This afternoon, the UPF Barcelona School of Management (UPF-BSM) presented the Businessman of the Year 2022 Award to the executive president of Telefónica, José María Álvarez-Pallete, in recognition of the sustainable transformation that the multinational has led and its key role in the global technological green transition, in an event attended by more than a hundred businessmen and politicians, such as the president of Foment del Treball, Josep Sánchez Llibre, the president of the Cercle d'Economia, Jaume Guardiola, and his predecessors Juan José Brugera and Salvador Alemany, the president of the Fira, Pau Relat, and the president of ERC, Oriol Junqueras.
Álvarez-Pallete received the award from the rector of the UPF, Laia de Nadal, who defined him as a “catalyst of change” who “promotes initiatives that go beyond traditional management.”
The manager highlighted in his acceptance speech the “unprecedented challenges” posed by technology in the new digital era. “85% of the professions that will exist in 2030 do not yet exist. “Europe needs massive retraining of its professionals,” he warned. Álvarez-Pallete defended that “100 million people will have to reinvent themselves in the next decade” for which education will be key. “There is nothing better for a company than training its own people, because it allows it to generate talent and increase competitiveness. At Telefónica we have the largest internal retraining plan in Europe, with more than 16,000 employees trained.”
José Manuel Martínez-Sierra, general director of the UPF-BSM, defended that “you educate from the academy, but also, and no less important, from example” and considered the president of Telefónica “a clear 'role model' to follow.” for the leaders of the future that we are training and who aim to build a better world.” In the previous edition, the winner was José Ignacio Goirigolzarri, president of CaixaBank, in recognition of his leadership in the merger with Bankia.
The president of the UPF-BSM and former rector of the UPF, Jaume Casals, praised the merits of the winner, whom he considered “one of the great managers in our recent history” who has turned Telefónica into “an example of transformation from an analog company to a digital one.” In his opinion, the manager “has been able to lead one of the most spectacular sustainable transformation and modernization processes of the last 15 years until turning Telefónica into a global multinational.”
Casals highlighted the effort made by the multinational that has made it “a leader in the deployment of 5G connectivity technology in Spain, especially in the rural world,” which represents a “fundamental milestone in improving the quality of life.” of people".
The professor recalled that Telefónica “occupies first place among the 12 global telcos evaluated by the Digital Rights Ranking” and thanked the manager and his team for their efforts “to build, day after day, a better society in which technology, sustainability, people , education and commitment to those in need are at the center of decision-making.”
In his speech, Álvarez-Pallete highlighted the work of the 100,000 employees that make up the company around the world, and the responsibility of the company, which is about to turn 100 years old, as the “engine of societies.” The firm, he recalled, now has 380 million customers in 12 countries, and already has the largest fiber network outside of China.
Álvarez-Pallete also highlighted Barcelona's role as the world capital of the telecommunications sector. “I have always said it and I will always say it: there is no better place to hold our Congress. And, for this reason, we always defended that it should be held here. Today it is, without a doubt, the epicenter and symbolic reference of communications and innovation at an international level."
