Full disclosure: we're Ryz Labs, and we're on this list. So yes, we're biased. Here's what we'd actually tell a friend, including when you should hire someone else. Facts about CI&T come from its SEC annual report and its own site, and facts about every other firm come from what it publishes, with sources at the end.
CI&T sells AI deployment through its own system: a proprietary AI platform called CI&T FLOW and a method it calls Lean AI. Several competitors do something similar with their own platforms. So the question that decides your shortlist is this: do you want to adopt a vendor's AI platform and method, or keep your own stack and tools and add senior people to it? Both work. They suit different companies.
CI&T was founded in Brazil in 1995 and is listed on the NYSE. It reported $489.6 million in 2025 revenue and 7,993 employees at year end, 6,980 of them in Brazil, with others in Colombia, China, the US, Portugal and elsewhere. Financial services was its largest vertical in 2025 at about 36% of revenue, and 43.4% of revenue came from clients in North America. In June 2026 it said it had joined the Claude Partner Network with 1,000+ certified AI engineers.
Its pitch is a system, not just people: CI&T FLOW and Lean AI, plus reusable IP-based assets. Its annual report says most revenue comes from time-and-materials contracts billed at hourly rates. Buyers who start with CI&T usually run large enterprises and want a partner that brings its own way of working.
That is a fair choice. The trade-off is that a vendor's platform becomes part of how your software gets built. Some companies want that. Others want their own engineers, tools and repos to stay the center of gravity, with extra senior people added.
There is no Ryz platform to adopt. Our engineers work on your team, reporting to your leads, with the tools you already use: AWS, Azure, GitHub, Postgres, Anthropic and OpenAI models. Our AI pod teams build AI systems in your cloud and repos, and engineers work in your accounts, which you control and can revoke at any time. You own all code and IP. A team can start in under two weeks once you say go.
Mid-level engineers run $7,000 to $10,000 a month, senior $10,000 to $15,000, leads quoted per team. We serve enterprises across industries, including financial services: our pods built marketing compliance review for a leading alternative asset manager, cutting review of 8,000+ documents from days to hours. Read the marketing compliance case study.
Where we're not the right fit: if you want a vendor to bring its own AI platform and method, CI&T, Globant or EPAM fits that. If you need large teams in Brazil, China or Europe, or follow-the-sun coverage, a global firm is the better shape. If you want a management-consulting engagement, look at Thoughtworks. See Ryz Labs vs CI&T.
Globant reported $2,454.9 million in 2025 revenue. It bills most work hourly and sells AI Pods per supervised token on Glob.AI. On October 27, 2026 it added Glob.AI OS, an operating layer for enterprise AI.
Where Globant beats us: scale across regions and a consumption model. The catch: like CI&T, you adopt its platform. See Globant competitors.
EPAM had about 62,850 people and $5.457 billion in 2025 revenue. Financial services is its largest vertical at 24.1% of revenue. It sells AI/Run and the open-source DIAL orchestration platform.
Where EPAM beats us: scale for multi-workstream programs, and DIAL is open source. The catch: New York overlap depends on which delivery center staffs the work.
Thoughtworks is an engineering-led consultancy founded in 1993. In 2026 it launched AI/works and Agent/works, a control plane and governed runtime for agents in production.
Where Thoughtworks beats us: strategy and engineering under one roof. The catch: its last public filing put 63.1% of its people in Asia-Pacific.
Nortal is a consultancy with 30 offices in Europe, the Middle East, Latin America and North America. It acquired Nearsure in 2025 and sells IT outsourcing, platform-certified staffing and AI-native teams.
Where Nortal beats us: certified specialists for Salesforce, ServiceNow, Adobe and Microsoft. The catch: rates aren't published. See Nortal competitors.
BairesDev says it has 4,000+ engineers across 100+ technologies and sells staff augmentation, dedicated teams and outsourced projects.
Where BairesDev beats us: very wide stack coverage. The catch: AI is one of 100+ technologies it covers, per its own positioning.
If you want to keep your own stack and add named senior engineers: Ryz Labs.
If you want consumption pricing on a multi-region program: Globant.
If you want an open-source orchestration layer with a large program: EPAM.
If the work is on Salesforce, ServiceNow, Adobe or Microsoft: Nortal.
If you want a Brazil-centered partner that brings its own AI system and has deep financial-services work: CI&T is a solid choice.
For large programs, Globant, EPAM and Thoughtworks. For platform-certified work, Nortal. For nearshore capacity, BairesDev. For a named senior team in your stack, Ryz Labs. Our CI&T alternatives page covers more options.
It doesn't publish rates. Its annual report says contracts can be time-and-materials or fixed-price, and most revenue comes from time-and-materials work billed at hourly rates.
Mostly in Brazil: 6,980 of 7,993 employees at the end of 2025, per its annual report. It also had teams in Colombia, China, the US, Portugal, the UK and other countries.
No. Many teams build on their own cloud with Anthropic or OpenAI models directly. Our guide to OpenAI vs Anthropic for enterprise covers the model choice.
See EPAM competitors and Nortal competitors, or talk to us.
We checked pricing and services for every provider here in October 2026. This changes often, so double-check before you sign anything.
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