Ambiguity is no longer a strategy. As the world reorganises into blocs, technology accelerates business transformation and scale becomes a condition for competing, postponing decisions is also a decision.
With this idea, DAFO Barcelona 2027 — The year ambiguity comes to an end — is born: a new business gathering promoted by Banc Sabadell and The New Barcelona Post, with the collaboration of Círculo Ecuestre, which will take place behind closed doors at Círculo Ecuestre on 15 October. The event will bring together around one hundred executives, business leaders and experts connected to the Catalan business community with one specific objective: to develop the SWOT analysis of the new economic cycle before it begins.
It is therefore not a matter of taking a snapshot of the current context, but of trying to anticipate what will shape the coming years: which weaknesses may limit the ability to compete and grow, which threats will need to be anticipated, which strengths can be built upon and which opportunities will need to be seized.
“The DAFO will be built from the contributions of around one hundred people who are part of the leadership of different companies and sectors of the Catalan economy.”
The initiative is based on a shift in perspective: the DAFO will be developed before the new cycle is defined. And it will not reflect the perspective of a single company, a single sector or a single analyst. It will be a collective DAFO, built from the contributions of around one hundred people who are part of the leadership of different companies and sectors of the Catalan economy. This collective DAFO is being developed ahead of the event through a platform created by Interficie, the initiative’s technology partner.
In this way, the DAFO is being built before the new cycle arrives and from the perspective of the people who will have to make decisions in this new context.
Geopolitics and technology at the heart of the debate
The event will open with a welcome address by Marc Armengol, CEO of Banc Sabadell, before moving into a programme focused on two decisive areas for business strategy in the coming years: geopolitics and technology.
In this context, the event will feature two keynotes by experts in these two fields. The first will be delivered by Marcos Urarte, President of Grup PHAROS, strategic and organisational consultant, and specialist in geopolitics, foresight and business transformation. Urarte has advised more than one hundred public and private organisations and works with institutions including the World Bank and the Development Bank of Latin America (CAF). He is also a member of several international think tanks, including the Club of Rome, the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) and the Elcano Royal Institute.
The second, focused on technology, will be delivered by Aleix Valls, mathematician, engineer and digital strategist, and an expert in artificial intelligence and technological transformation. Valls is the founder and CEO of WeArtificial and Liquid Lab, and has served as CEO of Mobile World Capital Barcelona, where he worked at the intersection of technology, business and society.
The event will also feature round tables and discussions with Pau Relat, President of Fira de Barcelona; Raquel Carrasco, Managing Director of Veolia Catalunya; David Garrofé, former Secretary General of Cecot and CEO of Binillum; Rafael Ruiz, President of EBRO Motors Group; Mercedes Oblanca, President and CEO of Accenture in Spain and Portugal; Daniel Martínez Harris, Director of HP Barcelona; and Laia Corbella, Managing Director of Mobile World Capital Barcelona. The round tables will be moderated by Sara Puig, Director of Communications at the Catalan College of Economists, and economist and entrepreneur Víctor Costa.
The event will thus bring together geopolitics, business strategy and technology — three areas that are forcing companies to rethink their decisions on growth, investment and positioning in the face of the new cycle.
From the meeting to the DAFO Barcelona 2027 Report
Despite taking place behind closed doors, DAFO Barcelona 2027 aims for the ideas generated during the event to have a life beyond the gathering itself. In the days following the event, reports and videos featuring the main ideas and interventions from the gathering will be published.
But the main outcome will be the DAFO Barcelona 2027 Report, which will compile and systematise the conclusions of the exercise, with the collaboration of Cambra de Comerç de Barcelona and Foment del Treball.
The report will turn the contributions and debate generated during the event into a shared reading of the weaknesses, threats, strengths and opportunities facing the business community as it enters the new cycle, with the aim of becoming a useful tool for the decisions that companies will have to make in the coming years.
In this way, DAFO Barcelona 2027 will be an event that takes place behind closed doors, but with the ambition that its conclusions will go beyond the room and become a reference point for understanding and addressing the new business cycle.