GaliciaTech_20251015-66
Wednesday saw the third edition of Galicia Tech take place at the Árbore da Veira venue in A Coruña, bringing together over a hundred professionals from more than sixty Galician companies united by a common goal: to create a high-value networking platform for decision-makers and to address the current and future challenges facing the business ecosystem in Galicia.
The event, organised and sponsored every year by Dest People, is held at a different venue every year. The first edition took place in Santiago de Compostela in 2023 and the second in Vigo in 2024. Lugo and Ourense are being discussed as potential venues for next year’s edition. This year’s event was supported and sponsored by Docuten, the Venancio Salcines Foundation, InCentea, Qualinnova Consulting, Sektorial Door and Seoane Asesores.
This year, the event in A Coruña featured 18 speakers representing organisations and institutions from the industrial, technological and scientific fields. Throughout the day, there were a number of round tables and discussions addressing key issues for regional competitiveness: talent management in a market facing a shortage of qualified professionals, the responsible integration of digital technologies and artificial intelligence, and the role of trust and purpose in business leadership. These priorities reflect the regional and national context: Galicia is currently experiencing a period of moderate economic growth following the recovery, but it must accelerate its industrial transformation and efforts to retain talent in order to translate growth into stable, high-quality jobs.
The balance between people and business: a topic for debate
The first round-table discussion, entitled “The challenges facing Galician businesses for the period 2026–2030”, opened the debate by focusing on the ability of organisations to anticipate and adapt to a constantly changing environment. The discussion, moderated by Carlos Pérez Carballo, Partner and Sales Director at Dest People, featured Antonio Llago, CEO of GABADI; Fernando Díaz, Managing Director of Cobre San Rafael; Luz Pardo, CEO of Grupo Gestán; and Patricia Muiño, Managing Director of the Venancio Salcines Foundation and Director of the Retorna Project. The experts emphasised the need for collaboration between businesses and institutions to develop strategies for attracting and retaining talent that are aligned with values and purpose, as well as public and private policies that facilitate the return and reintegration of emigrants.
The second round-table discussion, “Human and Technological Evolution: A Necessary Dialogue”, explored how technology is redefining the way we work, lead and make decisions. The speakers were Alba Budiño, co-founder of Zebra Brain; Lara Neira, founder of Nigal; Juan Luis Vázquez, CEO of Grupo Tourgalia; and Juan Cumbrado, Head of Innovation at MAPFRE. The discussion, moderated by Noela Burés, CEO of Qualinnova, revolved around the role of innovation as a driver of growth and the need to promote strategies that attract and retain talent that are aligned with companies’ values and purposes. The speakers agreed that technological development can only have a real impact when it is built on strong human relationships based on trust.
The third round-table discussion, which focused on the role of technology in attracting talent, addressed the integration of human and artificial intelligence, the need to preserve intuition and empathy as key elements that set us apart from machines, and the role of leadership in increasingly complex digital environments. The speakers were José Manuel González, Head of Digital Solutions and Services at Canon; Ángela Souto, Talent Acquisition Manager at Altia; Antonio Iglesias, COO at SG Tech; and Susana Ladra, Professor of Computer Languages and Systems at the Universidade da Coruña. The discussion was moderated by Daniel Cerqueiro, CMO at Docuten. The speakers agreed that technology should be an enabling factor rather than an end in itself, and that personalisation, active listening and trust-building are key to attracting talent in an increasingly competitive market.
The closing discussion between Manuel Ángel Pose, CEO of Aluman and patron of this year’s Galicia Tech, and presenter Mónica Martínez focused on the human dimension of leadership. Pose emphasised that innovation and evolution are essential for family businesses to compete on the international stage, but that success also depends on knowing how to build and maintain strong, united teams, citing his own experience as an example: since 2010, he has been working with the same core group of people, a strong and committed high-performing team. He also emphasised that, in people management, there are no generations, only individuals with evolving motivations; therefore, adopting people-centred policies that foster cohesion, trust and continuous professional development is key to ensuring the company’s sustainability and growth.
This overarching theme was also evident in the closing address by Diego Incio, Founder and CEO of Dest People, who highlighted the key role of business leaders in restoring trust between the various parties that make up the business-people symbiosis – employers and employees – and the need to reinforce the role of people as the lifeblood of the business.
The event was attended by Juan Ignacio Borrego, Councillor for Education, Training and Technological Innovation with A Coruña City Council, who, in his own address, reaffirmed the importance of Galicia Tech as a forum for strategic reflection where innovation, people and business go hand in hand.