Court. Road. Keyboard.

I was born and raised in the interior of Sao Paulo, got into computers early, and wrote my first code at 10 while setting up a game server. I still started college in nutrition; one year in I admitted the obvious, switched to computer science, and turned the hobby into a career.

Sports shaped me before software did. I played volleyball for my city's semi-professional team for years, and the discipline that takes is the same one I bring to work. These days it goes into running, with my first marathon coming up in Valencia, December 2026.

I have worked with people from Luxembourg, Colombia, Argentina, Uruguay, France, Spain, the UK, the US, Australia, and Canada, and that mix is my favorite part of this job. Portuguese and English, plus enough Spanish to keep up. Fueled by an unreasonable amount of coffee.

Marcos Nikel
Marcos spiking over the net in a volleyball match
city team days
Marcos jumping to attack in an indoor volleyball game
still jumping
Marcos mid-race at the Asics Golden Run in Sao Paulo
Asics Golden Run, Sao Paulo
Marcos sprinting on the blue finish carpet of a race
chasing the PR
Marcos holding a 30K finisher medal
30K, longest one yet
An espresso held up against the sunrise
the other fuel