A hundred entrepreneurs participate in the first edition of DAFO Barcelona

2027 is the year ambiguity ends. Under this motto, The New Barcelona Post and Banc Sabadell have organized DAFO Barcelona 2027, a conference with entrepreneurs to define future strategies, individually, that is, with the needs of each company, but also globally, putting on the table the weaknesses, threats, strengths, and opportunities of the Barcelona and Catalan business fabric for the coming year. The conference was opened by Enrique Lacalle, president of the Círculo Ecuestre, the venue where the conference was held, which this year celebrates its 170th anniversary. "This is everyone's home," mentioned Lacalle, who made clear his pride in hosting a meeting like this. Two keynotes, a couple of round tables filled the event, in which two very clear areas were debated: geopolitics and technology. Finally, a vote to define, among the hundred entrepreneurs invited to the event, what is the SWOT of 2027.

At 11:30 a.m., 100 top-level business leaders from the ecosystem could be seen gathered in a single room. Names such as Xavier Comerma, deputy general manager of Banc Sabadell; Benito Reales, deputy general manager of Banc Sabadell; Joan Font, chairman and CEO of Grup Bon Preu; Emma Gumbert, vice president of Pimec; and Josep Santacreu, president of Cambra de Comerç de Barcelona, took part in the event "The business community manages uncertainty and incorporates it as another variable in the decision-making process," said the CEO of Banc Sabadell, Marc Armengol. The executive of the co-organizing company of the conference took the podium to positively assess the effort that companies are making in a moment of "volatility." The reality is that Armengol assured that the lack of knowledge of such a changing world can be seen as a weakness, but he determined that Catalan companies experience it more as an opportunity. However, when touching on the two central themes of the conference, he specified that, in terms of geopolitics, the scenario is "more fragmented than ever" and explained that this has "real impacts on business activity, supply chains, and investment decisions." Regarding technology, he focused on artificial intelligence, of which he mentioned that it cannot go freely and must function "under the control framework of companies." In this way, he made it clear that "there must be governance" over new technologies from business management.

DAFO Barcelona 2027 has not only been a space for reflection, with quality speakers, but also an interactive event that started a few weeks ago. Thanks to the platform created by the Catalan company Interficie, a technological partner of the initiative, all guests were able to access an empty SWOT, which they could fill with all their suggestions for the business world of next year. This data has been collected and projected during the day. Once the presentations were over, and under the direction of the event's presenter, Elena Busquets, director of The New Barcelona Post, the guests voted for the predictions that best fit the future of the business fabric. This choice will not be lost: the main result will be the DAFO Barcelona 2027 Report, which will collect and systematize the conclusions of the exercise and will have the collaboration of Cambra de Comerç de Barcelona and Foment del Treball.

Speakers of the present with future perspectives

The event has had four presentations: two keynotes and two round tables. In the first axis, geopolitics, Marcos Ugarte, president of the PHAROS Group, strategic and organizational consultant and specialist in geopolitics, foresight and business transformation, revolutionized the room with his analogies about the president of the United States, Donald Trump and his high participation in the changes that are being experienced and will be experienced in the world. Behind him, Sara Puig, communication director of the Col·legi d'Economistes de Catalunya, moderated a debate between great businessmen to remember the role of companies in geopolitics and vice versa, how world problems affect businessmen. They gave their opinion: Raquel Carrasco, general director of Veolia Catalunya; David Garrofé, former general secretary of Cecot and CEO of Binillum; Rafael Ruiz, president of EBRO Motors Group; and Josep Lluís Sanfeliu, president of Barcelona Global.

The second area that has been addressed at the conference has been technology. The keynote —very focused on artificial intelligence— has been given by Aleix Valls, mathematician, engineer and digital strategist, expert in artificial intelligence and technological transformation. Valls is founder and CEO of WeArtificial and Liquid Lab, and has been CEO of Mobile World Capital Barcelona, from where he has worked at the intersection between technology, business and society. The expert has recalled the need to implement AI in companies and has defined it as a global necessity, not just a business requirement. In the round table, moderated by the economist and businessman Víctor Costa, the following participated: Mercedes Oblanca, president and CEO of Accenture in Spain and Portugal; Daniel Martínez, director of HP Barcelona; and Jordi Giné, director of public administrations and Key Accounts of Telefónica in the East Territory.

DAFO Barcelona 2027 ended with a standing lunch at the Círculo Ecuestre itself. Businesspeople were able to enjoy time to reflect and debate on everything they had observed in a relaxed and informal atmosphere. Little by little, everyone explained the future through their eyes and shared the latest conclusions. In short, the event closed its doors at noon awaiting the general report, but with a clear objective: To make the business fabric participate in the end of ambiguity in 2027.