Read the Conversation
Conversation highlights:
- Introducing Caio Sanches as the new leader for Leica Biosystems Latam.
- Priorities for the region: focusing on three key priorities: market education for technology adoption, superior customer service, and value-based selling with financing solutions.
- Leica Biosystems is driving the transition from analog to digital pathology to address the growing shortage of pathologists across Latin America.
- The huge opportunity of AI adoption in pathology and bringing Caio's radiology market evolution expertise to revolutionize the pathology sector.
- Market balance: Private sector institutions leading innovation adoption, while the public sector focuses primarily on accessibility and treating larger patient volumes.
- Sustaining double-digit growth requires implementing the Danaher Business Systems methodology for continuous improvement and rapid testing.
- The future of pathology involves greater integration with radiology and oncology through standardized systems and improved interoperability.
EF: Six months into your role, what attracted you to Leica Biosystems, and what mission were you given?
CS: Evolving from my radiology career, it felt a natural progression to move one step forward in the patient journey. Radiology starts with initial imaging diagnosis, and this opportunity brought me closer to pathology and oncology diagnostics, which are much closer to treatment decisions. The precision medicine aspect becomes really tangible when you're working in oncology diagnostics. It gave me the opportunity to see a more comprehensive diagnostic journey before patient treatment overall.
EF: What are your key priorities, and where do you see the biggest opportunities across Latin America?
CS: In oncology diagnostics, we operate in three main segments. First is histology, the initial analysis phase, which is expanding rapidly as oncology cases grow with aging populations. We're investing heavily in automation and productivity to handle this volume. Second is imaging pathology or digital diagnostics. We have fewer pathologists compared to the population being analyzed, so pathologists still rely on analog microscope readings. Imaging allows you to scan slides and enable remote pathology readings, wherever pathologists are located. This requires significant market education to drive the transition and increase diagnostic accessibility. Chile and Brazil are more advanced in migrating from analog to digital, while other countries are catching up, especially in top-tier hospitals. The third segment is immunochemistry and in-situ hybridization, which delivers precision medicine. When you find oncology, you need a precise identification of cancer type to connect with the right treatment and drugs. Oncologists demand increasingly detailed information for customized, personalized patient treatment. We acquired a company for antibodies and produce one of the most comprehensive antibody portfolios in the market.
My number one priority is market education to accelerate adoption and increase accessibility. Second is customer service support for better patient outcomes, because cancer doesn't wait. We've significantly improved our serviceability to keep equipment running. Third is value selling with financing solutions and different business models to lower acquisition barriers and help customers invest in technology.
EF: How do you drive growth mentality and startup speed within established corporate structures?
CS: First, you need a clear purpose as your North Star. Customers are our main goal. Second is hands-on leadership. Everyone in the company should be close to customers, hearing the voice of the customer directly. This helps us identify and remove internal roadblocks so we can be more flexible and easier to do business with. Purpose and direct customer engagement help us drive the accelerated growth we're aiming for.
EF: How are you adapting your product portfolio in Brazil, and what is driving growth?
CS: In Brazil, we use a hybrid go-to-market approach, both direct and indirect, because one size doesn't fit all. We customize our approach based on customer segmentation. Our main strategy focuses on doing the basics well, starting with excellent service. We support tier-one customers with a triangle approach: quality, access, and cost. These three challenges must be fulfilled together, not independently. For accessibility, we offer automation and end-to-end workflow solutions. For quality, we provide AI-embedded quality controls and management tools to help customers achieve high standards. For cost, we help customers reduce expenses so they can continue investing in innovation. We approach this as value selling, positioning ourselves as customer consultants and partners for sustainable growth.
EF: How do you rate AI adoption in Brazil, and how do you work with physicians to understand AI as a collaborative tool?
CS: I remember 15 years ago at the Radiology Society of North America when they held the first AI session. It was crowded with people standing in long lines, and everyone was scared of losing their jobs. Now, 15 years later, AI is fully established in radiology because it helps increase productivity and gives radiologists more time to focus on patients rather than systems. Pathology is approximately 10 years behind radiology in AI adoption, going through the same stages. We have early adopters and innovators in tier-one institutions, but they're slowly seeing AI benefits in their daily practice. AI increases performance and establishes high-quality standards for institutions. In precision medicine, AI can sometimes see things beyond human eyes, analyzing DNA, genetics, better cell counting, and scoring. AI adoption is still in its initial stages, but it will grow rapidly. For example, we acquired Indica Labs in California, a startup that excels in AI for pathology. We've launched AI features and are developing our own ecosystem of AI algorithms for image analysis. You need digital pathology to apply AI, and you need AI to advance immunochemistry and in-situ hybridization for better diagnostics.
EF: How does your client base balance between the private and public sectors, and how are you addressing the shortage of pathologists?
CS: In Latin America, early adopters are always the private sector, though often the same pathologist works in both sectors. Private institutions invest first to drive innovation adoption, then the public sector follows later. The public sector focuses more on accessibility because they serve huge populations with much higher volume than any private institution. The private sector must balance the entire triangle of quality, access, and cost more carefully. When approaching the public sector with automated solutions and productivity improvements, the message resonates better when you demonstrate treating more people or decreasing diagnostic timing. The Public sector is really focused on the accessibility part of the triangle.
EF: How do you manage and sustain double-digit growth?
CS: This reflects the Danaher mindset and Danaher Business Systems, a worldwide continuous improvement methodology based on Kaizen principles. It's about being a learning organization where you implement fast, test fast, and apply learnings to your organization. To achieve double-digit growth, you must be flexible, have speed in testing, and learn what works and what doesn't. If something isn't working, abandon it quickly and move forward. We apply DBS methodology every day at our company. This is the only way to be sustainable: you get a zigzag pattern of peaks and valleys.
EF: What kind of team are you building for the future, and what skills are needed?
CS: The number one quality needed is collaboration. We need people with a collaboration mindset who see the entire flow, not just their piece. They can handle responsibilities well and pass them smoothly to others. Second is communication. You need to raise your voice, stand up to challenges, ask questions, reflect, and engage rather than just following orders. Third is attitude. You collaborate, communicate, and then you must act. We need people who take initiative and do what's best for customers and the company. These soft skills are combined with hard skills, and we invest in technical education continuously because we're an innovation company that must learn every day.
EF: What would you like to achieve by 2030?
CS: We're building blocks to reach much higher standards. I want to see our innovation solutions well adopted, including automation, AI, and companion diagnostics. We need better integration between diagnostics and treatment through companion diagnostics. We have partnerships with pharmaceutical companies, which we announced at the CAP Pathology Congress in Texas. For growth, we have big plans. We're growing double-digit high in Latin America and are recognized internationally as a high-growth market. Continuing this double-digit growth through 2030 means doubling our business size. Ultimately, we want to be recognized as a true market partner providing the best service possible.
EF: What do you see as the future of pathology in Latin America?
CS: Pathology will integrate more with other healthcare segments. We're seeing radiology integrated with pathology, integrated with oncology. The patient journey from radiology to pathologist to oncologist is often disconnected today. I'm seeing systems and technologies becoming standardized, particularly in image formats and interoperability. This is advancing so you can view the patient holistically across all disciplines.
