Andersen and the Polytechnic University of Valencia (UPV) celebrated the closing of the first edition of the Andersen-UPV Chair in Sustainability and Regulated Markets. The event, held in the Auditorium of the Faculty of Business Administration and Management (ADE), was opened by Elena de la Poza, Vice-Rector for Employment, Continuing Education, and Languages; José Vicente Morote, Managing Partner of Andersen Iberia; and María del Mar Marín, Dean of the Faculty of ADE. The conference, which included a round table and a master class focusing on the impact of artificial intelligence on companies, ended with the presentation of awards for the best Bachelor’s Degree Final Projects (TFG) and Master’s Degree Final Projects (TFM).
The Andersen-UPV Chair, launched in 2024, was created with the aim of promoting a culture of comprehensive sustainability in companies. To achieve this, in its first edition, it has addressed this issue from various perspectives, such as taxation, finance, compliance, labor law, and corporate sustainability, through the organization of forums with companies, faculty, and students from the UPV.
In his speech, José Vicente Morote highlighted that “the Chair was launched with the aim of being a meeting place between the university and the business world” and explained that “to achieve this goal, its activity has been structured around three pillars: training, applied research, and innovation, which have made it possible to promote projects, foster talent, and create strategic synergies.” He also pointed out the importance of “maintaining this collaboration in the future, because when we combine talent, we transform our environment and generate new growth opportunities for everyone.” Regarding his assessment of the activity carried out during this year, he highlighted that “the Chair has fulfilled its purpose of promoting a real transfer of knowledge between the university and business, contributing to bringing academic research closer to the needs of the business community and promoting initiatives that have a positive impact on society.”
This same commitment to excellence and transfer to the business world was expressed by Elena de la Poza, Vice-Rector for Employment, Continuing Education, and Languages. In her opening speech, the Vice-Rector highlighted “the importance of business chairs at the Polytechnic University of Valencia. We have a total of 110 chairs, representing an investment of approximately €7 million, which is reinvested in activities, awards, and training that help connect students and companies. The Andersen Chair reinforces this ecosystem by promoting the different dimensions of sustainability in business activity.”
For her part, Maria del Mar Marín, Dean of the Faculty of Business Administration and Management at the UPV, thanked Andersen for its involvement in the design of all the activities carried out by the chair, which she considered “of the highest academic quality.” She explained that “for the Faculty of Business Administration and Management, the presence of business chairs such as the one promoted by Andersen generates synergies between the university and the business world, which benefit our students.”
For her part, Virginia Vega, Director of the Andersen-UPV Chair, stated that “we wanted to offer useful training, open up spaces for dialogue, and show how sustainability, regulation, and innovation can work together. Our goal is simple: to help students and companies understand each other better and grow together. And, therefore, we will continue working to ensure that this collaboration continues to generate ideas, projects, and new opportunities for everyone.”
The master class, entitled “Artificial intelligence, the European environment, and implementation strategies in companies,” was given by Andrés Pedreño, former rector of the University of Alicante and co-founder of Torre Juana IA Hub, who stressed the importance of Europe approaching artificial intelligence with a much more open and ambitious mindset. In his speech, he argued that innovation requires taking certain risks and that an overly rigid regulatory environment can hinder innovation. He also positioned companies as key players in this new era, encouraging them to strategically integrate AI and take advantage of the opportunities it offers to improve processes, open new markets, and strengthen their position in an increasingly demanding global landscape.
The event continued with a round table discussion on the “Impact of AI on the business fabric,” with the participation of Andrés Pedreño himself, Miguel Sebastián, former Minister of Industry, Indra Advisor, and Professor at the Complutense University of Madrid; Vicent Botti, Director of the Valencian University Institute for Research in Artificial Intelligence (VRAIN) and Professor at the UPV; Francisco Gavilán, President of NUNSYS Group; Carlos Rodríguez Sau, Partner at Andersen LegalTech; and Benjamín Prieto, Partner and Co-Director of Andersen’s Valencia office. For Carlos Rodríguez Sau, in the current scenario, “the main challenge for companies is to be aware that we are facing a process of acquiring a clearly disruptive technology, which we must prioritize and give very high importance to as soon as possible.”
At the end of the day, José Vicente Morote, Managing Partner at Andersen, presented Mar Monzó Ramón with the award for Best Final Degree Project and Mishel Asparuhova Danova with the award for Best Final Master’s Project.
