How long have you been with Telefónica and what is your assessment of your time here?
I joined Telefónica in 1996 in the Services Development department with Miguel Menchén, Juan Vicente Blázquez, Valentín González and Luis Jorge Romero. They were visionaries who led the development and deployment of prepaid services, corporate, Duplo, roaming agreements, residential and business SMS… in other words, all the mainstay services of the telco industry. From there I moved to the Telefónica Móviles Corporation and since 2006, back at Telefónica España, I have been in Innovation management, always in activities closely related to technology, which I am passionate about. These have been very intense, challenging, complex years, where I can only be grateful to Telefónica as a company, which has allowed me to have ideas and develop them, to be able to decide on relevant aspects of the projects to be executed and to constantly make decisions. If I had to sum up in two concepts what I value most from these years, I would say the freedom to grow professionally and the great human and professional team of people in the company.
Is there any project at Telefónica that you are particularly satisfied with or proud of?
In Innovation we do very cutting-edge projects, with end customers, in different sectors such as health, education, industry, … and with different technologies such as video analytics, 5G, virtual reality, AI, … so they are all interesting. I would highlight the projects based on 5G for 3D assistance in the construction of ships at the Navantia shipyard, group rehabilitation for Multiple Sclerosis patients using VR and 5G, or Multicam 5G with Atlético de Madrid to experience football in an immersive way with virtual reality glasses where, in addition to the fact that the project was technically a challenge, I loved spending so many hours in different parts of the stadium and experiencing football at the foot of the pitch.
What do you think Telefónica has contributed to society?
Telefónica is a key company in Spanish society. The large deployment of fibre (millions of homes passed) and of 2G, 3G, 4G and 5G mobile technology, with a very high level of investment, effort and jobs, has a direct impact on GDP and on the differential capacity it represents for industry and for SMEs and the self-employed, as it is a driving force for generating business and connecting people. You only have to travel outside Spain to realise what an asset this is for the country.
Where do you see Telefónica in the future?
I see it accompanying society in its progress, applying technology to solve customer needs, I see it bringing differential connectivity to industry and hospitals, I see it creating solutions to help change the healthcare model to make it more sustainable with AI-based diagnostics, I see it helping the ageing population by digitising the homes of the elderly to increase their autonomy, longevity, security and avoid unwanted loneliness. In short, I see it being present in all the technological changes in the country.
Could you live without a mobile phone?
No, I really couldn’t! It is fundamental in my daily life, my tool for coordination with my professional, personal and leisure environment, my source of news and music. Having said that, it is true that I have made a series of conscious decisions not to be dependent on my mobile phone, I avoid it stealing too much of my time, my downtime going straight to my mobile and I have removed all notifications so that they don’t interrupt my train of thought in a recurring way.
Help us solve one of humanity’s great enigmas: the potato omelette… With onion or without onion?
Without a doubt, with onion and undercooked.
Nominate another colleague to feature in this section
I nominate Juan Cambeiro, Juan José Rodríguez Lupiáñez and Leticia López, ¡… although I would nominate the whole Innovation team!
