With 25 years of experience in the banking and insurance sector, Maite Blasco currently holds the position of CEO of GFT, a leading company in digital transformation with headquarters in Zaragoza and presence in many countries around the world.
In addition to her experience in business development, customer loyalty and consultative selling, she stands out for her strategic vision and her ability to communicate at different levels within an organization. Passionate about communication and training, she actively participates in events to bring technology and the business world closer to future talent.
In this interview, he shares his views on the evolution of the industry, the challenges posed by digitalization and the importance of innovation in a constantly changing environment.
For those who may not be so familiar with GFT, could you tell us a little bit about what GFT does and what your role is within the company
GFT is a technology consulting firm dedicated mainly to the banking sector, insurance, and all industries. We have been established here in Spain for 25 years now. And in Zaragoza also 25 years.
We define ourselves as a company with technological DNA that is at the side of its customers to innovate and to be able to help them in their digital transformation. And I, who have been there since the beginning, am currently the executive director of the Zaragoza office, and I am also the executive director of the delivery of the banking unit in Spain.
You were recently appointed creative director. What are your expectations for this new stage and what changes or approaches do you hope to bring to the company
The truth is that, in most companies, when you get to a position it is because you have already been doing it a little bit. I take this as a recognition of all the work I have already been doing. Before giving me the position of executive director within the company, and recognizing it in the event that took place in Vienna this year at a global level, I was already carrying the role of executive director within the banking unit.
What I hope now is to continue contributing the same as I have been doing so far: to be the leader that is needed within the company to be able to make that contact between what is our strategy as a strategic committee and what is the day-to-day of the offices and of our clients. So, rather than thinking about what else I can do, my goal is to continue doing everything I have been doing to get this far. 
You have recently signed on behalf of GFT a collaboration agreement with Steam Aragón. What is the main objective of this collaboration and do you think it will help strengthen the technology ecosystem in Aragón
The STEAM Aragón office, in which we are very involved together with CEOE and Directivas de Aragón, to which I also belong, seeks a very clear objective. Aragon is currently on the crest of the wave that we are all going to ride in order to become a technological hub of reference.
The aim of the + Steam Aragon office has three main objectives. It wants to encourage vocations. If we do not encourage Steam vocations we will not get the necessary interest so that tomorrow we will have both men and women. What we find most difficult is to get women to fall in love so that they want to come and work in this sector.
Training is another matter. It is necessary to ensure training, because in a few years, not only technological careers will need technology. All jobs will need technology. It is very important to raise awareness of this from the beginning. In the same way that some subjects are being taught from an early age, we have to start introducing technology subjects in order to remove the fear of technology. In this way we will awaken more vocations, and we will also get them to be prepared for the minimum necessary.
And the third thing is to be able to make enough among everybody so that we are allied, with the objective of getting more people prepared for the challenges ahead. These are the three pillars.alliances
As far as Aragon is concerned, I am totally convinced that it will add a lot and will strengthen us to consolidate our position as a technological Hub of reference. Why? Because by joining the maximum of public-private collaborations with common objectives, we are much stronger and we will be able to generate more vocations. We will manage to have a more qualified talent, with quality training from an early age, and together we will overcome the existing territorial, socioeconomic and gender gaps, and thus be able to have the maximum number of professionals with STEAM knowledge so necessary to meet all the economic and technological challenges that will come in the coming years to Aragon.
The role of women in the technology sector has evolved significantly in recent years but there are still barriers to overcome. What progress would you highlight and what do you think still needs to be done to achieve true equality of opportunity?
I am one of those who believe that opportunities exist equally. In our company, here in the Zaragoza office, we are a bit atypical because we are more female directors than male directors, but in general the opportunities exist. The issue is to make them attractive to women, just as they are to men. It is true that in the past, I started 30 years ago in a sector like banking, which was very masculinized, and it seemed that the type of leadership you had to bring was of that type.
I think, going back to what I was saying before, that women, just like men, have certain characteristics and sometimes it’s not about being a woman or a man, it’s about the characteristics as a person. It has to be attractive to you. Technology has to appeal to you, and our skills to be able to do technology are the same as men.
What happens is that women go more to a plane of applying science and technology, maybe more to health, and this is what we have to end up breaking. But the opportunities exist. We have to show in these vocations that there are female referents who have reached where they have reached, and that working in the technology sector is not being locked up in an office at home with a computer and without relationships.
These are the myths that we have to break down a little. Within the company, it is true that we have had programs called Woman Tech, to help women to get out of that zone of mistrust, to be able to go to events, to be able to represent the company, to be able to believe even more that they are equally prepared, and sometimes it is necessary to give them a little push. But I believe that opportunities are there and we have to embrace them for women.
GFT has a presence in many countries, each with its own particularities and challenges. What do you think are the keys to maintaining the company’s global coherence without losing the ability to adapt to each local market, and what have been the biggest challenges and how have they been overcome
We, being in several countries, I always repeat that word of diversity. We are aware that being in all countries means that cultures are not the same. We work from Spain with colleagues who are in Brazil, Colombia, India, Poland, etc. This means that we have to have a mind and core values deeply rooted in all employees, because our core values, our objectives, are global. We have to develop global strategies to make this work.
On the other hand, it is true that being dedicated to the same sectors enriches all countries. I really believe that growth in all countries is based on respect and on having a global culture. We now have a global innovation line. We have people who innovate in Spain, in France, in Poland, in Brazil or in Colombia, and people who unify it to be able to spread it to everyone. We do not work in silos, we work in a unified way.
We now have an AI Impact strategy that encompasses everything that is artificial intelligence applied to all employees. The goal is for it to be in our DNA so that we can go to our customers, look them in the eye and say: ‘We already have it in our day-to-day work, do you want to include it in your day-to-day work? This strategy is always global. I believe that this philosophy of global strategies in all countries helps a lot so that, despite the peculiarities of each country, our objectives are aligned.
Sustainability has become one of the key pillars for the future of many companies, especially in the context of the 2030 Agenda. GFT, as a leader in digital transformation, has embraced this commitment through initiatives such as Green Coding. Do you see a growing interest from companies in developing more efficient and environmentally friendly software aligned with these goals? What are the biggest challenges you face in implementing these projects
The truth is that yes, we perceive that companies, either because of regulations or because they have it in their DNA, are more concerned about all sustainability issues. We are not an expert company in sustainability consulting, and for that we sometimes make alliances. The biggest challenge, as in almost all the things they want to apply, and where we can help, is in the issue of data management. In the end, what you have to demonstrate is that you are doing things right and aligned with what you are asked for. For that, it is necessary that the data that you store and that you have, are well stored and easy to process. That is where we are doing the most to help companies that need that push.
From our point of view as a company, the Green Coding initiative you mentioned is a one-off initiative, because in the end it has been proven that we can all collaborate in sustainability. And green coding, which is a program that we call here, what it does is that when you code and follow good practices from start to finish, the energy consumption of your program will be lower. Therefore, the sum of lower energy consumption in all programs means that you are collaborating. We are also with the RSA Plus seal of Aragon, and yes, yes, we are aware that companies are now concerned about this and are taking actions to solve it.
With the rapid advancement of artificial intelligence, how does GFT ensure that its solutions are innovative, yet secure and respect data protection standards? And how do you envision the future in 5 to 10 years’ time when it comes to artificial intelligence?
The department that manages AI manages both data and cybersecurity. For us, it is a tripartite. You can’t conceive of one without the other, and that’s how we manage each of the projects, use cases, or pilots that we do. It is not an option. It has to be that way. In fact, as I was telling you, when we did three talks related to AI, the first one was «AI beyond GPT chat,» the second one was «Data is needed to advance AI,» and the third one was «Cybersecurity.» Those three pillars have to go together, and we all have to be clear about that. We can’t start one without the other, and that’s in our DNA.
How do we see it in 5 years? With the speed at which this is advancing, it is very difficult to say. I do see that in five years we will have AI as a partner in all jobs, and that will allow us to be more productive, and to dedicate ourselves to being more ingenious. It is true that we will have to adapt our work to these tools, just as we adapted it in its day to consult the Internet or to any of the revolutions that have taken place. Because this is a revolution. I do believe that within five years all companies will be adapting their business processes to those AI use cases that are attractive to them, and, who knows, maybe we will have more free time. Some say that since we will be more productive at work, we will have more free time and we will be able to invent it for leisure. Well, time will tell.
This month The Wave will be held in Zaragoza, an event that will turn Zaragoza into the meeting point of European innovation and technology in its second edition. This type of event attracts many professionals from different areas, what do you expect from the event and what do you think GFT can contribute?
We are very excited, both as a company and personally, because I believe that The Wave includes all our objectives. As a company, the first one is that we have been in Aragon for 25 years. This is a boost for Aragon. It is to make visible everything we can do here. We are in relationship with the clusters, with the Tecnara cluster. GFT is going to contribute a cybersecurity hackathon that will be held on the 18th and 19th. We are also with the CAAR automotive and automotive cluster, and we will be at the round table just talking about artificial intelligence with them. We will be next to + STEAM and CEOE, who will also be represented at The Wave. As a first pillar, we have to give visibility to Aragon and all the clusters, and we will be there.
The second pillar is technology. It’s a technology showcase that’s going to be there. We’re bringing in our global CTO, who’s going to give a talk on the 20th, the main day, also talking about technology and just along these lines of, if AI is going to be part of my job, what am I going to do, and what do I have to do. Very interesting topic.
Another issue is innovation. As I was saying, we have had a laboratory for more than 10 years. Innovation is going to be in the DNA of the event, and we are going to have a stand where we are going to bring things from our laboratory. We are also going to participate with Sara and Esther in a talk about how to work in an innovation lab. We are going to bring Startups that collaborate with us and on the last day they will be able to explain their cases and share them with people who want to invest with them.
And then, the last pillar that The Wave seeks for everyone is business. It is a place where you can do business. We have bet, apart from all this, on the day-to-day running of the event itself. We have a private room where we are going to bring our own talks, we are going to bring our clients, we are also going to talk to them about cybersecurity. We are going to bring companies that collaborate with us, like Oliver Wyman or like Opplus, who are going to be able to tell their own experiences. Between all the collaborators of The Wave and everything that the government has prepared, I think it is going to be a revolutionary event. It will be a second edition with more strength and we will set the bar very high for Aragon in technology and innovation.
You have already talked about the impact of this type of events in Aragon, but if you want to elaborate a little more, what does this type of congress mean and what impact do you think it can have in Aragon?
That is what I am telling you. We were there the other day at the presentation in Madrid and the vice-president explained it very well. The Wafe arose from a need. It arose to demonstrate everything that is being done in Aragon. I think that in Aragon, for a long time, it has been a bit like GFT in Aragon. We have been a little bit crouched, a little bit ashamed of being able to boast about everything we have, in spite of everything we are now promoting. The main data companies have bet on Aragon. Aragon has renewable energies, it has space, it has a lot of technological knowledge of the people. They said that we have a lot of enthusiasm, and that we have a series of qualities that add up when it comes to betting on Aragon. Well, this is going to be a showcase. We have to show that it is not only a local event. It is a national and international event, and this is demonstrated by the people who are going to participate and the companies that come to collaborate. I think it is going to be a revulsive. It will add to this strategy that we are carrying out in Aragon of wanting to show that we are a technological hub and that companies can come to bet and work here with us.
