The AI Organization

AI Hero: Chema

Chema knows well the importance of transforming a company’s culture to embrace AI. He’s chief data officer at Telefónica, one the largest telecommunications companies in the world: it’s ranked third in its category on the list of World’s Most Admired Companies by Fortune, and Morgan Stanley has described it as the European leader in digital transformation. Innovation is the primary factor driving those recognitions—which is a huge achievement considering Telefónica is almost one hundred years old.

How does a company with so much baggage successfully transform itself? José María Álvarez-Pallete, chairman and CEO of Telefónica, knew that such a massive endeavor needed to be led by a person dramatically different from the typical executive. He found that person in Chema. You will spot him easily in any official corporate picture: he’s the one wearing a ski hat and a t-shirt depicting one of his favorite comic book superheroes.

Chema grew up in a working-class neighborhood in Móstoles, a suburb of Madrid. His father worked as a construction painter for a very modest salary; Chema didn’t stay in a hotel or fly on a plane until he was well into his twenties, and from a young age he had to balance school with helping his father at work.

It was while he was working on a construction site with his father that Chema realized he wanted something different. His mother was always telling him that he should pursue a better life working in an office. She also often told her son ...