The Billion-Dollar Power of Motivation — inside some of the world’s largest business gamification cases with Ricardo Lopes Costa, founder of Funifier, a globally recognized corporate gamification platform.

Most teams, people and companies don’t have a motivation problem - they have a design problem.

In this episode I sit down with Ricardo Lopes Costa, founder and CTO of Funifier from Brazil and the author of "The Fantastic Engagement Factory: how to motivate people on a large scale with gamification". We uncover how gamification, psychology, and smart feedback loops can turn apathetic workflows into performance engines people actually want to use.

Ricardo’s company, Funifier, has worked with global brands like Coca-Cola, HP, Banco do Brasil, and Caixa Econômica Federal, helping them turn dry KPIs into dynamic challenges that spark human motivation — often with billion-dollar impact. 

Ricardo shares how:

• A small experiment with locked online lessons accidentally sparked his obsession with engagement.
• A single leaderboard turned learning into a movement across Brazil.
• Caixa’s “Tamo Junto 9Bi+” initiative became the world’s largest gamification case — driving over $1 billion USD in additional profit in just months.
• Recognition and belonging often outperform money when it comes to performance.
• Even small businesses — from cupcake stands to ice-cream shops — can gamify experiences to make people participate more.
• Why the future of leadership lies in designing human experiences, not just managing numbers.

“Engagement is not a bonus — it’s an asset, just like money or technology.”
— Ricardo Lopes Costa

If you’re a leader, HR professional, or entrepreneur who wants to build teams that care, perform, and grow — this episode will show you how to make motivation measurable.

Key Takeaways

• Motivation is designable — when you treat engagement like a system, not a feeling.
• Recognition > rewards: appreciation drives sustained effort more than money.
• Start small: pick one unmotivated area, personalize it, make it visible, make it fun.
• Emotional design is the missing layer in most transformation and culture projects.
• Everyone — even small businesses — can use gamification principles to spark engagement.

🔗 Learn More

• 📘 The Fantastic Engagement Factory: How to Motivate People on a Large Scale with Gamification
• 🌐 funifier.com: Ricardo’s company and gamification platform 
• 📸 Instagram: @ricardolopescosta_

👤 About Ricardo Lopes Costa

Ricardo Lopes Costa is an entrepreneur, author, and international speaker specializing in gamification and behavioral design for business. He is the founder and CTO of Funifier, creator of the Funifier Gamification Platform, used in over 25 countries to help organizations motivate people at scale.
His work with banks like Caixa Econômica Federal and Banco do Brasil has been recognized as some of the most impactful gamification projects in the world.
Ricardo is also the author of The Fantastic Engagement Factory, where he shares the psychology, design, and strategy behind motivating thousands of people, one g

Chapters

• 0:00 Cracking Motivation At Scale
• 2:50 Ricardo’s Journey To Gamification
• 7:20 The First Leaderboard Experiment
• 15:05 What Gamification Really Is
• 19:10 Building Funifier And The Frameworks
• 21:40 Real-World Results Across Industries
• 24:05 Case Study: WIZ Sales Transformation
• 31:30 Designing KPIs People Want To Own
• 36:10 Personalization And AI In Engagement
• 41:00 Case Study: Banco Do Brasil Recognition
• 48:40 Beyond Money: Appreciation That Moves People
• 54:20 Case Study: Caixa’s Record-Breaking Profit
• 1:02:10 Why Rational Arguments Don’t Motivate
• 1:08:30 Small Business Gamification Wins