Spears School of Business

Twenty years ago, Luciano Cunha sat in the Oklahoma State University Business Building daydreaming about his career after graduating from the Spears Business MBA program. He knew then that his education would help elevate his career to new heights and set personal goals of becoming a c-suite executive.

 

Cunha has spent the last 15 years in leadership positions at To-Increase, a large European software solutions company. The global company utilizes Microsoft technology to enable customers’ digital transformation. To-Increase serves customers in more than 45 countries and is based in the Netherlands with offices holding their 200-person team in Europe, Asia and the United States. He has served as the CEO of the company since 2018. 

 

In 2003, Cunha graduated from OSU with his MBA and began his successful career in IT. He then began working for a turnaround company, leveraging his knowledge of business with his expertise in technology to quickly take over the IT sector of his company. He increased his company revenue to $15 million within the first year.

 

“That was recognized by companies outside of where I was, which provided an opportunity for me to start working for a company in Europe,” Cunha said. “This is where I grew in ranks, eventually becoming CEO of To-Increase.”

 

Through his successful 20-year career, he has spent only five of it outside of his current company where he climbed the ladder from senior solutions consultant to CEO. Throughout it all, Cunha has attested to the invaluable knowledge he gained throughout his MBA at OSU.

 

“What I learned through finance, marketing, sales and teamworking at OSU, I use every day to help me grow professionally,” Cunha said. “I could not be CEO today if I did not have the great skills and foundations I learned in my MBA.”

 

When asked about his most memorable moment in the MBA program, he noted his capstone project. His team placed second in their competition, but this second-place gave him new insight to the business world.

 

“The teamwork, the decision-making tools, the financial models and the losing, are all thing that I see mirrored in my career today,” he said. 

 

Cunha is the definition of using the knowledge gained through the program to excel in the business world. His successes are not the exception, but the rule within the Spears MBA program.

 

“You get what you put into it, so put it all in,” he said. “You will see the returns of the program in your future careers.”