She likes to say she is an ex-architect. That career was her dream as a student and as a young professional who had her own firm and clients in Salvador, her hometown. When Kátia joined the Group 20 years ago, she planned to continue in that profession, working on Odebrecht’s construction projects. But that plan was short-lived. She was soon invited to join the team at OCS, the Group’s captive brokerage. Although she was unfamiliar with the insurance business, she viewed the invitation as a challenge. From 1994 to 2008, she worked at the OCS office in Miami, where she moved with her husband, Walter, and four children. Their youngest, Matthew, was born there. While in the USA, Kátia has undergone specialized training in her field of work, but her architectural know-how has always been useful for understanding the technical details of the projects for which she obtains insurance coverage and bonds.

Odebrecht Informa – What was it like to set aside your planned career as an architect and pursue such a different course?
Kátia Luz – My goal was to work in the field I graduated in, but I was persuaded to accept the proposal by arguments that the team Marcos Lima led at OCS was terrific and forward-thinking, and that motivated me. OCS also needs architects, engineers, business managers and lawyers, because technical expertise is very important when we are talking to specialists and negotiating with insurance companies.

OI – What was your learning experience like?
Kátia – There are no degree courses in that area in Brazil, so I took specialization courses here in Brazil, in the UK and in the United States. Then, in 1994 I went to Miami to work at OCS and study. The initial idea was to spend two or three years there. I ended up staying for 15 years.

OI – How long has OCS had an office in the United States?
Kátia – The most important milestone in OCS’s history in the United States was in 1992, when Hurricane Andrew hit Florida. Odebrecht was already working there. The Group’s project wasn’t damaged, but we felt the need to hire someone who was familiar with the local market to represent OCS in that country. We hired an American professional until we felt that the ideal thing would be to have someone who was firmly imbued with the Group’s culture. At that point, I moved to Miami. That was in 1994.

OI – OCS helps all the Group’s businesses evaluate risks. How do
you go about it?
Kátia – When we look for insurance coverage for a project, the first step is talking to the engineers and geting to know the technical details, the equipment that will be used and the inherent risks in order to draw up the necessary coverage. Next, we sell the risk in Brazil and other countries, rather than buying insurance. And that is why thorough knowledge of the business is so important. The projects need insurance as well as bonds – meaning a guarantee that the client, in this case Odebrecht, will complete the project. In order to extend that guarantee, the insurer must trust the client’s financial and technical capacity, as well as their character. In the United States, for example, a bond is worth 100% of the project’s budget. If the project is interrupted for any reason, the insurer is obliged to find another contractor to complete the project or pay the agreed amount.

OI – What are the biggest risks on Engineering & Construction projects?
Kátia – All Engineering & Construction projects have inherent risks. Dams and hydroelectric plant projects that involve diverting rivers; tunnels, underground works in major cities, maritime projects, building offshore oil rigs, transporting and operating large cranes on barges rocked by the tides, and so on. The risks are huge, but then so is the responsibility for safety, equipment and professional expertise.

OI – What are your responsibilities at OCS right now?
Kátia – I currently lead a team of 19 people and am responsible for the Construction area, which includes the Odebrecht companies that work with Engineering & Construction, Foz do Brasil (sanitation) and Odebrecht Realizações Imobiliárias (real estate). To meet their projects’ needs, we have an office in Miami that provides support for our businesses in the United States and much of Latin America, and another in Lisbon, focused on projects in the United Arab Emirates, Libya, Mozambique and Angola. We also have a specialist who is exclusively dedicated to Angola, due to the number of projects we are working on there.

“When we look for insurance coverage for a project, the first step is talking to the engineers and getting to know the technical details, the equipment that will be used and the inherent risks in order to draw up the necessary coverage”
Kátia Luz

OI – What is the most important thing to learn for people who are just getting started in the insurance business?
Kátia – Where Odebrecht is concerned, it is important to realize that the Group is going through a period of accelerated growth. To keep pace with the expansion and complexity of its businesses, we need to groom new talent, new teams. For those young people, I would say that motivation is key. And they must get to know and apply the Odebrecht Entrepreneurial Technology’s (TEO) core principles of humility and the spirit of service. As a support company, OCS must serve our CEOs and project directors. They are our clients.

OI – What was it like to live in Miami with your family?
Kátia – In the United States, families don’t have domestic help like we do in Brazil. When I was pregnant with Matthew, I’d sometimes ask myself if I could cope with it all: work, home and another baby. Of course, none of it would have been possible without my wonderful husband by my side. He was always there for me and shared all those concerns. With five kids, weekends at our house were always festive. If I wasn’t in the kitchen cooking up a Bahian feast - moqueca, caruru or vatapá - my husband, Walter, would be busy at the barbecue.

OI – Your father, Benedito Luz, worked in Odebrecht’s Financial department for over 50 years. Did that influence your choice of profession?
Kátia – My father, who is nearly 85, started working with Norberto Odebrecht when the company got started. I grew up hearing stories about the Group and the concepts of TEO. He also worked with Emílio Odebrecht, and now I’m happy to have a chance to make my contribution to Marcelo Odebrecht. Being the daughter of a former Group member who was with the organization for over 50 years doesn’t make things any easier – much the opposite. It makes the responsibility even bigger.