everyone but myself. That way, I could keep living and doing my things while everything else was paused. I’d have more time than everyone else. Mainly to solve problems.
4. What’s a book, film, or piece of music you love and always recommend?
   I usually tailor my recommendations to whoever asks. In general, I tend to read more technical books, ones where you can extract specific knowledge. I’m not a big fan of novels or fiction. I like knowing where facts end and fiction begins.
   One book that really impacted me was The Goal by Eliyahu Goldratt. It’s a novel that follows a man working in a factory trying to improve operations and make processes more efficient. It’s interesting because it introduces seemingly counterintuitive concepts, but it offers a different and valuable perspective, especially for people in leadership roles.
   Another book I recommend is The Innovator’s Dilemma by Clayton Christensen. It explains why companies that appear to be doing everything right (like Kodak, Nokia or IBM) end up losing their market leadership. I actually need to reread it. It's especially relevant today, with the AI boom and so many innovations. It helps you understand how strategic decisions can impact both established companies and disruptive startups.
5. What’s the best advice you’ve ever received, and who gave it to you?
   Probably from my grandfather. He was a very wise man, a professor at IST and one of the first to talk about AI in Portugal. He started some of the first courses on the subject.
   He once gave me a piece of advice I never forgot: We have to approach life like a marathon. Know when to go slow, when to speed up. If you start with a sprint, you’ll burn out and won’t finish the race, or you'll come in last. The key is listening to yourself and learning to pace. It doesn’t matter if others pass you at the start. What matters is having the stamina to catch up at the right moments. Seeing life as a long-distance race means thinking long term and not chasing the immediate, because the immediate is fleeting.
6. What’s the most adventurous thing you’ve done—or would like to do someday?
   I’m not really into extreme adventures like skydiving or bungee jumping. I’d do it if I had to, and maybe that’s why it doesn’t excite me much.
   Maria: Founding Softway, maybe?
   Yes, I think it was the right time, I was very young, I didn't have much to lose. But perhaps the most adventurous decision was to make Softway independent. In the beginning, we had another company as a partner (which was essential in getting Softway off the ground). But at a critical time, I realized that our paths were diverging and that we had different objectives. I decided that I wanted to become independent from the original partners. It was a “make or break” decision, instinctive and risky, but totally in line with what I believed in. Perhaps because I was so young, it turned out to be one of those “adventures” that marked me out.
7. What’s your favorite scent/ smell and what does it remind you of?
   I’m not sure if it’s my favorite, but the other day I smelled something that reminded me of my childhood, pine trees and dry needles on the ground in summer. It took me back to holidays at my grandparent’s house, when I was a kid, at Praia Grande and Praia das Maçãs, spending the days playing in the woods.
8. If you could have dinner with any historical figure (alive or dead), who would it be and why?
   I'd love to have dinner with Richard Feynman, the American physicist who died a few decades ago. I love studying physics, I've read a lot about him and he's someone I almost idolize. He won the Nobel Prize for his work on quantum electrodynamics and his diagrams, helped determine the causes of the Challenger explosion and loved playing the drums. Above all, I really admire his work, his lectures (it's worth looking them up on youtube), what he has written and his ability to take extremely complex subjects and make them extremely easy to understand.
9. If your life had a soundtrack, what three songs would be on it?
   I can’t name just three songs. I love all kinds of music and I’m always discovering new, lesser-known artists. I like spotting potential stars before they become famous. Billie Eilish is a good example, I started listening to her years ago on YouTube, long before she became well known. Another example is the Hamilton soundtrack, it played on loop in my car, and I made my kids and nephews listen to it long before it became a global phenomenon.
   Lately, I’ve been listening to a lot of Raye, Cory Henry, Sofiane Pamar (classical), and Keith Jarrett (jazz)... but I can’t narrow it down to just three songs.
10. What was the most unusual or interesting job you had before founding Softway?
    While I was studying, I worked at INESC developing software for Seagate and other American brands’ hard drives. Then I worked at a home automation company, which fascinated me and was what I truly loved. At the time, technology wasn’t advanced enough for widespread residential use, so the focus was more on industrial automation.
    Only now is home automation becoming more accessible. My house, for example, is fully automated, from lights to air conditioning. But it’s still a challenge, because you have to find solutions where automation coexists with traditional use. You still need light switches for people who don’t use the app...
11. Bonus Question, because we can never have too many curiosities about the boss 
    Do you have a hidden talent that no one at Softway knows about?
    I’m not sure I have any unknown talents. I don’t know how to juggle or do the splits.
    Maria:Okay, then what do you like to do to relax after a day of work?
    Play the piano.
    Maria: Ah! I had no idea you played the piano!
    See? I guess I do have a hidden talent after all. Yes, what relaxes me most in life is sitting at the piano and playing for hours.

With a calm approach and a restless mind, Nuno watches before acting, and solves problems before anyone even notices they exist. He reminds us every day that true innovation doesn’t always come from a sprint, but from the vision of someone who knows how to run a marathon.

More than just the founder or CTO, he’s the engine behind Softway: the one who, with precision and calm, ensures that the machine not only keeps running, but evolves in the right direction.