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Smart Solutions for Scalable Growth — in English or Portuguese

June 2026
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Scale Confidently

Automate Processes

Unlock Data Value

Update Infrastructure

Build AI Solutions

Optimise Workflows

Accelerate Innovation

Harness Cloud Tech

Leadership

Maria Fonseca | Founder & Lead AI Strategist

With over 20 years of consultancy experience and a career spanning 25+ years across corporate, educational, and institutional settings, I bring a rare blend of strategic vision, hands-on technical depth, and cross-disciplinary fluency to data-driven transformation. I’ve led projects and advised leadership teams across industries — from life sciences and healthcare to finance, education, government, and emerging tech.

My focus is to help businesses harness data and AI to unlock value, automate processes, and scale intelligently. I specialise in translating complexity into clarity, designing resilient architectures, building advanced analytics systems, and enabling AI adoption in real-world environments.

  • Senior Consultant in Data, AI, and Digital Transformation across 15+ years.
  • 25+ years of corporate, academic, and institutional experience across 6 countries.
  • Advisor and delivery lead for large-scale data, cloud, and AI projects.
  • Deep expertise in BI, Data Science, Engineering, AI Research, and Cloud Solutions.
  • Background in Computer Science, Data and AI Engineering, Statistics & Mathematical Modelling, Data Science & Advanced Analytics, Management, and Social Sciences.
  • Track record of building technical teams, infrastructures, and strategies from scratch.
  • Certified trainer and public speaker — bilingual in Portuguese and English.

Maria Fonseca

Expert Consultant in Data, AI & Digital Strategy

With over 20 years of consultancy experience across corporate, academic, and institutional environments in 6 countries, I help organisations use data and AI to unlock value, automate processes, and scale intelligently.

I bring strategic vision and technical depth to lead and advise on data-driven transformation across sectors such as life sciences, finance, healthcare, education, and government.

• Senior Consultant in Data, AI, and Digital Transformation (15+ years).
• 25+ years of cross-sector experience in corporate, academic, and institutional settings.
• Advisor and delivery lead for large-scale data, cloud, and AI projects.
• Expertise in BI, Data Science, Engineering, AI Research, and Cloud Solutions.
• Academic background in Computer Science, AI Engineering, Statistics, Modelling, and Social Sciences.
• Track record of building teams, infrastructures, and strategies from scratch.
• Certified trainer and public speaker — fluent in Portuguese and English.

Consulting for Teams and Organisations
How We Work

Flexible Engagement Models

From quick insights to full-scale transformations. Choose the collaboration model that fits your needs.

Free Initial Consultation

Discuss your project vision, technical needs, and challenges in a no-obligation 20-minute session. No compromise. Just book your session. 

Hourly Technical Support

On-demand consulting or technical execution, ideal for agile teams, audits, or urgent needs. Rates range from 50€ to 95€/hour depending on complexity and scope. 

Project-Based Engagements

Tailored proposals for end-to-end solutions, with clear deliverables and timelines. Typically used for data architecture, AI development, automation, and BI delivery. 

Retainer & Advisory

Ongoing expert support or advisory for corporations, teams and leadership. Priced on request. Ideal for scaling teams or long-term innovation partnerships. 

"Cognist led the development of an NLP pipeline for regulatory text classification. Thanks to their work, we reduced review time by 60% and now have a robust, explainable solution in production."
Innovation Manager
LegalTech Scaleup
Recent AI Projects

Applied AI for innovation, automation, and insight

Projects showcasing the development and deployment of advanced AI solutions across industries, including NLP, predictive models, and generative pipelines.

Gen AI

Generative AI for Automated Policy Drafting

Machine Learning

Machine Learning for Automated Visual QC

Automation

Industrial IoT Automation for Smart Operations

"We brought Cognist in to transform our fragmented reporting. In weeks, the company delivered unified dashboards, a new analytics model, and training for our team. The results were immediate."
BI Lead
European Retail Group
Recent Data Analytics Projects

From data strategy to dashboards

Featured work in business intelligence, KPI modelling, and decision support systems, built to uncover trends, measure performance, and empower stakeholders.

Business Intelligence

Business Intelligence for Retail Decision-Making

Data Science

Data Science for Smarter Risk Assessment

Advanced Analytics

Advanced Analytics for Production Forecasting

Some Solutions by Client Type
Recent Data Engineering Projects

Infrastructure that scales and performs

Selected engineering projects, including data lake design, ETL pipeline automation, and cloud migration strategies to support long-term data goals.

Cloud Architecture

Scalable Cloud Architecture for Data & AI

Data Pipelines

ELT Pipelines for Scalable Data Integration

Database Design

Optimised Relational Systems for Data and BI

Book Today

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Schedule Your Consultation

Book a free 20-minute consultation to discuss your project, clarify your needs, and explore how we can collaborate. Whether you're looking for technical expertise, strategic input, or full project execution, let's talk. If you have questions or special requests, feel free to get in touch.

Contact Us

If you have questions or would like to know more about our services, use the contact form below.

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