Isabel Aguilera

Isabel Aguilera is an Expert in Change Management & Leadership.

Very few Spanish women have the privilege of being rated among the top 50 most influential executives in the world by Fortune magazine. Isabel Aguilera is one of them. Furthermore, she is considered to be one of the top 25 senior managers in Europe by The Financial Times, and was one of the 100 most influential people in Spain in 2006 according to Spanish newspaper El Mundo. She therefore ranks among the women with the most professional recognition worldwide. She is also President of the University of Seville’s Social Council.

One of the most important financial newspapers in the world, The Wall Street Journal, included her among the 30 most influential business women in Europe in 2001 for her role in leading Dell computer company to the top of the market, becoming the firm with the largest volume of trade in its sector owing to the incredible results achieved in Spain.

„Technological disruption means the end of every excuse to avoid doing it better“

From 2002 until 2005, in her role as Chief Operating Officer for NH Hotels, Isabel Aguilera looked after every last detail in the 237 hotels and 34,000 rooms owned by the company in 18 countries.

She completed the integration of all the operational models into one unified NH operational model in record time after the acquisition of Mexican, Dutch and German hotel companies. She designed and implemented a savings plan, achieving savings of 38 million euro by the end of 2004 as a result of the synergies attained through the integration. This amount greatly surpassed the original target.

Prior to joining NH Hotels, Isabel Aguilera served as Dell’s Chief Executive Officer and Business Unit Director for Spain, Italy and Portugal. Under her sound leadership, Dell improved its market position in Europe and moved from 9th to 1st in the Spanish market. Additionally, Isabel Aguilera worked in senior roles within sales and marketing at Olivetti PC, Airtel Movil (Vodafone), and Hewlett-Packard.

Later in 2006, she combined her post as CEO of Google Iberia with her work as an independent consultant. In addition, Aguilera was General Electric’s President for Spain and Portugal until 2009.

Today her 20 years of experience in marketing and operations serve her well in her role as President of Twindocs, member of the Board of Directors of Indra, the leading Spanish IT company, and member of the compensation management committee of the international university corporation Laureate Education Inc (NASDAQ). This tireless, individualist businesswoman is a graduate in architecture and also holds an MBA from the IE Business School and a PDG (General Management Programme) from IESE Business School.

Isabel Aguilera is one of the top executives in Europe according to the Financial Times and Fortune Magazine

Power, finally, to the customer

We all form part of the digital society, we are always somehow all connected, we have become the first digital generation. A generation of well-informed customers, influential and active, who have transformed the economy into what I call a Smart Economy, or in other words, an economy that is finally focusing on customers. Just as we used to say it was, although it was rarely true.