marcelo soria-rodríguez
an eclectic mix of:
marcelo@marcelosoriarodriguez.org
twitter @msoriaro
instagram @msoriaro
linkedin @marcelosoriarodriguez
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business / products / strategy
I have a broad range of interests and activities. I have built software, managed teams, designed interfaces, written marketing copy, founded companies, advised others, devised strategies and imagined products that I led to their launch to market.
I co-founded the data project that led to the creation of BBVA Data & Analytics in 2014, where I was VP in its early years, and later to the creation of the BBVA AI Factory in 2019. These groups are at the core of the digital transformation of one of the world’s most successful stories of digital banking. I was in charge of data strategy at BBVA Data & Analytics and built the foundation of the Data Strategy Discipline at BBVA. During my 11 years at BBVA I worked always at the fringes of disciplines, constantly exploring what’s beyond the established boundaries, being always part of or leading the teams that sought to redefine the role of banking in society.
I co-founded øraf, a strategy studio that explores the relationships between humans and machines.
I co-founded Trecone Solutions in 2017, a crowdsourced mobile audiences company that produces market intelligence reports and tools for companies interested in the mobile ecosystem. I am a partner at Instituto Tramontana, a design and consultancy agency turned into an institution to educate designers and managers around digital products and strategies. With Tramontana, I prepared a digital strategy for the Spanish National Library in 2017. I also co-founded companies in the travel sector and in the recruiting sector, always with a keen focus on leveraging what data and digital mean from a transformational standpoint, but always keeping an eye on what real people need in real scenarios. I am an investor in startups and have acted as a mentor to both startups and aspiring entrepreneurs.
My technical background is in Telecommunications Engineering and Signal Processing, disciplines which I acquired in Spain, USA and Finland. My artistic background is mostly self-taught.
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artistic expression
generative / digital art
Machines as tools, as collaborators, sometimes as creators. What does being human mean? What is creativity? Can machines foster emotions? Can they understand them? A new era requires new art, or rather, new art ushers a new era.
Watching artificial neural networks learn the structure of the previous images, generated with Processing, is rather interesting. A machine learning from a machine who was told what to do.
Much to explore still.
painting
To understand what machines are and how their introduction in our lives changes everything, it is paramount to keep a connection to our very own roots. We are physical beings and need physical processes to fully develop ourselves. Our brains evolved in a non-digital world for quite some time, and they need this medium as a base to explore other new realities. Also, painting is just nice and makes you feel good.
music
The most abstract of the arts, instrumental music has no direct translation to meaning, but has the most profound effect on our emotions. Beyond being moved by what great humans have composed so far, I enjoy creating my own pieces.
photography
Geometries and their abscence, color, light and shadow: elements to provoke a reaction, to trigger a thought or an emotion. Or perhaps just things I like.
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literacy
Literacy is the foundation of any prosperous society. Making knowledge available to everyone should be a priority for all nations, institutions and companies. Every product and service is an opportunity to learn. This is a spirit I bring to every initiative I undertake.
I co-founded Databeers, a global movement born in 2014 aimed at increasing data literacy in society, present in more than 30 cities and 10 countries and growing. Databeers brings together people from different backgrounds to share their views and experiences around data in a practical, informal manner through short, fast-paced talks and beer as a social lubricant.
I believe in promoting critical thinking, pausing to reflect on what we hear, read & see. To this end, art has an enormous potential. I explore the uses of art in strategy and literacy with this mindset. I maintain iillucid.com, a site where I write about my views, my work, what moves me, in the hope that it helps others pause and think. Hopefully someone will find inspiration on what makes me tick!
I participate in conferences to disseminate knowledge about how data & digital impact the way we do business, the way we relate to products, the way we live.
Selected references & articles:
Speaker at The Future of Education Conference 2020
Interview with the organizers of Databeers. Datos.gob.es (Spanish Government portal about open data and public data reuse), 2019
"Man Shall Not Live By Data Science Alone", talk at BigData Spain, Madrid, 2018
On artificial neurological illnesses. Medium / Towards Data Science, 2018
Cerveza y datos: los españoles que arrasan en el mundo con sus 'shows' sobre 'big data'. El Confidencial, 2018
Una breve reflexión sobre los caminos de la transformación digital (A brief reflection on the ways of digital transformation). A post on the blog of Piperlab to support fundraising for scientific projects in a dedicated p2p funding platform, 2017.
O’Reilly Strata Conference (2 talks, one is available online), Barcelona, 2014
"Capturing Value From Big Financial Data", talk at BigData Spain, Madrid, 2013
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