Silvia Leal
Most boards have signed off on AI strategies they cannot fully explain to their own people. The gap is not technical, it is translational: senior teams need a clear read on what the technology can already do, what is still hype, and which decisions cannot wait. Without that clarity, AI investment becomes a portfolio of pilots rather than a source of advantage.
Silvia Leal is a PhD sociologist and OECD technology adviser who helps senior teams translate artificial intelligence, the metaverse and digital transformation into clear operating decisions.
Full Profile
Why organisations work with Silvia Leal
- She advises the OECD’s Global Forum on Technology on immersive reality, which gives boards direct line of sight to how international policy thinking on emerging tech is being shaped.
- The IV Premio Nacional de Management 2024 places her among Spain’s most recognised authorities on technology-led management, not on technology in the abstract.
- She has run innovation and technology programmes at IE Business School and held commercial roles at SAP and Banco Santander, so she speaks to senior teams as someone who has had to operationalise the technology, not only describe it.
- Her broadcast work on RTVE’s “La Cuarta Revolucion” trained her to make AI, automation and the future of work intelligible to non-specialist audiences, which translates directly into mixed-seniority rooms.
- She works fluently in Spanish and English, with published books and a regular podcast that give clients a body of public material to brief from.
Biography highlights
- PhD in Sociology; expert member of the OECD Global Forum on Technology.
- IV Premio Nacional de Management 2024, presented at DLA Piper Spain.
- Former Director of Innovation and Technology Programs, IE Business School.
- Prior commercial experience at SAP and in Banco Santander’s technology division.
- Creator and presenter of “La Cuarta Revolucion” on RTVE La 2, produced with Onza.
- Author of “Ingenio y pasion” (IE Business Publishing), “Y de repente llego el Metaverso” and “Tendencias: Claves para entender el futuro y construir el presente”.
- Inspire Award 2021 from the Spanish Artificial Intelligence Association for AI popularisation.
Biography
Most senior teams now have an AI strategy on paper. Far fewer have a shared language for what the technology can already do well, what it cannot, and which calls have to be made this year. That translation problem sits at the centre of Silvia Leal’s work.
She holds a PhD in Sociology and sits on the OECD’s Global Forum on Technology, where she contributes to the working group on immersive reality. Before that she ran the Innovation and Technology Programs at IE Business School, after commercial roles at SAP and in Banco Santander’s technology division. The combination gives her a clear view of both the policy thinking and the operational reality.
In Spain her authority is recognised formally. In 2024 she received the IV Premio Nacional de Management at a ceremony hosted by DLA Piper, and in 2021 she was given the Inspire Award by the Spanish Artificial Intelligence Association for her work on AI popularisation. Her public-facing record includes “La Cuarta Revolucion”, the seven-part RTVE series she created and presented on La 2, and the podcast “Tendencias con Silvia Leal”.
Her books, including “Ingenio y pasion” in the IE Business Publishing collection and “Y de repente llego el Metaverso”, read as practical management texts rather than tech commentary. For boards and executive teams trying to make AI, the metaverse and digital transformation legible to their own organisation, that practical register is the point.
Key speaking topics
- Artificial intelligence in the enterprise
- Digital transformation and innovation leadership
- The metaverse and immersive technology
- Future of work and workforce transformation
- Emerging technology policy and governance
- Cybersecurity as a leadership issue
Ideal for
- Boards and executive committees setting AI and digital priorities.
- Chief Technology, Innovation and Transformation Officers translating strategy into operating decisions.
- CHROs and HR leaders preparing the workforce for AI-shaped roles.
- Industry associations and policy-facing events that need a credible bridge between European institutions and operating businesses.
Audience outcomes
- A clearer read on which AI and immersive-tech capabilities are real today and which remain promise.
- Sharper questions for vendors, partners and internal teams when commissioning AI work.
- A practical framing of the metaverse and immersive reality as a business question, not a consumer trend.
- A more honest view of how AI is reshaping roles, skills and recruiting inside their own organisation.
Talks
A working framing of the metaverse and immersive technology for organisations weighing whether to invest, partner or wait.
Key takeaways:
- Where immersive reality is already generating commercial value, with named sectors and use cases.
- The capabilities, skills and partnerships organisations need to build before deploying.
- How to brief boards on the metaverse without overstating maturity or dismissing the category.
A direct look at how AI and automation are redrawing roles, and what leaders should be asking about skills, hiring and workforce design.
Key takeaways:
- A view of which roles are being augmented, which are being redesigned, and which are at genuine risk.
- The skills and behaviours that hold value as AI capability advances.
- Implications for talent strategy, learning and internal mobility.
A senior-audience perspective on cybersecurity as a leadership and governance issue, not an IT line item.
Key takeaways:
- How board-level expectations on cyber risk are shifting under new regulation.
- The most common gaps between cyber policy and day-to-day organisational behaviour.
- A practical agenda for non-technical leaders to challenge their own cyber posture.