At Copilot Capital , we treat culture as core competitive advantage – keeping a tight-knit team aligned, motivated and high-performing. We try to run our business the way the best software companies do: with clear ownership, open communication, and an environment where people can genuinely grow and take the lead.

In this two-part piece, our investors, Rebecca Visciola and Farhana Atteib , talk about what working at Copilot actually feels like, why it’s different to traditional private equity, and how joining the business came as a culture shock (in the best possible way). Here’s the first part of our conversation…

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What do you think are the hallmarks of a positive company culture?

Farhana: I’d start with collaboration, and the feeling that you are working in a single team, that people have your back and are eager to help you. This puts people at ease and just makes everything much easier.

The second point for me is respect – respect for people and their differences, not only in terms of work but also in their identity and culture. Feeling like you can be yourself at work is very important.

Rebecca: I think a positive company culture is one where everyone has a voice and feels their contribution matters. In finance, hierarchies can be very strong. They’re often a function of experience and of some funds becoming very institutionalised. But what matters to me is being in a team where your views are genuinely listened to, as much as anybody else’s in the room. That could be in a team meeting, a brainstorming session, or even in an investment committee – forums where, in most funds, you might only hear the Partners speak. At Copilot, everybody asks questions and everybody is actively involved in the decision-making process. We even have a simple rule: the more junior you are, the earlier you speak, so that people are heard before they’re overly influenced by their senior colleagues. You need fresh ideas, and people only share them if they feel listened to.

Private equity – like many jobs in finance – can be intense. We’re all ambitious and keen to drive things forward, but that’s only sustainable in a culture where people respect the boundaries of your personal time and needs. For me, that human component is what defines a positive culture: a place where you can be ambitious in your career, but also a person with your own identity outside of work.

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How would you describe Copilot’s culture in three words?

Farhana: Warm, collaborative, inclusive.

Rebecca: I agree with all of these – and to my previous point, I’d add entrepreneurial.

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What does Copilot do to build a strong culture that you haven’t experienced before?

Rebecca: At Copilot, there’s real attention and investment in building our individual networks. In Private Equity, if you’re a junior or an associate and you ultimately want to become a partner, you need to source and make deals – that's how you prove yourself. The problem is that there’s rarely a clear path to get from A to B. You are expected to build a network and uncover the opportunities that will help you grow into that role, in the margins of a demanding job. Copilot has been very deliberate about solving that.

At Copilot, everyone at every level is encouraged to organise quarterly events with our network. We choose the format and the theme. It can be a dinner, drinks, or a discussion around a topic we care about, and we invite whoever we think will bring value to the conversation, whether that’s advisors, investors or operators. There’s a lot of freedom, as long as it helps us develop.

Farhana: Empowering the junior team members – in every sense – has been really striking. This isn’t something that private equity firms are particularly known for. We’re encouraged to build our network and to really take the lead on things. It gives us much more exposure within our industry. Coming from similar professional backgrounds, I think it’s fair to say that both Rebecca and I were positively surprised at this level of empowerment. So, it’s been a very good experience on my side.

Rebecca: We’re not just being asked to hit targets. We’re being given the tools we need to be successful and to get to where we want to go. That feels unique.

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Have you had any “culture shock” moments – positive or surprising – since joining Copilot?

Farhana: One thing that has surprised me is the extent to which the focus on culture extends beyond the workplace environment. We organise many events and spend a lot of time together outside the office. We have a bi-weekly breakfast on Monday mornings where we talk about everything except work. We enjoy off-sites, drinks, and the chance to get to know one another on a deeper level. It’s something the firm really encourages, and it makes the workplace much more enjoyable as a result.

I remember the first dinner I joined. It was an off-site, and I was honestly shocked. It felt almost like a family dinner. Everyone was laughing and joking around. Those extra moments we spend together beyond work are very good for building the culture.

Rebecca: One of the first things that surprised me happened very early on, when I was looking at a potential investment opportunity. We organised an internal brainstorming session that genuinely felt like an informal investment committee. The whole team sat together making sense of the product, the commercial model, what we liked and what we were less sure about. Everybody was challenging, but in a collaborative, constructive way, bringing in ideas from their own experience. It felt like nine of us around the table, genuinely trying to decide together whether this was the right opportunity and how to understand it better. That level of openness and shared ownership can be highly unusual in the industry.

Another moment was when someone said to me, “You’re Italian – you should start speaking with Italian advisors and companies. We’ve never really done that. Let’s organise some meetings in Milan.” Coming from a larger fund, that level of trust and autonomy at my level is not something you take for granted. At first, it feels slightly beyond your abilities, but then you realise people here genuinely back you to stretch yourself – and that trust is what allows you to grow your confidence and skills quickly.

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Stay tuned for part two of our conversation with Rebecca and Farhana, in which we move on to cover how our culture actually drives the work.

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