Faculty Spotlight: Araceli Garcia

IE School of Science and Technology has mapped a clear strategy of breaking through silos that separate industry and academia. Araceli Garcia Cuartango embodies that spirit. The Founding Academic Director of the Master in Computer Science and Business Technology balances her role in crafting and directing the program with her position as CEO of telecom companies Axion and Lineox, both owned by the private equity Asterion Industrial Partners. Prior to assuming the helm at Axion and Lineox, Araceli held key positions in technology management, mostly in the Spanish telecom landscape but also in other sectors, having been exposed to IT-related strategic decisions.

Araceli’s key areas of expertise are technology management and IT transformation with strong experience in leading multinational organizations and multicultural teams.  In addition to her role at IE, she holds the position of Non-Executive Director at the Board of Banco Inversis. In addition, she is actively engaged in different activities to foster gender diversity in STEM careers and in technical managerial positions.

Meet the Founding Academic Director of the Master in Computer Science and Business Technology.

At IE School of Science and Technology, we talk a lot about being built to breakthrough. What has been your biggest professional or personal breakthrough and why?

I find it difficult to identify a breakthrough in my career. I believe it been built on consistency, effort and resilience, nothing else. It is the through trying to do my best everyday for more than 30 years of professional experience.  When my three kids were young, I had days when it was not easy to continue and not give it up, because  the balance between personal and professional life was hard. It has been very important to overcome the shadows, failures and mistakes in a positive way, always as an opportunity to learn and improve for future, as a long-term vs a short-term race.

What brought you to IE? Where were you before? And what keeps you here?

I became in contact with IE for the design and then launch of the Master In Computer Science and Business Tech because of my background and long experience in managing tech and IT in different corporations. This project has allowed me to develop and put into action my profound conviction on the necessity of a much closer engagement between business and university. And to ‘walk the talk’ I am still a part-time, adjunct faculty member with an executive role of a telco tech company.

A university’s most important mission is to prepare students for employment in a broad sense, without forgetting their key role to foster investigation and innovation. IE is an outstanding academic institution precisely because it has an holistic approach to education, embracing updated technical contents relevant for the labour market together with training in soft skills which are key not only for professional success but also for life. And all this in a truly diverse environment, with a deep entrepreneurial spirit   in which the collaboration with the businesses and corporations is at their core.  Isn’t that enough for keeping me here?

What trends are you most excited about in science and technology and why?

Very obviously, AI is the trend that I believe is going to profoundly transform our life, and specifically generative AI. I am very interested in quantum computing because it is something totally different to the computing nowadays and could be an exponential technology for AI progress.  Second, I am very curious about autonomous vehicle adoption, because although technology is mostly available I see other considerations preventing it from taking off, such as regulation, resilience to cybersec risks, ethical considerations on automated decisions…. All this being a good study case on the challenges that AI is already facing. Last but not least, I think that we are going to see a tremendous revolution in health with the marriage of bio science and  tech devices. There are so many possibilities ahead that it is difficult for me to imagine the world in 20 years!!

Have you ever had an a-ha moment while teaching that furthered your research? What was it?

Everytime I engage with young people I have an a-ha moment. Staying in contact with students gives me an excellent opportunity to find new talent and new ways of thinking.  Although it is challenging, it helps me to understand better the world and society of today, to be more open to change and more optimistic about the future.

What book do you wish your students would read before taking your class and why? 

I am recommending some books for reading, before or after my class:

• The Innovators by Walter Isaacson because it is an excellent and comprehensive history of technology, putting in prospective the importance of the collaboration and contacts/coincidence of  technicians and of the ecosystems vs the importance of  the individual inventors and characters.
• The Creativity Code by Marcus du Satoy because it explores the human creativity   and its limits in contrast with the AI capability for creativity in different fields such as writing, music, painting, …
• Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman is a reflection on the bias of our own decision process, that can be extrapolated to importance of bias risk  in computer science

Tell us one personal thing about yourself that none of your students know. A hobby, sport or talent? Strange fact? Unusual interest?

I am afraid that my answer here is going to be very conservative… Married. Three children and two of them in university still keep me very busy with the daily life logistics. I love reading and I am a big fan of the black novel and of 19^th century novels. Strange fact is that, despite my effort to learn typing properly, I never got it and I type with just one hand and one finger but I am still quite quick.