TEDxIESEBarcelona

Speakers

Speakers may not be confirmed. Check the event website for the latest lineup.

• Cristina Garrido

  CEO, Anteverti - Deputy Curator, Smart City Expo World Congress - Fundadora & Directora CitiesToBe.com

  Cristina is the CEO of Anteverti, a consulting company that specializes in urban innovation and strategic foresight. She is also the Funder of CitiesToBe, a digital platform dedicated to critical reflection on the present and future of cities, and serves as Curatorial Advisor of Smart City Expo World Congress. Cristina works with cities, corporations, and other organizations to shape bold strategic visions and turn them into measurable impact. Grounded in a multidisciplinary approach, her practice helps leaders to navigate complexity, rethink urban and organizational models, and drive transformative and sustainable change. In 2025, Cristina was appointed to the Academic Body of the Norman Foster Institute on Sustainable Cities, where she contributes to shaping the next generation of leaders redefining the future of cities.

• Diana Jacobson

  MBA Candidate at IESE Business School

  Born and raised in Chicago, Diana grew up on stage: acting, singing, dancing, playing trombone, and newly, public speaking. She found herself in Barcelona because her passion for travel and learning surpassed her passion for building Excel spreadsheets and PowerPoint decks at her previous consulting job. Now Diana is aiming to make the most out of her MBA by leaning into every opportunity that comes with this experience.

• Josemaria Siota

  Executive Director of Entrepreneurship and Innovation Center at IESE Business School

  Josemaria Siota is the Executive Director of IESE Business School's Entrepreneurship and Innovation Center, a designated Expert in Corporate Venturing at the World Economic Forum, the European Commission, and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization, a Management Board Member in several consortiums, and a Harvard Business School alum. He leads cutting-edge research on open innovation, corporate venturing, technology transfer, and scaleups working around the world with successful Chief Innovation Officers and top-tier academics, to create a positive impact in society. He has published books and studies on these topics for Harvard Business Review, MIT Sloan Management Review, McGraw-Hill, Springer, and more. He spoke at conferences in Stanford GSB, Mobile World Congress, Web Summit, Africa CEO Forum, NextRise, to name a few. His work has received mentions in media such as Bloomberg, Forbes, and Sifted (Financial Times).

• Rodrigo Toledo

  Group Leader at Vall d'Hebron Institute of Oncology

  Dr. Rodrigo Toledo holds a PhD in Human Genetics and leads the Biomarker and Clonal Dynamics Group at the Vall d’Hebron Institute of Oncology (VHIO) in Barcelona. He has published more than 70 scientific papers and has spent the past 13 years advancing the field of Liquid Biopsy through non-invasive blood tests that uncover the genetic makeup of tumors and how they evolve to resist treatment. His work has mapped the evolutionary trajectories of multiple cancers, including colorectal, breast, pancreatic, and several rare tumor types. Dr. Toledo completed an Executive MBA at IESE in 2020, and his long-term mission is to bring reliable liquid biopsy technologies into everyday clinical care to improve cancer management and extend patients’ lives.

• Sean Finter

  Founder, Finter Group, Bar & Restaurant Coach

  Sean Finter has held nearly every role in the bar and restaurant business, starting as a dishwasher in a small town in Canada, owning and operating venues in Sydney, and eventually building one of the industry's largest global consultancies in the U.S. His education didn't come from business school. It came from grit, hustle, and apprenticing under some of the best operators in hospitality, the only industry he ever felt at home in. A father of four, Sean learned firsthand what it means to sacrifice too much for success. Today, as a bar and restaurant coach, his mission is to show others they don't have to choose between a thriving business and a thriving life; because hospitality, at its core, is about connection, community, and extraordinary experiences.

• Spencer Marshall

  MBA Candidate, IESE Business School

  Spencer Marshall is an automotive engineer, problem solver, and lifelong builder who looks at the world through an analytical lens. Holding a Bachelor’s in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Michigan, a Master’s in Mechatronics from Oakland University, and an MBA from IESE in Barcelona, he has spent his career in diverse roles working for automotive giants like General Motors and Rivian. Operating across English, Spanish, and Portuguese, his multilingual background allows him to naturally bridge cultural divides and foster truly international networks. But whether he is optimizing car doors, competing in beach volleyball, or dancing with friends, he is always looking for ways to build stronger, more resilient connections.

• Verne Harnish

  Founder, Scaling Up

  Verne Harnish is founder of the world-renowned Entrepreneurs’ Organization (EO), with over 18,000 members worldwide, and founded and chaired for fifteen years EO’s premiere CEO program held at MIT, a program in which he still teaches today. Founder and CEO of Scaling Up, a global executive education and coaching company with over 290 partners on six continents, Verne has spent the past four decades helping companies scaleup. He’s the author of Mastering the Rockefeller Habits; authored The Greatest Business Decisions of All Times,” for which Jim Collins wrote the foreword; wrote Scaling Up (Rockefeller Habits 2.0) which has been translated into 26 languages and has won eight major international book awards including the International Book Award for Best General Business book; and is the co-author of Scaling Up Compensation. His latest book is Start to Scale.