Data Scientists in Spain are in high demand by employers, living up to the declaration that it is the sexiest profession of the decade. Madrid has become a city with a blossoming tech scene that is home to promising startups as well as global tech giants.

To fulfill their hiring needs, companies like Nielsen, Amadeus, and Indra partner with the IE Data Science Bootcamp and proactively recruit its graduates, who use their real-life datasets to solve complex business problems during the program. Our data science bootcampers have profiles across many industries and each has their own vision on how to wield what they’ve learned during the program in the business landscape of the future.

Other high-profile companies such as EY, Google, IBM, McKinsey, and Accenture are also constantly looking for local and international talent to fill positions that arise on their teams.  Competitive salaries and room for growth are some key factors that attract talent to this sector in Madrid. Companies such as Ryanair get creative and host half-day long, fun social events to congregate local talent as they pursue their next hires. 

In alignment with what the market demands, IE has become a hub for knowledge sharing between the community of data industry leaders and data-curious learners. Events at IE have given experts and industry leaders a platform to share their work with the public as well as to answer questions from an engaged audience who are seeking a clearer window into what a data science career path entails. There is a general sense that it has become increasingly crucial for both technical and non-technical professionals to become data-literate in order to thrive in a data-driven business landscape.

At a recent event hosted by IE Exponential Learning titled Big Data, Big Responsibility, brilliant data scientists from Idealista and Cabify discussed innovative ways in which data has been incorporated into their business strategies.  

A decade ago, flagging a taxi and searching for an apartment were not digitized or data-driven actions but now one cannot imagine approaching these endeavors any other way. Data is revolutionizing businesses and creating opportunities to provide more effective services.

Idealista announced their goal to revolutionize the rental industry within 2 years by, among other things, incorporating digital contracts into their platform. This would benefit the consumer by standardizing rental prices to combat inflation, and would also combat recurring fraud schemes.

Cabify, on the other hand, prioritizes offering taxi services in an ethical way by not insisting that clients utilize their GPS when summoning vehicles. Valuable data gathered from Cabify vehicles can be used to predict traffic patterns, and could easily be used to monitor pedestrian traffic but they refrain from using it for the latter purpose out of principle. There are enough Cabify vehicles on the road in Madrid at any given moment that adding up the data extracted from their routes could be used to map out the entire city!

In the Big Data, Big Responsibility event it came to light that Idealista does their calculations manually, which is a telling sign that there is a vacuum yet to be filled by qualified data scientists!

David Rey Blanco, Chief Data Office at Idealista, had some advice for data scientists aspiring to make a dent in the local market:

“In Madrid, there is a lot of demand for talent. Strong profiles must have computing, math, business and communications skills. I advise aspiring data scientists to develop their own projects to be able to show comprehension of Machine Learning, Deep Learning and an understanding of quality data in context to demonstrate value to employers.”

Do you want to add the R and Python coding languages to your toolkit and learn how to effectively incorporate data across sectors? Download the brochure to the IE Data Science Bootcamp to see what this immersive learning experience can offer you!