Full Professor and Head of the Department of Knowledge Engineering and Management at the Federal University of Santa Catarina (UFSC), Brazil. His academic and research work focuses on Knowledge Management, Knowledge Engineering, Organizational Cognition, Innovation, and Sustainability. He leads several interdisciplinary research groups dedicated to knowledge, complexity, and organizational innovation.

Founder and CEO, Enterprise Knowledge. Over 25 years of experience leading programs in knowledge and information management. He has worked with more than 200 organizations to strategize, design, and implement information management systems. Chairman of the annual Semantic Layer Symposium (SLS), faculty for the Knowledge Management Institute, and host of the Knowledge Cast podcast. Coauthor of "Making Knowledge Management Clickable" and "Bridging Knowledge, Data, and AI" (Springer).

Postdoctoral researcher at UFRJ and lecturer at the University of North Texas, specializing in knowledge management and emerging technologies. CEO of Merlo Management Consulting, focusing on data analytics and process improvement. Active contributor to international journals and conferences, including leadership roles within ICKM.