Alfonso Díez, CEO of UGROUND: “We must industrialize technological change; it should not be based on craftsmanship or chance.”

The proper management of relationships between companies makes the presence of actors such as Atlas Tecnológico increasingly necessary—organizations that act as connectors between clients and suppliers to foster collaboration. This is the focus of the conversation between Alfonso Díez, CEO of UGROUND, and Pablo Oliete, founding partner of FOM Insights.

To read the full interview on atlastecnologico.com, click here.

Pablo Oliete. – You’ve mentioned before, and at Atlas Tecnológico we are convinced of it, that it is essential to address the inter-company territory, not just the intra-company one.

Alfonso Díez. – Exactly; it’s no longer about selling things for the internal use of the company, but about helping companies improve their relationships and become more visible in the market. This is an unexplored territory—companies want to be seen, they want to find good partners, good relationships, good clients. When the problem is tackled company by company, individually, it’s very difficult—and for SMEs, it’s simply impossible, because they lack the resources. But when you create—not exactly a social network, but a professional structure based on capabilities—you can start mobilizing many people so they can find each other.

Pablo Oliete. – In July 2020, I told you about what we aimed to do with Atlas Tecnológico. A year has passed, and now we can make a first assessment.

Alfonso Díez. – The motivation behind the technology atlas you proposed is valid: no one knows where things are. We need to map them, place them on a chart, identify who is doing what and where. But the atlas had to be more than just another directory of companies and products. It needed to be more than a simple list of organizations. I did see the need, but I wasn’t sure how you were going to make it work without creating something with a viable economic model. And to my surprise, you’ve built it in a way that makes sense. I really like the final product. If you can manage to connect what exists between companies—the initiatives, the needs, the people—in a meaningful way, not as a market or catalog, but as a mechanism for creating value and innovation, for building long-term, meaningful relationships where depth is possible, then the initiative has enormous value. You’re never inside any one company in particular; instead, you’re addressing a general problem of the economy.