Read the Conversation
Meeting highlights:
- Viant Medical’s Costa Rica rapid growth, from 500 to 2,000 people over the past 5 years is projected to grow up to 3,500-4,000 in the upcoming 5 years.
- Investment in Costa Rica delivers value through highly specialized local talent, not just low labor costs.
- Emphasized Costa Rica’s well-established technological and educational foundations for advanced MedTech manufacturing.
- Viant’s approach to vertical integration focuses on value-adding processes like injection molding and extrusion to better serve global clients.
- Highlighted the importance of leadership development, distributed decision-making, and technical empowerment within teams.
- Strong focus on internal communication to align all levels of the organization with site objectives.
- Leadership philosophy centered on people development and a positive work environment.
- Emphasis on customer-centricity while maintaining the feeling of a small, dynamic company.
EF: Could you elaborate on Viant’s journey over the years, particularly regarding the company’s growth in Costa Rica and your vision for the future?
KQ: at Viant Costa Rica, our journey over the past 20 years has been one of steady growth, investment, and expanding expertise. A major new program five years ago marked a turning point, increasing our workforce by 40% and prompting significant investments in talent and infrastructure. Today, we’re approaching 2,000 associates and expect to grow to 2,600 within the next 10 months—with the potential to reach 3,500 to 4,000 in the coming years.
What sets us apart is the strength of our local team and the expertise we’ve built. We’re not just executing - we’re leading complex programs and delivering consistent, high-quality results. Looking ahead, Costa Rica is going to continue playing a central role in Viant’s global strategy. We’re focused on expanding our capabilities, increasing capacity, and solidifying our position as a center of excellence for high-value medical device manufacturing. I’m proud of what we’ve built—and excited about where we’re headed.
EF: Why do you believe investing a 1 USD in Costa Rica is different from investing elsewhere?
KQ: When we talk about investing in Costa Rica, I always emphasize that it’s not just about accessing lower-cost manufacturing—it’s about tapping into a highly capable, specialized workforce. At Viant, our team here includes experts in engineering, quality, compliance, and technical operations, along with a solid foundation of skilled associates at every level.
What really sets us apart is how integrated Costa Rica is within Viant’s global manufacturing network. We leverage shared systems, standardized processes, and global best practices, but we also contribute local innovation and expertise. That balance gives us the ability to execute complex programs with consistency and agility.
There is also a cultural commitment to service and excellence. There’s a deep-rooted pride in doing things right—delivering high-quality results, going the extra mile, and continuously improving. That mindset shows up in everything we do. That’s a big part of why customers see such strong value when they work with Viant Costa Rica.
EF: How has Viant Costa Rica’s product portfolio and manufacturing complexity evolved?
KQ: Over the past 18 years, I’ve witnessed our transformation firsthand. We started with low-complexity injection-molded parts for local customers, using smaller molds and basic assemblies. As investment increased—especially following three successive acquisitions—our capabilities expanded. Today, 93% of what we manufacture is highly complex, specialized finished devices, such as catheters for advanced cardiac disease treatment and minimally invasive therapy devices. These are among the most challenging products to manufacture in the industry.
Our site also offers vertical integration: we handle everything from raw materials procurement to molding, assembly, packaging, and even distribution if needed. This allows our customers to focus on their core business while we manage the entire production process, delivering added value at every stage.
In Costa Rica, we manufacture some of the most advanced medical devices in Latin America. This evolution has been possible due to the sustained investment in both people and technology. We have built a workforce with deep expertise in specialized areas, and the country’s ecosystem ensures companies like Viant can access the skills and resources needed for continued growth and innovation.
EF: How does Viant ensure it remains the partner of choice for global medtech companies?
KQ: Success depends on more than just infrastructure and technology—it’s about people. Costa Rica provides the right context, but companies must take the initiative and invest in talent and capabilities. We have focused on continuous improvement, upskilling our workforce, and maintaining high standards in everything we do. This approach has allowed us to take on increasingly complex projects and deliver end-to-end solutions that meet the demanding requirements of our global customers.
At Viant, our focus is always on offering the highest level of service to our customers. The decision to keep certain capabilities in-house is to ensure we are delivering maximum value to them. Most of what we do is highly complex catheter production—among the most advanced globally—and we do it successfully. Successful partnerships require organizations to have the right leaders in the right positions, ensuring coaching and training that meets customer expectations. At Viant, we have continually invested in leadership development to sustain operational excellence and customer focus.
EF: Viant has experienced remarkable growth in Costa Rica. How do you scale with purpose—maintaining company culture and quality standards while onboarding hundreds of new associates and expanding operations?
KQ: Five years ago, when I returned from a 14-month assignment in the United States to lead the Costa Rica site, our main challenge was how to maintain our responsiveness, communication, and customer proximity as we grew. Our solution was to divide our growing operation into multiple plants, each led by its own leadership team. Within each plant, we established dedicated value stream teams for each customer. These teams report to their plant’s leadership, not to me directly or to a central management group.
This structure allows each customer to enjoy a personalized, high-touch relationship—regardless of our overall growth. Our production, engineering, and quality teams directly manage their customer interactions. We don’t have a separate department for customer service; technical leaders are empowered to own these relationships. This approach is not common in the industry, but it has been a success factor for Viant.
The decentralized structure ensures that growth never feels negative to customers or teams. Instead, it enables us to maintain our company culture, uphold quality standards, and preserve the close connections that set us apart. In the end, all the value streams continue to be unified by a common strategy but are agile enough to make decisions and deliver results without falling into bureaucracy or procrastination.
EF: How have you managed to maintain seamless communication and strategy alignment as Viant Medical has grown?
KQ: Our main adjustments have been internal, focusing on our associates. The key is establishing strong and consistent communication channels that serve as a permanent conveyor of our established strategy and current business state. Moreover, through the years, we have focused on simplifying the tactical and strategic objectives and behavioural expectations so it is easy for everyone to understand what is their role and the impact of their actions on the broader goal. Associates understand that their objectives are shared by their supervisors and by myself and that those are directly linked to Viant´s values, mission, vision and quality policy, creating a sense of unity.
EF: As you approach 20 years at Viant, how would you like to be remembered, what legacy are you building?
KQ: If just one person remembers me as someone who worked to improve their skills, the work environment, and the overall work conditions so that everyone could contribute to our shared success and that of our customers, I’ll be happy. But to be fair, it’s not about numbers or personal recognition for me. The people here deserve to be recognized for their achievements—what they’ve accomplished is remarkable. I´ve only been an enabler.
