Daniel Santos Cori — cross-border CEO, operator and author
Cross-border CEO · Operator · Author
Strategy without execution is an expensive illusion.
He helps U.S. and Latin American companies enter new markets, attract capital and scale — and implements it with them.
EY Entrepreneur Of The Year® México
Finalist · 2012
Harvard Business School
Executive Education
U.S. Foreign Trade Institute
Director, Expansion Program
Five books
English & Spanish · 2026
The reel · 24 seconds
Press play
Most advisors stop at the deck. Daniel starts there.
Thirty years of running real companies, with real payroll, in four countries. The method is simple. Doing it with you is the point.
01 — Evidence before opinion
Diagnose
Two weeks inside the business to see the real constraints, not the reported ones. A readiness diagnostic — and when capital is involved, an objective RISE™ score — so the conversation starts with evidence.
02 — Paths, not slides
Decide
Three paths, one decision. Each path comes with the capital it needs, the risk it carries and the proof point that gates the next step. Leadership leaves with a decision, not a deck.
03 — The unglamorous middle
Deploy
Entities, partners, people and vendors mobilized through a gated 90-day blueprint. The unglamorous middle — sequencing, resourcing, regulators, the hire that wasn't made — gets an owner.
04 — Handover, not dependency
Deliver
Daniel stays in the operating seat until the numbers move, then hands over a running machine and a trained leader. The results don't leave when he does.
In his own words
Hear it from Daniel.
Short, direct talks on crossing borders, strategic entropy and leadership in the age of AI. Spoken in Spanish, with English subtitles.
Now playing · 1:42 · Spanish, English subtitles
Six Things a CEO Can't Delegate
Daniel walks through the six strategy roles McKinsey says a CEO must not delegate, and asks which of them you are outsourcing today.
Read the essay: The Six Things a CEO Can't Delegate6 minServices
Seven ways to put an operator on your problem.
From the first diagnostic to the first dollar of revenue — and the handover that makes it last.
- 01U.S. Market EntryExpansionFrom Mexico or LATAM into the United States: legal, fiscal and commercial readiness, then first revenue.
- 02LATAM ExpansionExpansionU.S. and global companies expanding into Mexico, Colombia, Chile and the rest of the region.
- 03Operator-Led ExecutionExecutionA CEO-level operator embedded with your team: interim, fractional or project-based.
- 04Capital & Investor ReadinessCapitalAn objective score, a defensible story and aligned investors for companies ready to raise or partner.
- 05AI Adoption & GovernanceLeadershipBoard-level AI governance and executive guidance on orchestrating multi-agent intelligence with human judgment.
- 06Nearshoring ProgramsExpansionThe USFTI Nearshoring Business Expansion program — led on the ground by Daniel.
- 07Keynotes & Author TalksLeadershipKeynotes and author talks for conferences, boards, chambers and corporate events.
Corridors
One operator. Every corridor that matters.
Born in Chile, built in Mexico, operating across the United States, Colombia and Spain. Daniel knows how the border feels from both sides — and who to call on each.
AEGISS™
Decision intelligence · Qui Videt Vincit
Decision intelligence that sees first.
Point AEGISS™ at a company and a multi-agent engine researches, reconciles, scores and writes the decision stack — every claim cited and confidence-tagged — in minutes, not months. Built by Daniel for the investors and operators who can't afford to decide blind.
Layer 0 · RISE™ Business Model Score
Current vs Projected
- RRevenue4.5/10
- IInnovation8.5/10
- SScalability8.0/10
- EExecution5.5/10
delta
- RRevenue6.5/10+2.0
- IInnovation8.8/10+0.3
- SScalability8.7/10+0.7
- EExecution9.7/10+4.2
Assumption: recommended path executed at 80% fidelity over 90 days
Question intake
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One intelligence questionnaire drives the whole engine
Layer decision stack
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From diagnosis to a gated 90-day blueprint
Pricing mechanisms audited
0
Scored into a Pricing Power Score out of 100
Point composite score
0
RISE™ — Revenue, Innovation, Scalability, Execution
The author
Five books. One conviction: don't defend the past.
Written from the field, not the stands. Two languages, one idea — and the practical playbooks to act on it.
Spanish · Hardcover
Disrumpe o Desaparece
Cómo el éxito destruye silenciosamente a las empresas, y cómo medirlo antes de que sea demasiado tarde
English · Hardcover
Designed to Survive
How to Stop Defending the Past and Build a Company That Survives Change
Spanish · Hardcover
Diseñado para Sobrevivir
Cómo dejar de defender el pasado y construir una empresa que sobreviva al cambio
Spanish · Hardcover
Destino USA
La guía definitiva para conquistar el mercado americano
Industries
Every border has an industry behind it.
Seventeen divisions across expansion, intelligence and development — delivered with the U.S. Foreign Trade Institute network.
01
Global Business Expansion & Trade Strategy
Divisions focused on internationalization, operational expansion and strategic positioning in global markets.
02
Innovation & Intelligence Services
Legal, security, technology and education divisions that de-risk and modernize cross-border operations.
03
Knowledge & Social Development
Divisions focused on cultural and social impact, sustainability, talent and long-term value.
U.S. Foreign Trade Institute.
Daniel leads USFTI's Nearshoring Business Expansion Program — giving his clients access to a global network of chambers of commerce, officials and operators built since 1995.
1995
Established
0
Countries
0+
Members
Figures as reported by USFTI
Ideas worth acting on by Monday.
The border is only the beginning.
Tell Daniel where your company is and where it needs to go. He reads every message himself.