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AI and human capital: The keys to entrepreneurial success at Esade Alumni Startup Day Madrid

On April 14, Madrid became the epicenter of the entrepreneurial ecosystem. During a day marked by innovation, experts and alumni met to debate the future of investment and the disruptive impact of AI
Startup Day Madrid

Spearheaded by Esade Alumni and Banco Sabadell, Startup Day Madrid reaffirmed its position as a must-attend event for entrepreneurs, investors, and students. They were all welcomed by Patricia Valentí (MBA PT 02), director of Esade Alumni, who stressed the importance of keeping up an active, collaborative network to navigate today’s world. In fact, artificial intelligence (AI) is accelerating a profound change in entrepreneurship and business models, to such an extent that we are at a turning point in the way businesses are created and managed. However, this technological advancement doesn’t detract from the centrality of people; to the contrary, it boosts their role as the main differential factor. In an environment in which more and more tasks are being automated, now more than ever the differential value of companies lies in their people.

The day kicked off with one of the most anxiously awaited moments: Desayunos Esade, sponsored by CriteriaCaixa and featuring Oriol Vila, co-founder, former CEO, and director of Holaluz, and creator of BlaBlaNote, an application focused on using AI applied to networking. During his talk, Vila stressed that entrepreneurship is still grounded on three cornerstones: purpose, “to make difficult decisions;” communication, “to constantly reinforce messages;” and corporate culture, which he regards as “crucial in order to work in the same direction.” In an approachable conversation, Vila shared his experience building a touchstone in the energy sector and stressed that sustainable growth requires a clear vision and a team aligned with the purpose.

Oriol Vila

A decisive time to invest

The roundtable on investment analyzed the crucial role played by institutional and private capital. With the participation of major players like Andrés Echecopar (Lic&MBA 95), Managing Partner at Bcombinator VC; Javier Megías, Entrepreneur & former VC at Builder, COO of Zubi Group; and Nico Goulet, Founding Partner at Adara Ventures, key conclusions were drawn for anyone seeking financing today. The experts concurred in pointing out that today affords a unique opportunity to identify and support companies that will define the business models in the forthcoming decades. Likewise, they encouraged entrepreneurs to play a leading role in this transformation process. In fact, Andrés Echecopar emphasized that “making a mistake now is much quicker and less costly than before; it’s an opportunity to build something unique, distinct, and global.” Nico Goulet, in turn, underscored the fact that entrepreneurship is playing a key role in this revolution, since today entrepreneurs have tools that enable them to overcome barriers traditionally associated with large companies. Javier Megías reminded the audience that the focus should still be the customer: “An idea may be good, but you have to check it against reality, and that reality is customers. It’s not about thinking they’re right but about listening to them.”

AI is redefining the models of business and society

Nacho Travesi

The event closed spotlighting the latest technology. Nacho Travesí (PDC 19), co-founder and CRO of Orbio AI, talked with Sonia Marzo (EMMV02/Promociona 15), AI National Skills Director Spain at Microsoft, about how AI is redefining business models. The main conclusion was unanimous: even though AI is the tool that is redefining competitiveness, people are still at the core of value. Innovating to scale up means not just implementing algorithms but also using them to foster human capacity.

According to Sonia Marzo, AI “is affecting not just one sector but all of them, creating a new model of business and society.” As a result, she underscored the need for training: “Lack of knowledge is not excusable anymore; nor are unethical or irresponsible use of it.”

Nacho Travesí, in turn, warned about the disconnect between AI’s potential and its application in organizations: “Many companies think it’s enough to add tools, but they don’t teach how to use them.” In his opinion, this requires a change in mindset: “We have to be more curious than ever and continue training ourselves to automate operative tasks and focus on bringing value through thinking.”

Startup Day also featured the pitches of five startups currently in investment rounds, in which  Iñaki Arilla, co-founder and CEO of Hander VET; Alejandro Giacomelli, founder and CEO of Rituale.Coffee; and Alberto Lazarov, co-founder and CEO of Dalatea, presented their projects.

StartupDay Madrid

 

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