Growing with the projects, staying for the people

A personal reflection on 19 of GMV’s 20+1 years in Portugal: a story of projects, confidence and, above all, the people who have helped make this journey possible.

Some celebrations are much more than a date on the calendar. They’re times when an organization pauses for a moment, takes a look around, and realizes that its story is about much more than numbers, contracts, projects, or technological milestones. Above all, it’s about people.

For me, the celebration of GMV’s 20+1 years in Portugal was one of those moments.

Being there, surrounded by so many people who have been and continue to be part of this story, meant something truly special. It was a time for joy, reunions, conversations, shared memories, and that rare feeling of being able to feel proud about the past without losing the desire to keep building the future.

Posters featuring photographs, projects, and turning points offered an opportunity to take a look back at GMV’s growth in Portugal. However, for me, the most moving part was not just recognizing the projects, but also the faces. Some are still part of the team. Others have taken other paths. All of them, in one way or another, have left their mark on this story.

I started this journey 19 years ago. Maybe that’s why, when I look at GMV’s evolution in Portugal, I also inevitably see my own professional and personal evolution.

When I joined GMV in Portugal in 2007, I was a young woman in my thirties with a background closely linked to human resources: consulting, more traditional HR departments, structured environments, and more traditional markets.

Suddenly, I found myself in a whole new world.

On my first day, I went to lunch with my new colleagues, mostly young software engineers. At the table, the conversation turned to signal processing and a project called Galileo, which I had never heard of at the time. That day, when I got home, I remember telling my family: “I think I’ve walked into a science fiction movie and I’m the accidental tourist.”

Today, that phrase still brings a smile to my face, but it also speaks to an enduring truth: GMV was, from the very beginning, a place where the future didn’t seem like a distant idea. It was a concrete challenge under construction. And it was being constructed by real people: talented, hardworking, curious people eager to go further than even before.

A story made up of projects, but built by people

Before there was GMV in Portugal as we know it today, Skysoft had already laid the technological groundwork. Maybe that’s why the integration made so much sense. Skysoft was very similar to GMV in many ways: it also emerged as a university spin-off, created by a brilliant group deeply committed to technology, engineering, and highly demanding projects.

The two companies already knew each other. They’d worked in similar sectors and crossed paths as partners or suppliers on large-scale projects for the Space Agency. By becoming part of the GMV Group, this foundation has become even more prominent, joining an international organization with a major presence in the space market.

That’s when I came on board. The Portuguese company was growing and becoming well established. The ambition of the first Galileo projects was increasingly clear. At the same time, challenges were emerging in areas as wide-ranging as traffic management, aeronautics, flexible transportation systems, advanced GNSS signal processing, Earth observation, security, embedded software, port traffic control, and, more recently, real-time operational systems and integrated autonomy in space and beyond.

Projects such as RITA, DIANA, TaP Médio Tejo, Copernicus, VTS Sines, XKY, Space Rider, ARIEL, and CREAM are just a few examples from an extensive track record. However, when I think of them, I don’t see them as a list of technical milestones. I see them as chapters in a collective story.

There were always people behind every project. People studying, testing things out, making mistakes, fixing them, taking leadership roles, and learning from each other. People who take on new challenges, often creating science and knowledge from scratch with limited resources, but with an enormous capacity to adapt. People who have proven over the years that talent isn’t about how close you are to decision-makers, but about what you can contribute.

Perhaps that’s what struck me most from the beginning: the realization that technology can be extraordinary, but it’s people who make it possible.

Growing with the organization: from local to global

In a way, my own growth has gone hand-in-hand with this shift.

I joined the company to support a growing local team at a time when there was an urgent need to find talent with very specific and hard-to-find skills. At that time, recruitment support wasn’t just about filling vacancies. It was about building the capacity needed for the company to take on demanding projects and ambitions that transcended the domestic market.

Over the years, the organization has given me opportunities to grow far beyond that starting point. I had the opportunity to lead the Training and Talent Development area, implement cross-cutting processes and tools, launch leadership programs with an organization-wide impact, and participate in innovative initiatives, including projects linked to artificial intelligence and the transformation of the way we work.

This journey has taught me something very important about GMV: when there’s confidence, opportunities aren’t limited by geography. We can be in Portugal and contribute something much larger. We can start with a local role and, over time, take on responsibilities that make a difference for several teams, countries, and areas within the Group.

This ability to evolve from local to global was, for me, one of the best reflections of the confidence I found at the company. Confidence to propose ideas. Confidence to participate in strategic decisions. Confidence to lead a team spanning several geographic areas. Confidence to grow far beyond my initial expectations.

I think this is a particularly important message for anyone currently considering GMV as a place to build their career: projects open doors, but it’s confidence that allows you to walk through them. The company creates opportunities for people to go further: beyond their initial role, beyond their team, beyond their geographic location, and often beyond what they initially imagined for themselves, using results to counter the impostor syndrome that makes us all question our abilities at times.

Teamwork, the true meaning of this story

If projects challenge us and confidence allows us to grow, teams give meaning to the journey.

From the very beginning, I remember being taken with the hard work, dedication, and collaborative spirit I found at GMV in Portugal. There were limited resources and multiple challenges, knowledge was often difficult to access, and there was enormous pressure to deliver. Yet there was also a powerful team spirit, a kind of mindset of exploration and discovery: a feeling that we were building the future with our own hands.

Over time, this spirit has been a core part of the company’s growth. Projects have changed, the scale has increased, teams have grown, and our international and intra-group presence has expanded. Nevertheless, our work culture—curiosity, eagerness to do things differently, willingness to help, ambition to learn and improve—continues to be one of our hallmarks.

Today I see this very clearly in the Human Resources department. The results we’ve achieved are thanks to many people across several countries, all working with commitment, generosity, and a shared vision. People who help attract, develop, and retain talent, and who lay the groundwork for others to grow as well.

Our team is truly made up of excellent professionals who are also excellent people. Because technical excellence does matter—a lot. However, the way we work together, support each other, share knowledge, and nurture human relationships is what makes a company like GMV a place where people want to keep on building the future.

The 20+1 birthday celebration made this very clear. More than celebrating a company, we celebrated a community. We celebrated the people who were there at the beginning, those who came later, those who are still here, those who have taken other paths, and those who are now starting to write the next chapters in this story.

Yes, we celebrated projects. But above all, we celebrated people.

Why we chose to stay

A lot has changed since 2007. GMV in Portugal has grown, matured, specialized, and broadened its impact. Projects have become more diverse, teams are more spread out, processes are more interdisciplinary, and challenges are more complex.

But there are some things that never change.

Curiosity. The eagerness to do things differently. The ambition to learn, improve, and go further. I continue to see people with enormous talent and potential becoming part of the GMV team. I continue to see the constant pursuit of excellence. And I continue to believe that one of our greatest responsibilities involves creating an environment in which this talent can flourish.

This is one of the key lessons I’ve learned over these past 19 years: excellence is not only recruited. Excellence is nurtured. It requires challenging projects, genuine trust, and teams capable of transforming knowledge into shared growth.

So when I think of what I’d like to convey to a young person starting out at GMV, it’s simple: you come for what we do, but you stay for who we are.

It’s all about the projects: the technology, the innovation, the impact, and the opportunity to participate in unique challenges. However, what matters is the team, the trust and confidence, and the opportunity to keep learning every day.

Nineteen years later, I no longer feel like an accidental tourist in a sci-fi movie, but I still see GMV as a place for learning about and building the future every day.

Perhaps this is one of the greatest privileges of growing with GMV in Portugal: being part of a company where projects challenge you, confidence paves the way, and the people make you want to stay.

Author: Marta Vilar