Andy Freire
Global Coach & Advisor | Board Member | Former CEO and Minister of Innovation and Technology
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Andy Freire is a globally recognized coach and facilitator for senior leaders across the world. He formerly held the position of Managing Partner at Softbank International Group's $5 billion Latin American Fund and was the Head of South Cone based in Buenos Aires. He has served as a 2x founder and CEO of companies with successful exits. Earlier in his career, Andy served as the Minister of Modernization, Innovation, and Technology in the Buenos Aires City Government and was an elected member of Congress.
His professional journey began at Procter & Gamble, after which he founded and was the CEO at Officenet, a revolutionary company in the office supply distribution sector in Latin America, which was acquired by Staples in 2004. Officenet's notable investors included Goldman Sachs, GE Capital, and J.P. Morgan Chase, among others, and under Andy’s leadership, it grew from scratch to over 1,000 employees, primarily operating in Brazil.
Andy has made significant contributions as a global coach and consultant, improving leadership capabilities within large corporations across North America, Latin America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific. His client roster boasts major companies like Microsoft, Axa, Citigroup, Google, Shell, AstraZeneca and Facebook. In 2011, Andy also co-founded Quasar Ventures, a builder of tech companies, leading to the creation of successful platforms like Restorando.com and Trocafone.com.
What Andy’s clients say about his work:
Insightful Leadership & Guidance: “Andy is one of the most talented executives I have ever worked with. He is incredibly sharp, immediately focusing on what matters and delivering constructive feedback in a thoughtful manner. He is also just a wonderful person at heart. I think any executive would be extremely lucky to learn from Andy and would immediately benefit from his sage advice." - Will Tenenbaum, CEO of Lodestone Global.
Strategic Partnership: “I have known Andy for over 15 years now and he has been an outstanding partner as I have engaged in Company Transformations and the development of Executives. He is simply outstanding. Andy has the unique ability to understand the strategic context, get to the true root cause, engage with leaders to bring deep insights and enable transformational change. This combined with his world-class coaching and authenticity has resulted in the creation of huge value and would not have been possible without him.” - Simon King, Head of People at Daiichi Sankyo (former Head of Talent at Bristol Myers Squibb).
At just 18, Andy co-founded the Initiative Foundation, impacting over 10,000 Latin American youths through leadership initiatives. A recognized media figure and host of "A Million to Start Up," Andy's early achievements earned him titles like "Global Leader for Tomorrow" by the WEF and "Latin American Entrepreneur of the Year" by Endeavor Foundation. He authored the Argentine bestseller "Passion for Entrepreneurship – From Idea to Crude Reality." Andy has served in notable leadership roles, including chairman of the Endeavor Foundation and the Young Presidents Organization in Argentina, and board member for the WEF’s Young Global Leaders. His extensive governance experience extends to serving on the Global Advisory Board of Harvard Business School and on the boards of various global companies.