The future of companies is built from within

In a business world marked by technological disruptions, global tensions and new social demands, talent is positioned as the true engine of transformation. Innovation is no longer measured solely in technical advances, but in the capacity of organizations to rethink their cultures, leadership models and structures inherited from the last century. From the radical reinvention of centuries-old companies like Moeve to Cabify's multidisciplinary squads or the AI hackathons at AstraZeneca, this new paradigm places teams of people at the center of the strategic dashboard. Because today, to innovate is to build the future... and to do it with a soul.

1. The evolving role of innovation and HR

The debate highlights that innovation is not a new concept, but that it has always been a response to a tension for which there is no solution at that time. Historically, innovation in human resources has evolved from efficiency (Taylorism at the beginning of the 20th century) to employee motivation (1950-1980s), the need for strategic HR partners. HH. (1990s with HRBP) and, finally, the employer brand, talent attraction and employee experience in the 2000s.

Key Idea: Today's innovation challenges stem from a complex global environment, rapid technological advances and diverse employee expectations. Organizations often face a mismatch between 20th century structures and 21st century problems.

Quote: “All innovations have always come hand in hand with a need that is not covered by traditional channels at the time.”

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2. Moeve's transformation and values

Mueve, formerly Stepsa, has undergone a profound transformation of the company and of our business model with the sale of its oil assets, which constituted its core business for 90 years. It is now 100% focused on the energy transition, including renewable energy, electric charging points and second-generation biofuels.

Key Idea: This strategic change required a complete renewal of the brand and a realignment of corporate values to match their green energy future.

Quote: “We have sold the oil assets that have fueled us for the past 90 years. And we are 100% focused on the energy transition, on the commitment to renewable energies, electric charging points, second-generation biofuels... And with this rebrand, we changed our values.”

New corporate values:

People are important (employee-focused and customer-focused)
We are passionate about our customers.
We take care of the planet
Together we create more value
We dare to undertake, something especially challenging for a 90-year-old corporation.

Moeve's pillars for the energy transition:

Sustainable energy
Sustainable mobility (electric charging points)
Transformation of refineries into “energy parks” for second-generation biofuels.

3. Current innovation challenges in HR areas /People

The current environment presents multiple interconnected tensions for HR and people management:

Complexity: globalization, technological escalation and diverse employee expectations (both personal and professional).
Cultural change: Moving from a traditional, often bureaucratic mentality (“it's always been done that way”, “it's not my job”) to one that embraces change and entrepreneurship. This is especially difficult in countries such as Spain, where historically public service was the ideal career path, unlike entrepreneurial cultures such as the American one.
Obsolete structures: Hierarchical organization charts designed for stable and rigid environments hinder agility and rapid decision-making.
Data silos: The lack of a “single source of truth” for data prevents data-based decision-making, predictive models and personalization.
Global talent pool: The competition for talent is now global, not local.
Radical diversity: Beyond demographic diversity, it means genuinely incorporating different perspectives and ensuring the psychological safety of all voices.

Quote: “We have 20th century structures for 21st century problems. And that's the challenge we have in innovation in the area of people: building cultures to fight against 'it's always been done that way', 'that can't be done', 'this is too risky', 'it's not my job', and to break with all those invisible threads that we have within organizations, which often prevent us from promoting change, moving forward and looking to the future”.

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4. Four Pillars for Managing People in the 21st Century

The speaker proposes four key axes for modern people management:

Redefining the leadership model: Leaders must embody and lead change. “If our leadership model and system are not aligned with the change our company is undergoing, we will do absolutely nothing.”
Flexible Model (Competency-Based): Moving towards a competency-based organization allows greater flexibility in redefining roles and structures.
The goal is to go beyond rigid job descriptions and move to project-based assignments based on the skills required.
This ideal model often clashes with existing Spanish legislation and with traditional union demands.
Continuous learning and development: knowledge quickly becomes obsolete (for example, in 3 years in the case of technology).
Traditional, lengthy and expensive educational models are insufficient.
The need for integrated learning ecosystems and effective change management.
Data-based decisions (data governance): The “data based” mantra requires a “single source of truth” for data.
Without adequate data governance, it's impossible to compete in other leagues, such as personalization or predictive models. This requires the commitment of leadership.
Culture: Genuine diversity: Beyond cosmetic diversity, it implies true inclusion, respect and the ability to unite diverse profiles and opinions.
Psychological safety: essential for innovation; people must feel safe to express different opinions without fear.
New ways of working: adopting hybrid work and new technologies, addressing generational differences and creating a unified code of conduct.

5. The profile and demands of innovative talent

Innovative talent is characterized by not fitting into traditional molds; “it comes to create something non-existent”. It's crucial to inventing the future.

What innovative talent is looking for:

Autonomy with Impact: Purpose-oriented work where they can create and develop with autonomy, instead of being told what to do.
Speed and Action: The opposite of bureaucracy; quick decision-making and agile action.
Courageous leadership: leaders who listen to and accept diverse opinions.
Real (non-cosmetic) diversity: Feeling truly represented and having the freedom to express yourself authentically.
Real learning (not promises of development): opportunities for continuous growth and attractive market.

AI as a facilitator: AI is considered a tool to facilitate work, similar to the constant evolution of technology. However, AI alone will not drive change; “change starts by driving culture, leaders and people.”

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6. Case studies and challenges in implementing innovation

The panel discussion provided concrete examples of how companies are addressing these challenges:

Ingeneris (Ana): A small company (70 people) that grows rapidly in multiple international sites.
Challenge: Maintain a unique culture and encourage innovation during rapid growth and geographic expansion.
Approach: It considers culture as a “living system” and emphasizes “a lot of mobility” between sites, collaboration between projects and the use of “cultural leaders” to visit different places and reinforce values.
Specific example (Social Initiative): The “Más Generis” project (creating orange Christmas decorations to raise funds and raise awareness about a natural disaster) demonstrated how multifunctional teams, driven by a common social purpose, were able to quickly design, produce and market a product, demonstrating agility and cultural values in action. This highlighted the importance of a shared purpose and flexible, skills-based team structures.
Sacyr (Susana): A large traditional multinational (16,000 people, more than 20 countries) in a sector not immediately associated with innovation.
Challenge: Make innovation a “shared responsibility” of the entire company, not just an isolated department.
Focus: Focus on allowing all employees to question current practices and develop innovation skills.

Three pillars of a culture of innovation: Training and Awareness: Comprehensive programs to sensitize employees to innovation.
Recognition: Publicly recognize “natural innovators” and their contributions to fostering a sense of belonging and encouraging others. The “Natural Innovators” initiative has been under way for 10 years and has been recognized by the president and the executive committee.
Communication: Transparent internal and external communication about all innovation efforts to reinforce company commitment and make innovation visible to all.

Key concept: Innovation is not magic, but a “discipline that is learned, shared, improved and perfected”.
Shared language: A common formula was created for engineers: “Innovation = New Ideas * Applied to the Business * Providing Value”. If any factor is zero, the result is zero, which guarantees its practical application.
Mahou San Miguel (Rocío): A family business with more than 130 years of history, 4,600 employees and a very low turnover (2%).
Challenge: To translate Mahou's vision into strategies for attracting and retaining talent, especially given its strong and extensive culture and the need to promote innovation in support areas (not just products).
Approach: Culture as a “catalyst” for decisions, focusing on the employee's value proposition and the employer's brand linked to fundamental values and purposes (“enriching moments of connection”).
Cultural Redefinition: Recent redefinition of culture around four axes: customer focus, international openness/diversity, ambition and challenge. This aligns with a new leadership model.
“We Accelerate” Program: Addresses the need to train employees in new technologies (blockchain, AI, VR, etc.). A pilot test will be carried out with the first users, who will then recommend others. Among the challenges is the rapid obsolescence of content due to technological speed.
“Excellent Ideas” Initiative: Developed to promote bottom-up and downstream innovation, creating a channel for all employees to present ideas for improvement, from small daily changes (aligned with Toyota's Lean principles) to large scale cross-cutting projects. Public recognition of the executive committee.
Problem: While many great ideas are generated, the company sometimes struggles to implement them due to capacity, resource, or budget limitations of other departments. “We have great ideas... but they're practically paralyzed because the company isn't able to digest or implement them.”
AstraZeneca (Catherine): a highly regulated global pharmaceutical company.
Challenge: To implement innovative tools such as internal generative AI (Chat GPT) and promote their adoption in diverse generational profiles, especially given the regulatory restrictions that prevent the use of external tools.
Problem: Initial skepticism and low adoption despite leadership encouragement.

Solution: Immersion strategy: A comprehensive strategy involving working groups was designed to identify resistances and defenders.
Varied forums: Educational forums were held, some imitating medical sessions from the “Journal Club”, but focusing on articles on AI, to demonstrate practical utility and promote understanding.
Hackathon: A key “checkmate” strategy was an internal hackathon of Chat GPT use cases. This allowed employees to set up directions, explain business benefits and show practical applications. This strategy was so successful that it was exported worldwide.

Key Conclusion: Training, fostering a culture of “open opinion” to request tools, and recognition of contributions are vital. Emphasis is placed on attracting external talent to innovation teams (for example, an oncologist who leads innovation to provide a patient-centered perspective).
Cabify (Lucía - Moderator Experience): A high-growth “scale-up”.
Challenge: Attract talent with limited resources, manage rapid growth without losing essential culture and mission, and avoid “analysis paralysis” as the company becomes professional.
Specific problem: A major flaw in communication and collaboration between technology and business departments.
Solution: A “squad” model and OKRs (Objectives and Key Results) were implemented. This involved multidisciplinary teams with members from all departments, changing the focus from departmental identity (“I'm from the technology area, I'm from the business area”) to a shared project identity (“I'm from the driver's area”).
Key learning: While successful, it was a process of “very hard work” and “a lot of suffering”, demonstrating that cultural changes, such as the implementation of squads or OKR, only work if the company culture is prepared to accept them.

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7. General issues and perspectives

Culture as a living organism: Culture is dynamic and needs to be constantly reviewed and adapted, especially in rapidly changing environments.
The primacy of people: Regardless of technological advances (AI, etc.), companies continue to focus fundamentally on people. Technology acts as a facilitator, but cultural and leadership changes are paramount.
Leadership commitment: The acceptance and active sponsorship of key leaders (executive director, executive committee) are crucial to driving significant cultural and innovation transformations.
Communication and transparency: Open and honest communication, and the creation of psychological safety where employees feel comfortable sharing ideas, are fundamental to fostering innovation.
Balancing agility and professionalization: As companies grow, the challenge lies in professionalizing processes without losing the initial agility and innovative spirit that defined their initial stages.
The role of HR/people departments: These departments are increasingly strategic and act as “glue” (Sacir) to integrate innovation throughout the organization, redefine leadership models and build flexible structures based on skills.
Closing the gap between ideas and implementation: A common challenge, especially in large companies, is to effectively translate the innovative ideas generated into tangible business realities due to resource, capacity or budget limitations.
Intrapreneurship: Programs to promote internal entrepreneurship are considered vital for harnessing hidden talent and generating new business models, but they require strong high-level sponsorship and a clear path for ideas to become independent entities inside or outside the company.

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In a context where disruption has become the norm and change no longer warns, the organizations that succeed are not necessarily those that innovate the most, but those that manage to align culture, leadership and purpose with coherence. Competitiveness no longer depends only on having the best technology or the most agile product, but on creating environments where talent can flourish without asking for permission. The real challenge is not to adapt, but to dare to lead the change from within.

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