DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION

Technology has improved by leaps and bounds in just one year, prompting the need for companies that can assist with the new demands of digital transformation.

Xabi Uribe-Etxebarria FOUNDER & CEO, SHERPA.AI

WE STARTED out as a digital assistant planned for all Samsung devices for the Spanish language. However, it wasn’t monetizing, so we began adding new predictive capabilities. In order to do this, we took on many researchers and started to develop privacy technology together with our teams in Bilbao, Granada, Donostia, Madrid, and the US. We started out developing conversational, predictive, and privacy technologies. The privacy platform was designed to prevent data from leaving one’s mobile device. We generated so much high-quality technology that could be implemented in other companies. Therefore, we started to create a platform to provide AI services to others along those three lines. We had to delay the launch of this platform until the end of July 2020 due to the pandemic. From September, we started to receive spectacular interest from the business sector, and we have closed many deals. Within the prediction, recommendation, and customization area, we have announced our agreement with the PRISA group. The privacy area is also going great. We are closing deals with security, telecommunications, and healthcare companies, because this new platform learns an algorithm without the need to share data. This will facilitate a great deal of progress and can be implemented across many applications in the security field.

Jaime de Jaraíz PRESIDENT & CEO, LG ELECTRONICS SPAIN & PORTUGAL

WE SUFFERED heavily right at the beginning of the pandemic due to the lockdown. We managed to balance our sales through e-commerce, though these did not make it up for the loss of in-person sales. After the lockdown, we saw a change that helped us end the year in good shape. People realized they are spending more time at home and that their home is an investment, and they are changing their habits. They are buying larger TV sets and better appliances, and there is growing interest in companies that are socially responsible. We have experienced double-digit growth every month after the lockdown was lifted. If we had had 10 more days to sell, we would have surpassed our 2019 figures. Everything related to remote working has grown exponentially. Screens for computers have boomed; everything related to computers has grown as well. We have also brought in more products from Asia. We are selling a mask from LG, and air purifiers are also selling well. On top of this, we have products that sanitize via steam. We invented a washing machine that uses steam and ensures that clothes are properly sanitized. In Spain, B2C comprises 25% of our sales, and by 2050 we want it to represent 50%.

Ignacio Romero de la Vega CO-FOUNDER & GENERAL MANAGER, NETERIS CONSULTING

OUR MAIN mission is to help our customers digitalize and optimize their business processes, as well as encourage an analytical culture through technology to improve decision making, performance, and competitiveness. Neteris’ offerings include the implementation of business applications, movements to the cloud, analytics, mobility, process automation and integration projects. We work with over 20 different technologies. Furthermore, we cover the entire life cycle of our customers. Clients come to us because they have technology issues and need to improve their solutions. We study their problems, submit a tailor-made proposal, and implement one or more technologies to provide a solution. In addition, they contract support, future maintenance, and evolution services. The approach of these services is to facilitate the adoption of technologies. We focus heavily on people, change management, and the users of the application. In terms of industries, although most of our services are heavily transversal, most of Neteris’ customers are from the manufacturing, distribution, retail, hospitality, and business sectors. We have customers that invoice USD5-6 million all the way to those that invoice USD12 billion. We do not focus so much on size, but on the potential for improvement. We pay great attention to the degree of digitalization and technological maturity, as well as their potential.

Ignacio Villaseca CEO, TELDAT

WE CREATED a technology that connects network facilities and combines the infrastructures and proposals of telecommunication partners with company information systems. We offer an internet-based technology that allows companies to use the media at their disposal in the most effective way possible to meet their corporate goals. One of the challenges we face is reacting to cloud and network “softwarization.” Our technology has always been strongly associated with physical devices and we have heavily invested in software-oriented networking. In addition, the hardware business is still particularly important for us. Another important challenge we are facing is the shift in architectural models for corporate customers, who now work remotely. Ensuring employees can work while on the move is important to us, since some go as far as to work while using public transport. Therefore, a company’s networking technology must be secure, reliable, and fast. Our product portfolio and solutions faithfully reflect this. Sectors in which much of the work is delegated are the largest network consumers. For example, the banking sector has been using our equipment for many years. Sectors that heavily rely on network connectivity, as well as public administrations, have also been key components of our customer base.

Mariola Martínez PRESIDENT, XEROX

WE HAVE an extensive product portfolio, and we try to communicate all this to the market. We have brought digital transformation to our clients. We have three main lines that are part of what I call innovation. The first is software. We already had software, but when you come from a traditional company that sells services, it is hard to develop it. The company has decided to acquire CareAR, an augmented reality platform. Another of these lines is the financial services company, which has been a great advantage for us. At first, it was only for Xerox products, but now we have seen a business opportunity to finance third-party products. It may not seem that innovative, though compared to other companies in the industry, it is. The last line is PARC, which we have always been with. It stopped for a while, but now it has been reactivated. One of our objectives is to continue growing, not only with turnovers but also in profits. In order to do that, we know we have to transform our business model. We will do this through the new lines of business to achieve growth and cover the gap that comes from other lines that will not bring in much revenues.

Jacinto Cavestany CEO, EVOLUTIO

EVOLUTIO FOSTERS digital innovation for its clients and maximizes the value of their businesses, taking advantage of our experience as a cloud services integrator, public (with partnerships with leaders such as AWS, Microsoft Azure or Google Cloud), private, or hybrid. We were born with one vision: being the strategic partner in the integration of cloud services for companies of the Spanish market with a global reach. We are focused on four main challenges that, once solved, allow companies to optimize their current business models and generate new opportunities with state-of-the-art technological solutions. These four challenges are: building a digital platform that allows the development of new business models in the context of a data driven economy; attracting and retaining customers and employees, offering unique digital experiences; improving operational efficiency with smarter and more agile processes; and ensuring information security, regulatory compliance and reputation. We have developed a comprehensive portfolio of solutions that help our customers take advantage of the full potential of new technologies and the cloud, in a wide range of specific areas, such as deployment of dynamic networks, cybersecurity—we count with two next generation cybersecurity operation centers in Madrid and Barcelona— cloud enablement, app modernization, customer experience, digital workplace, and AI and big data.