Decision infrastructure
Systems that give leaders the right context, rights and evidence at the moment a decision must be made.
CO-FOUNDER & CHIEF TECHNOLOGY OFFICER — STEPUP
BUILDING THE OPERATING INTELLIGENCE BEHIND MODERN COMPANIES.
I design the systems that turn data, judgment and AI into faster decisions, disciplined execution and learning that compounds.
Duke Fuqua MQM · PwC · Kelley · English / Español / Português
SANTIAGO MESA RODRIGUEZ
US / LATAM
2026—FORWARD
2026—FORWARD
OPERATING INTELLIGENCE
01
THE OPERATING THESIS
AI does not create an AI-native company. An operating model does.
Most companies are adding AI to processes designed for another era. The larger opportunity is to redesign how the company sees signal, allocates judgment, makes decisions, executes work and learns. Technology matters when it becomes institutional capability.
The companies that win will scale intelligence before they scale headcount.
02
FIELD OF WORK
From signal to decision. From decision to governed action.
My work sits where company architecture, analytics and technology become one operating system.
AI-native operations
Agents and workflows designed into the operating model — with human judgment, limits and traceability.
Risk & performance systems
Analytics that connect risk, financial performance and execution instead of reporting them in isolation.
Strategy-to-execution platforms
Digital infrastructure that turns advisory methods into repeatable, measurable and scalable company processes.
03
PROOF OF WORK
Built in the classroom. Tested in real systems.
STEPUP · 2025—NOW
Built the technology layer from zero
As co-founder and CTO, Santiago designed the firm’s technology infrastructure, the backbone for its proprietary frameworks and its LLM-enabled operating workflows.
PWC · CHICAGO
Finance transformation at enterprise scale
On a $65M engagement, he developed analytical and Oracle EPM reporting tools, presented risk analysis to partner-level executives and reduced manual processing by 40%.
DUKE FUQUA · 2026
Quantitative management, risk and leadership
Master of Quantitative Management in Business Analytics, Risk Track. Risk Track Chair, merit scholarship recipient and admissions ambassador.
KELLEY · 2025
Business analytics meets economic consulting
Bachelor of Science in Business Analytics and Economic Consulting from Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business.
04
OPERATING PRINCIPLES
A builder’s point of view.
Systems before tools
A new model cannot repair a weak decision process. Start with how the company needs to operate.
Governance at speed
Decision velocity without ownership, limits and auditability is not an advantage. It is fragility.
Intelligence must compound
Every cycle should leave the company with better context, stronger memory and sharper judgment.
Build for context
The right system reflects the market, maturity, risk and culture of the company using it.
CROSS-BORDER BY DESIGN
Built across cultures. Focused on the Americas.
A dual Colombian-American citizen shaped by life in Panama, Colombia, Venezuela, Brazil, Mexico and the United States, Santiago brings a cross-border lens to how companies adopt technology, manage risk and scale.
Native English & Spanish · Fluent PortugueseNorth America · Latin America
05
RESEARCH & EDITORIAL AGENDA
Ideas worth building in public.
A focused body of work for CEOs, operators, universities and business media.
MANIFESTO
The AI-native company is an operating model — not a software stack.
FIELD NOTE
Decision velocity: the missing metric in modern companies.
ESSAY
Small teams, billion-dollar ambition and the governance gap.
REPORT
The Intelligence Leverage Index — Americas.
AT STEPUP
From company architecture to company intelligence.
StepUp combines company architecture, strategic relationships and AI-native systems. Santiago owns the technology layer: the infrastructure that connects the firm’s methodologies to data, decisions, execution and measurable learning.
Santiago Mesa Rodriguez · Co-Founder & CTO06
ABOUT
Quantitative by training. Entrepreneurial by choice.
Santiago Mesa Rodriguez is the co-founder and Chief Technology Officer of StepUp. He builds the digital and AI infrastructure behind the firm’s work with mid-market leaders across the Americas.
Before StepUp, he worked in business analysis and finance transformation at PwC. He completed Duke Fuqua’s Master of Quantitative Management in Business Analytics and earned his bachelor’s degree in Business Analytics and Economic Consulting from Kelley.
Selected path
Business Analyst
ROI modeling, KPI dashboards and partnership analysis.
PwC Finance Transformation
Oracle EPM, risk analysis and enterprise reporting redesign.
Co-founded StepUp
Built the firm’s technical infrastructure and AI-enabled workflows.
Duke Fuqua MQM
Business Analytics, Risk Track; Risk Track Chair.
07
PUBLIC RECORD
Verification and official links.
The sources below make it clear what is independently documented, what belongs to an official institutional record and what comes from Santiago’s professional profile.
PROFESSIONAL PROFILE · SELF-REPORTED
Professional experience, roles and current public profile.
Open profileOFFICIAL ACADEMIC SOURCE
Duke Fuqua
Academic record, Risk Track leadership and cross-border biography.
View official profileOFFICIAL COMPANY SOURCE
StepUp & Company
Institutional context for the company Santiago co-founded and helps lead.
Visit companyEvidence standard: Duke Fuqua is an independent academic source. LinkedIn is a self-reported professional record. StepUp is the company’s official institutional source.
MEDIA · RESEARCH · INSTITUTIONAL
Build the conversation around how modern companies think and operate.
Available for interviews, essays, research collaborations and conversations on AI-native operating models, decision systems, intelligent automation and the future of companies across the Americas.