The strongest partnerships are built by people who want each other to succeed because they know success is shared

In this new chapter of Close-Up, the SOFTSWISS interview series exploring the principles, perspectives, and ambitions driving the company’s business, Rubens Barrichello shares his views on the value of long-term relationships and the leadership lessons he has carried from the racetrack into the corporate world.

Rubens Barrichello, Non-Executive Director in Latin America at SOFTSWISS, spent 19 years in Formula 1. He knows what it looks like when a team commits to something bigger than any individual result.

In this conversation, he talks about the moments he is most proud of, what it takes to build a genuinely shared goal, and what his racing and iGaming experience has taught him about how ambitious ideas actually get done.

Looking back, what achievement are you most proud of – not because of the result, but because of the people behind it?

When people look at my career, they usually mention the podiums or the wins, which matter to me, of course. But what stays with me is the years I spent inside teams where hundreds of people worked towards the same goal – mechanics, engineers, strategists, every one of them essential. They showed me what a team can do when people are in the right place.

In racing, trust is built long before race day, in the ordinary moments when people keep doing what they are passionate about.

My SOFTSWISS journey has given me the same feeling. For example, opening the BiS SiGMA South America ceremony alongside Brazilian authorities, meeting with operators, building relationships with partners across the region – all this takes months of groundwork most people never see.

The moment on stage or the entrance in a racing car is just the surface. What people don’t see is the months of preparation underneath – the negotiations and the coordination that made any of it possible. 

That invisible work is where I recognise the same spirit I knew from racing. And that is what I am proud of.

What turns individual ambition into a shared one?

Honestly, I think it starts when you stop being afraid that someone else’s success takes something from you. Ambition becomes something bigger when people stop asking, “How do I win?” and start asking, “How do we move forward together?” 

Motorsport taught me that lesson very early. You can be the driver everyone sees, but you depend on people whose names never appear in the headlines. If they believe in the same direction, everyone gives a little more. You listen more carefully. You learn to make compromises because you trust that someone else is doing the same. That creates a different kind of energy. 

That’s why SOFTSWISS invests much of its resources in the expertise of its regulatory, compliance, and client-facing teams. We know that our support will help our partners grow. 

In an industry that moves this fast, what keeps people aligned around a shared ambition?

Honesty about how things actually stand. It’s the only thing I know that works over time.

During a race, conditions change every lap. The strategy you start with rarely survives contact with reality. What keeps a team together is not the plan itself but the communication that brings it to life.

When your engineer tells you something is wrong, you have to trust that information. When you tell him the car feels different, he has to take it seriously. If that trust breaks down, you lose time you cannot get back.

By the way, Brazil’s iGaming market moves in the same way. Regulation shifts. Player behaviour shifts. What worked six months ago may not work today. The operators who stay ahead are the ones who have built real communication with their partners – not just service delivery, but an honest view on what is happening on the ground. That takes investment from both sides.

What becomes visible when you look closer at great partnerships?

From the outside, partnerships often look effortless. People see the announcement, the event, or the final result. What they don’t see is what happens when something goes wrong, when the market shifts, when the easy path disappears. That is where you find out whether a partner is genuinely invested in the same outcome, or just delivering what was agreed.

After SiGMA Americas 2025, we took a group of SOFTSWISS partners to the Estoril Circuit in Portugal. I drove, they drove, we spent the day together away from the conference floor. When there are no presentations, no stands, no agenda, the conversations are different – more honest and more direct. You find out fast who is there for the partnership and who is there for themselves. 

The strongest partnerships are built by people who want each other to succeed because they know success is shared. When you look closely, you’ll always see that mutual commitment.

When people look closer at SOFTSWISS, what do you hope they see?

I hope they see people who genuinely care about helping others succeed. Technology matters, expertise matters, but in the end, partnerships are built by people.

At SOFTSWISS, the commitment is behind the scenes. There is always someone willing to go the extra mile, solve a problem, or find a better way forward. That mindset builds trust, which in turn makes long-term success possible.

For me, that’s what people should see, and I think they do.