At the Lusophone Creativity Awards ceremony for the last four months, NILG.AI, a startup incubated at UPTEC – Science and Technology Park of the University of Porto, took second place in the Data Marketing category.

Founded in 2018, NILG.AI is dedicated to helping companies improve their decision-making processes and efficiency through Artificial Intelligence, in sectors ranging from hospitality and transport to healthcare and education.

“The marketing and advertising sector is undergoing its greatest structural transformation since the advent of the internet, and the clearest signs of this are emerging at creativity festivals,” explains Kelwin Fernandes, CEO of NILG.AI. In the previous quarter, the consultancy had already won Gold in Public Relations: “Artificial Intelligence consultancies are gaining ground in areas previously dominated exclusively by traditional agencies”.

According to data from the start-up, the use of strategic AI has led to a 50% reduction in Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) and a 235% growth in its customer base over the past year. This performance led NILG.AI to become the sector’s sole national representative at the AI Action Summit in France, standing out for its implementation of GEO (Generative Engine Optimisation) strategies — a new sector focused on optimising brand visibility within the responses of models such as ChatGPT.

“Intuitive marketing is being replaced by engineering. The competitive advantage no longer lies in isolated storytelling, but in the ability to build systems that learn from the market in real time,” adds Kelwin Fernandes. With generative AI projected to have a $4.4 trillion impact on the global economy, the CEO adds that the podium finish confirms that brands’ success now lies in their ability to transform raw data into reputation and growth.

9 April 2026