San José, Costa Rica → the world

Building world-class technology operations, one team at a time.

I'm Ariel Vargas, Director of International and LATAM Operations at Databricks and founder of Morandi Corp. For 30+ years I've helped global technology companies choose Costa Rica, set up here and grow, contributing to more than 1,000 jobs along the way.

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years in services and technology, since 1995: 30+
global operations established or expanded in Costa Rica: 3
jobs contributed across those operations: 1,000+
official investment announcements as company spokesperson: 4

Three companies, built from the ground up

Since 2012 I have had the privilege of turning three global companies' decisions to invest in Costa Rica into working operations: entity, Free Trade Zone regime, site, budget, suppliers, talent and the relationship with authorities.

Virtualization & Cloud

Led the operation from its founding stage until the Presidency of Costa Rica described it, at the 2015 inauguration of its five-floor site, as VMware's largest operations center in Latin America. Culture measured with Great Place to Work from 2016; ranked #1 in Costa Rica in the 2018 edition.

Cybersecurity

Established and led the Costa Rica operation from November 2018: global support and corporate functions, entry into the Free Trade Zone regime in 2020, and a team kept safe, connected and growing through the pandemic.

Data + AI

Incorporated the Costa Rica entity in 2022, launched the operation in 2023 and moved it to a new America Free Zone office in 2025, while leading international expansion and LATAM operations, including São Paulo and Mexico City.

“One random act of kindness, one person at a time.”

I believe workplaces should be meaningful places. Leadership, to me, means creating environments where people matter — and that changing the world starts small: one act of kindness, one person at a time.

Proud Costa Rican. Married to Karen, father of Santiago and Jimena. Amateur poet, dancer, and believer in giving back to the community.

Ventures

Beyond corporate leadership, I founded Morandi Corp, a Costa Rican holding whose companies help people grow and businesses expand: leadership development with InspireWorks Lab, and expansion advisory with EXPANDio.

Morandi Corp

People grow. Businesses expand. The founder-led holding behind it all.

morandicorp.com ↗

InspireWorks Lab

Leadership and talent development: mentoring, corporate training, and keynotes.

inspireworkslab.com ↗

EXPANDio

Business-expansion advisory — landing international operations in Costa Rica.

expand-io.com ↗