Celebrating the R&A Awards 2025 Winners: One Month Later, Still Inspired

One month later and we’re still thinking about our R&A Awards winners. Time flies when we’re united and working together as a tribe. Almost a month has passed since PitStop 2025, but the celebration of our R&A Award winners still echoes across teams, chats, and coffee catchups.

These awards are more than just a ceremony or a simple trophy. They are moments of recognition for those who consistently show up, lift others, and live our values. Whether through collaboration, impact, customer focus, excellence, or by simply being the heartbeat of the tribe, these MB.ioneers stood out for how they bring their best to work and inspire others to do the same.

Collaboration Award

Our night started strong with a tribute to those who know that progress isn’t a solo journey. In Portugal, the award went to Daniel Costa and in Germany, to Inês Marques.

Daniel Costa

This recognition is a direct reflection of the incredible teamwork on the DSDBook team, who are the true enablers of collaboration! They are the essential enablers that allow me to focus on high-level architecture and support other Aftersales teams and colleagues from Sales. This award belongs to all of us who embody the value of trust and “going far, together!”

Daniel’s day-to-day isn’t just about solving problems, it’s about enabling others to do the same. Doing with through technical clarity, alignment, or the calm reassurance of someone who listens deeply, Daniel reflects what it means to be a multiplier.

Inês Marques

They say it takes two to tango, and I couldn’t agree more. Collaboration at Mercedes-Benz.io is about moving in sync, supporting each other, and creating impact together.

Inês brings clarity to chaos and rhythm to teamwork. She reminds us that collaboration isn’t just about tasks; it’s about trust and the care it takes to keep teams moving together.

Excellence Award

Excellence isn’t perfection. It’s about consistency, curiosity, and the drive to go beyond “good enough.” This year, Tiago Santos (Portugal) and Mario Wegener (Germany) were the ones who raised the bar. Tiago even had the opportunity to receive his award in Germany.

Tiago Santos

Being recognised and appreciated by your peers, while sharing the unique moment of receiving an award, is a truly speechless experience. I am deeply grateful for their support, because, without them, these awards would not be possible, and that is the real beauty. In the end, they are not about individual effort alone, but about every interaction with the amazing people we share our days with, who push us to grow into better human beings both personally and professionally.

Tiago's leadership shines through craft and character. From his technical deep-dives or mentoring moments, he proves that excellence is built one thoughtful interaction at a time.

Mario Wegener

In my life, I had the opportunity to turn my hobby into a business and make it a passion. For me, passion is an ingredient for excellence. I'm honoured to have received the excellence award, and my thanks go to all of you [the tribe] and to the IT team.

Mario reminds us that when passion meets purpose, excellence naturally follows. His drive has created real impact not just in outcomes but in how others show up around him.

Impact Award

Some people don’t just deliver, they ripple. This year’s Impact Awards went to Jorge Varandas (Portugal) and Francesco Done (Germany).

Jorge Varandas

First of all, let me just say that it's about time that someone other than Luis Mendes won this award!!! Jokes aside, I'm honestly grateful, but most of all, humbled to receive this award. Knowing that my work has reached and influenced others across the company means more to me than what I can express. I'm incredibly grateful to be surrounded by all of you, in a company whose culture truly resonates with me. You're truly amazing, and I feel lucky to call you friends, not just coworkers. Thank you to everyone who's collaborated with me, challenged my thinking, and trusted me along the way. This recognition is as much yours as it is mine. Here's to continuing to learn, grow, and make a difference together._ _P.S.: João Almeida deserved it as much, if not more than I did, so make sure you vote for him next year!

Jorge is proof that impact isn’t always loud, sometimes it’s steady, humble, and built on countless moments of trust. His work, humour, and generosity make a difference beyond deliverables.

Francesco Done

The Award is fuel for the journey, and a reminder that every step is leading me somewhere amazing! I always got inspired by people getting recognised, so now is my time to inspire and make the things bigger.

Francesco brings energy, creativity, and a contagious sense of possibility. He doesn’t just make things happen; he makes them meaningful.

Customer-Centric Award

The customer-centric award celebrates teams who put the end-user first and do so with relentless focus and empathy. This year’s winners were IT (Backbone) and Car Configurator (Product).

IT

“99% of problems solved with ‘restart and try again.’ The other 1%... still under investigation. Thanks for the recognition!” - Hélder Ferreira

With humour and humility, the IT team makes the complex simple and the technical human. Their “invisible” work is the reason so much else runs visibly smooth.

Car Configurator

"To be a customer-centric product requires effort, dedication and consistency. We couldn't achieve it without the enablement and support from Mercedes-Benz, which allows us to focus on and solve our customers' pain points. Most importantly, we're compelled by our team's and stakeholders' drive to deliver a premium experience. It's great to see our peers recognise us for this, and we welcome anyone to reach out if they'd like to get more familiar with how we work." - Bruno Morais

From day-one discovery to final UI tweaks, the team never loses sight of who they’re building for. They turn empathy into interface and feedback into fuel.

Enabler Award

Some teams don’t build the product directly; they make sure others can. This year’s Enabler Award went to Space Center (Backbone) and Nebula (Product).

Space Center

"Recognition feels even sweeter when it’s earned together. Proud of our team for turning passion into results and collaboration into success!" - Iris Lourenço

Space Center is the quiet power behind many big moves. With precision and persistence, they create the systems that empower other teams to go faster, safer, and smarter.

Nebula

"A Heartfelt Thank You from Your Nebula Family. Dear Product Teams, we're still pinching ourselves! We are deeply grateful to share that the Nebula Platform team have won the Mercedes-Benz.io Enabler Award thanks to all your votes! This recognition reflects our shared commitment to excellence and collaboration, all the hard work, dedication and fearless attitude of getting things done by our Platform team members. The Enabler Award celebrates teams that provide the essential foundation for others to succeed and that's exactly what we strive to do every day. To our product teams, your vote of confidence means everything to us. This award is a testament to the strong partnerships we've built together and the trust you place in our platform to support your innovative work." - Tiago Pinto

Nebula is more than a platform. It’s a team built on trust, acceleration, and technical excellence. Their success is woven into everyone else’s, and they wear that responsibility with pride.

Tribe Angel Award

This year, one award wasn’t given to a person or a team, but to all of us. The Tribe Angel Award celebrated what makes our culture thrive: the collective spirit.

Why do these moments matter?

The R&A Awards are more than a moment on stage or a simple tradition. They’re a mirror, a reflection of the values we want to amplify, and the people who live by them every day. Here it doesn’t matter if a specific MB.ioneer won, that someone else was nominated, or simply felt proud for watching our peers shine, our tribe what makes this community work.

So, here’s to our 2025 winners and to the everyday acts of excellence, kindness, and collaboration that often go unseen. And we are sure this spirit will continue on because recognition isn’t just a once-a-year even, it is something we build together.