IESE Business School

This weekend, we welcomed almost 700 members of our MBA alumni community back to for the MBA Alumni Reunion 2026. 🫂

A chance to return to campus, reconnect with classmates and continue being part of a community that keeps growing year after year, all around the world.

🗣️ The program included a keynote session with Prof. Jordi Gual on the economic and business impact of geopolitical uncertainty, as well as a panel moderated by Dean Franz Heukamp with Avi Meir and María Díaz-Morera, who shared their journeys of success and purpose.

We also recognized members of the Alumni Association with more than 25 years of commitment to the community. 🤝

Thank you to everyone who joined us and to all those who help to nurture our vibrant . 😊

🏦 Europe’s banking sector has recovered strongly since the pandemic, but the challenges ahead may be even more complex than those left behind.

AI, cybersecurity, geopolitics and regulation were at the center of discussions during the 21st Banking Industry Meeting, held at under the academic direction of Professor Germán López Espinosa. 🗣️

Several key themes framed the discussion over the two-day event:

🔹 will transform banking, but human talent remains central. As bankinter CEO Gloria Ortiz and Kutxabank Chairman Anton Arriola argued, the real opportunity lies in using AI to enhance expertise and decision-making, not replace it.

🔹 uncertainty is increasingly shaping business decisions. Michael Kovrig, CEO of Kovrig Group, highlighted the importance of scenario planning and understanding the global implications of geopolitical shifts, including China's growing influence.

🔹 has become a strategic priority. Banco Sabadell CEO Marc Armengol reflected on the need for robust security frameworks as AI creates new opportunities, but also new vulnerabilities.

🔹 The competitive landscape continues to evolve. Representatives from Revolut, N26, CaixaBank, Goldman Sachs and J.P. Morgan discussed topics ranging from fintech disruption and innovation to consolidation and the future of .

The meeting also highlighted IESE’s commitment to preparing the next generation of finance leaders. During the event, Professor López Espinosa presented IESE’s new Master in Finance, which integrates AI and data-driven decision-making across the curriculum. 🌐

Organized by the IESE's Center for International Finance in collaboration with FTI Consulting, the event brought together bankers, academics and industry experts to discuss the forces reshaping financial services and the leadership required to navigate them.

How can leaders manage in a more polarized world? 🤔

📰 In the newest Ideas & Insights newsletter, we explore how businesses can remain spaces where people with different backgrounds, beliefs and identities come together around a shared purpose.

Drawing on the latest issue of Business School Insight magazine, our faculty explore the role of business as a bulwark against and examine aspects including consumer behavior, ESG reporting, ways to combat misinformation, marketing strategies in times of rising nationalism and how to promote international cooperation in space.

💡 The question for leaders is not only how to navigate division, but how to build trust, dignity and connection inside their organizations.

Also in this issue: the first episode of IESE’s Leading in the Age of AI podcast, new research on helping employees thrive, insights from the Veepee-IESE Study on the Future of E-commerce in Spain, our IESE 40under40 Awards and IESE’s latest Financial Times Executive Education ranking.

🔗 Read the full newsletter here: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-manage-more-polarized-world-iese-business-school-cnnof/

Great news to start the week!

For the fifth consecutive year, we are proud to remain among the world’s top three in the Financial Times Executive Education ranking.

IESE has been ranked:
🏆 No. 3 worldwide in Open-enrollment Executive Education Programs
🏆 No. 4 worldwide in Custom Executive Education Programs

This recognition reflects something we care deeply about: creating learning experiences that truly help executives and organizations grow, adapt and lead with impact.

The ranking highlights the strength of our programs in areas such as new skills and learning, participant satisfaction, follow-up and networking opportunities. It also reinforces the value of the global partnerships we have built with institutions including Harvard University, NYU Stern School of Business and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Behind these results is an extraordinary community of faculty, participants, alumni, partners and teams across all our campuses, committed every day to excellence, innovation and human-centered leadership.

Thank you to the IESE Community for making this possible and for continuing to shape programs that help leaders create a positive impact in companies and society.

🔗 https://www.iese.edu/stories/iese-ranks-3-worldwide-executive-education-financialtimes/?utm_source=redes&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=contentteam

👨‍👩‍👧‍👧 Behind every one of our students and participants, there are who accompany important moments of growth and change.

On , we want to recognize the role they play throughout the journey. From the first day on campus to graduation, families are often a constant source of support, encouragement and perspective behind each milestone achieved. 🤝

Their presence reminds us that learning and personal growth are rarely individual journeys. They are also shaped by the people who stand beside us along the way.

Thank you to our participants for sharing these moments with us. 🤗

🌍 “Europa tiene que aprender a usar el lenguaje del poder. Siete años después seguimos sin aprenderlo, quizá porque no tenemos poder”.

Lo dijo Josep Borrell, ex alto representante de la UE para Asuntos Exteriores y Política de Seguridad, en el II Encuentro de Geopolítica del IESE celebrado ayer en . La jornada estuvo dedicada a energía, comercio, tecnología, defensa y gobernanza en un mundo fragmentado.

Shlomo Ben-Ami, ex ministro de Asuntos Exteriores de Israel, compartió otra idea para afrontar cualquier crisis: “Lo que cuenta no es la realidad, lo que cuenta es la percepción de la realidad”.

💡 A lo largo del encuentro, se pusieron sobre la mesa aspectos clave del contexto actual para la reflexión de directivos del sector público y privado:

· La se ha instalado en los consejos de administración, porque condiciona cadenas de suministro, energía, tecnología y expansión internacional.

· Diversificar dependencias críticas se ha convertido en una exigencia estratégica: el menor coste ya no basta, manda la resiliencia.

· Completar el mercado único –energía, telecomunicaciones, capitales– sigue siendo la principal palanca competitiva que tiene en sus manos.

Organizado por el Center for Public and Government del IESE junto con FTI Consulting, el encuentro fue dirigido por los profesores Jordi Gual, Marta Elvira, Juan Luis López Cardenete y Santiago Álvarez de Mon.

También participaron responsables institucionales y diplomáticos como Javier Colomina, Ana Palacio, Mariano Rajoy y Qu Xun; expertos en energía y transición energética como Luis Atienza, María Sicilia y Patxi Calleja; y directivos y especialistas en comercio, industria, tecnología y defensa como Beth Baltzan, Anthony Gooch, Luis Furnells, Raül Blanco y el general Carlos Javier Frías Sánchez.

🔗 https://link.iese.edu/4wyFZ7m

This week at , we celebrated a new generation of entrepreneurs from across our global alumni community. 🚀

The IESE 40under40 awards recognized 40 founders and innovators under the age of 40 who are building ventures with ambition, resilience and impact across different sectors.

🏆 During the ceremony, four special prizes were awarded to:

• Bernardo Sá Pereira, PDD 2022 alum and co-founder of Amelia Hub, for Most Innovative Entrepreneur
• Pablo Urbano, EMBA 2026 participant and founder of AUARA, for Entrepreneur with the Most Social Impact
• Carla Barber, PDG 2025 alum and founder of Grupo Barber, for Outstanding Female Entrepreneur
• Borja Bolívar, EMBA 2021 alum and co-founder of CROPFOODS, for Entrepreneur with the Best Growth Track

IESE 40under40 reflects the strength of an entrepreneurial ecosystem that continues to grow through our alumni, students and founders around the world. Congratulations to all the winners for inspiring the next generation of entrepreneurial .

🔗 Read the full story: https://link.iese.edu/4wy60DO

Ayer celebramos en el 1er Encuentro de Infraestructuras del IESE, co-dirigido por el profesor Jaume Armengou y Gonzalo Fernández Sánchez, de la Demarcación de Madrid del Colegio de Ingenieros de Caminos, Canales y Puertos.

Un encuentro que reunió a profesionales y expertos de los ámbitos del transporte, el agua, la energía y la movilidad, con una vocación clara: poner las infraestructuras al servicio de las personas y del bien común. Porque las infraestructuras no son solo construcción. Son capacidad de habitar, conectar y prosperar como sociedad.

Entre las principales reflexiones del encuentro destacaron varios “elefantes en la habitación” que el sector necesita afrontar con honestidad y sentido de urgencia:

👥 Talento
• Falta de atractivo del sector para las nuevas generaciones
• Condiciones salariales y capacidad de decisión insuficientes
• Necesidad de recuperar liderazgo técnico, propósito y prestigio profesional

💶 Inversión y mantenimiento
• España necesita cerca de 400.000 millones de euros de inversión en infraestructuras en los próximos 10 años
• Resulta imposible atender este reto únicamente desde el erario público
• La inversión continúa siendo demasiado irregular y dependiente de ciclos políticos y económicos
• Existe un exceso de foco en obra nueva y una clara infrafinanciación del mantenimiento y la conservación
• Marcos regulatorios como la ley de desindexación están dificultando la viabilidad de numerosos proyectos

⚖️ Gobernanza y toma de decisiones
• Dificultad para construir consensos estables y salir del corto plazo político
• Necesidad de renovar la Ley de Contratos y los modelos de colaboración público-privada
• Urgencia de reforzar decisiones técnico-estratégicas basadas en datos, transparencia y visión de largo plazo
• Importancia de avanzar mediante acuerdos imperfectos, pero accionables

📣 Otra de las conclusiones compartidas durante la jornada fue la necesidad de comunicar mucho mejor el valor que aportan la ingeniería y las infraestructuras a la sociedad. Explicar más y mejor cómo impactan en nuestra calidad de vida, competitividad, seguridad y cohesión territorial será clave para atraer talento, generar confianza y reforzar la licencia social del sector.

El encuentro sirvió como espacio de reflexión, diálogo y reivindicación del papel de los ingenieros y profesionales del sector para contribuir al desarrollo de unas infraestructuras más resilientes, sostenibles y humanas.

Como señaló María Dolores Esteban, decana de la Demarcación de Madrid del Colegio de Ingenieros de Caminos, Canales y Puertos, la jornada demostró que “cuando ingenieros, técnicos y directivos se unen en alianza, el resultado no tiene techo”.

Porque el reto no es solo construir más. Es decidir mejor. Y hacerlo con espíritu de servicio a la sociedad.

Gracias a todos los participantes y asistentes por hacerlo posible. Y un agradecimiento especial a los patrocinadores del encuentro: Tecniberia, Fundacio Bosch Aymerich y EMT Madrid.

Yesterday, hosted the 40th edition of the IESE Auto Mobility Industry Meeting, marking four decades of conversations around one of the world’s most transformative industries.

What began in 1986, when Professor Pedro Nueno and SEAT President Joan Llorens first brought automotive leaders together at IESE, has evolved into a long-standing forum for discussing the forces shaping the future of mobility.

This year’s edition, organized together with Deloitte, explored the major shifts redefining the industry today: from AI and digitalization to geopolitics, supply chains and electrification.

The event featured conversations with leaders including Oliver Blume, Chairman of the Board of Management of Volkswagen Group; Alberto de Aza, Managing Director of BYD Spain & Portugal; and Antonio Fondevilla, Global Head of Automotive at MAERSK, alongside IESE professors Marc Sachon, Pedro Nueno and David Wehrheim.

Across the panels, workshops and discussions, these were the central questions: what will mobility look like 20 years from now — and how do we build the path toward it?

Thank you to everyone who joined us for this special 40th edition of IESE Auto Mobility!