After three years in Schneider Electric Iberia's Industry division, Ugarte will become the company's new head for the Iberian Peninsula. In this role, he will face the challenges of further accelerating the sector's digital transformation and contributing to improved sustainable energy management in both Spain and Portugal. During these three years, he has championed the digitalization of Spanish medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) as a key differentiator for their competitiveness, launching pilot projects that have allowed for the measurement of the impact of digitalization and Industrial IoT on companies' bottom lines. His prior experience in the internationalization and growth of the Spanish company Mondragon Corporation supports him in another of his main challenges: contributing to the growth and expansion of the medium-sized companies that form the economic fabric of the region.
A graduate in Economics from the University of the Basque Country, Josu Ugarte chaired Mondragon International, the international division of Mondragon Corporation, from 2008 to 2015. Previously, he was managing director of several companies within the cooperative group in France, Poland, and Morocco. Ugarte is a member of the Executive Committee of the business program “CRE100DO,” where he demonstrates his strong commitment to digital transformation and internationalization as key drivers for the development of the Spanish production model.
“I’m very excited about this new phase, in which we will continue helping our clients become leaders in digital transformation within their respective sectors. Companies in the Iberian Peninsula have very different characteristics from those in the rest of Europe, as they are mostly small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Therefore, someone needs to help them become competitive in three key areas: keeping up with technological disruptions, talent management, and ecosystem management, especially in the IT sector,” says Josu Ugarte. “One of my priorities is to become the trusted partners of these companies, helping them with our knowledge and solutions to become more competitive through digitalization.”.
