On 21 November, the launch of the Generative AI Association – GenAiA was announced, composed of an interdisciplinary community of globally-recognised researchers, practitioners and opinion leaders. The association is based in Madrid and aims to become one of the largest Generative AI associations in the world.
Generative AI is a technological disruption which will change every industry and companies, governaments and people must be prepared. For this reason, GenAiA will be a meeting point for companies and experts to share their experience and knowledge to use technology in the most innovative and efficient way, respecting the ethical and sustainability standards pursued by modern societies.
The project is led by Óscar Méndez and Carmen Vidal in their respective roles as President and Vice President of GenAiA. Méndez is an expert in AI with extensive experience in the US, Germany and the UK, and as an entrepreneur he has played a very relevant role in the digital transformation of Spain over the last 20 years as co-founder of companies such as IP Soluciones, co-founder and President of Paradigma Digital and President of Big Things conference, among others. He is currently CEO and founding partner of Stratio BD, a leading company in Generative Artificial Intelligence for enterprises and a European benchmark in the Data Fabric market.
For her part, Vidal is a co-founder of Paradigma Digital, a unique company which is both radically agile and people-centric in terms of the organisation and its IT developments, pioneering the use of Big Data technologies in Spain and having digitised more than 200 companies to date. A computer engineer, she undertook an Advanced Management Program at MIT and gained a research proficiency in Artificial Intelligence.
Carmen Vidal
Executive Vice President
Óscar Méndez
President
The association will set up working committees to shed light on the different vectors on which Generative AI will impact companies and society. Initially, it will focus on four areas: Innovation and applicability to industry, Ethics & ESG, Social (impact on workers) and Regulatory. Additionally, it has an editorial team that contributes, with the generation of contents, to the necessary pedagogy that a technological disruption such as Generative AI implies.
Oscar Méndez, President of GenAiA states that:
“We are convinced that Generative Artificial Intelligence is going to change the world and our society as we know it today. It is a disruption comparable to the advent of personal computers or the Internet, so our mission is to ensure that companies and individuals are the first to benefit from this disruption, but in an ethical and sustainable way without increasing social inequality and gaps”.
Carmen Vidal, Vice-President of the Association, adds:
“GenAiA is working to ensure that companies and decision-makers understand the potential impact of Generative AI on their industries and prepare to harness it effectively. This means investing in training and skills development for workers, as well as implementing systems and policies that foster a just transition to this new labor paradigm”.
The first GenAiA meeting took place on 16 November and was attended by Oscar Méndez from Stratio BD, Natalia Sánchez from Weber Sandwick, Carlos Cordero from Fujitsu, Alberto Rezola from Datua AI, Juan Lucas Retamar from Grupo Solutia, Raúl Sánchez Alonso from MNEMO, Carlos Marina from Sigma AI, Carlos Martinez Delfgaauw from Serquo, Benjamín Murcia from Deimos Space, Pedro Antón from Hiberus, Jorge Muñiz from Wizeline, Federico Caro from VASS, Nagore Beltrán & Aritz Galdós from LKSNext, and the experts Jose Luis Florez, Elena Gonzalez-Blanco, Carmen Vidal, Manuel Vigil, Axel Brando, Javier Porras, Pablo Hidalgo, Juan Iglesias, Jose Manuel Ruiz, Carlos García Fernández, Beatriz Blanco, Fabián Romero, Eva Fonseca, Marta Ceciliano, Silvia Tamayo y Carlos Rodríguez Abellán.
