Rui Barbas in

Rui Barbas

Editor · DISC type CS
Chief Financial Officer - Zone Americas (North America and Latin America) at Nestlé
📍 Arlington, Virginia, United States

Rui Barbas is the Chief Financial Officer for Zone Americas at Nestlé, overseeing North and Latin America. An INSEAD MBA graduate, he focuses on driving transformation and sustainable, consumer-centric value creation. He is known for architecting major strategic and portfolio shifts to accelerate profitable growth for the company.

He is a strong proponent of developing talent and creating a culture where all employees are empowered to act as entrepreneurs. He believes that to win in the current environment, it is essential to have the right mindset, leadership, and people, not just strong commercial and financial plans.

He was the architect of the Nestlé USA Transformation Program, leading the companys strategy on organizational models, M&A, and new digital capabilities.

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Experience
23 Years
Current Role
Chief Financial Officer - Zone Americas (North America and Latin America)
Job Level
Leadership
Location
Arlington, Virginia, United States
Personality Overview

How Rui shows up

Late Adopter
Skeptic
Self-Disciplined

Being observant comes to them naturally. They do not like taking risks at all and go for proven options in the end. They tend to be clear about their needs and limitations and are unlikely to promise too much.

Priorities

Topics Rui cares about

Business Transformation
He frequently speaks on the need for agile strategies and new operating models to drive growth and has led major transformation programs at Nestlé.
Fostering Innovation
He champions creating a culture where innovation is everyone's job and has launched internal incubators and crowdsourcing platforms to empower employees.
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Career

Work history

1-2025
Chief Financial Officer - Zone Americas (North America and Latin America)
Nestlé
1-2023 - 12-2024
Chief Financial Officer - Zone North America
Nestlé
1-2021 - 1-2023
Corporate Vice President – Regional General Management for North America
Nestlé
1-2020 - 12-2020
Chief Financial Officer (Interim) & Chief Strategy Officer - Nestlé USA
Nestlé
5-2016 - 12-2019
Chief Strategy Officer - Nestlé USA
Nestlé
In the press

Media appearances

Changing Tastes: How Nestlé Stays on Top of Consumer Trends. Featured in Mack Institute, Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania
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How Nestlé USA is innovating like a startup. Featured in Medium
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Education
2006 - 2006
MBA
INSEAD
2010 - 2010
Executive Leadership Program
London Business School
1995 - 2000
Management and Industrial Engineering
Instituto Superior Técnico
Social presence
in
Behavioral profile

DISC profile (public)

C

Calculativeness (C)

Calculativeness (C) reflects the degree to which a person is likely to be cautious, systematic and analytical. Those scoring high tend to emphasise quality and accuracy.

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