During his research, Àlex interviewed Malcolm Werchota (FTMBA 21), co-founder of werchota.ai, an international AI expert and regular partner of Esade. What was supposed to be a student inquiry ended up in a job offer. Today, Àlex works closely with Malcolm, showing that there is a world of opportunities in the artificial intelligence niche for those who dare. In this interview, we talk with him about his career, his view of AI applied to management, and how the Esade Alumni community acts as a real catalyst of talent and opportunities that are not found in conventional job boards. With a range of professional experiences under his belt – from digitalizing a farm to providing financial and strategic consulting for a restaurant startup, along with his time in tech companies like Accenture – Àlex now helps companies adopt AI and discover their potential to lead the market.
- Let’s talk about how you entered the professional working world. You interviewed Malcolm Werchota for your Final Degree Project and end up working with him. What was it like when a conversation for an academic project turned into an actual job offer?
Well actually it really caught me by surprise, in the best way. I remember that we were talking about the impact of AI on the job market and the question that is always in the air about whether AI is going to replace us or be complementary… and at the end of the call he said, “You know much more about AI than the people I work with, you process information really quickly, and I really like the way you organize information in your head.” I think that I’ll remember these words my entire life. When the call ended I thought: “Maybe he was just saying it,” and I even mentioned it to my parents, who didn’t really believe it. And now, I’ve been working at Werchota.ai for four months, and deciding to work with Malcolm was a great decision.
- At that time you were doing an internship at Accenture. However, you decided to choose a more personal, specialized project with Malcolm. What are the rewards of working in a more agile, direct environment like werchota.ai?
At that time, I was doing my internship at Accenture in the financial consulting area. I contacted an Accenture partner via LinkedIn who told me what the area was like and that they were also beginning to have AI agents. I was convinced by the project and worked there for six months. But when I finished my internship, I concluded that financial consulting wasn’t my passion and instead I wanted to focus on artificial intelligence. I actually got a job offer from Accenture in Data & AI but ultimately chose to go with werchota.ai. It was definitely a riskier decision; it’s basically comparing a renowned corporation with a startup that nobody knows, whose survival in the market isn’t certain if things don’t go well. But working in a more agile environment has been so beneficial: I have more responsibilities than my friends in the Big Four may have; I actively participate in the strategy and some corporate decisions; I’ve had the opportunity to participate in an AI conference with Malcolm; I’m abreast of all the industry news; I get the chance to test different tools; and the list goes on. In short, not only am I learning more, and more quickly, I also see that I can have a real impact on werchota.ai, which is what really drew me to it.
- From your current position, how would you define the real opportunities offered by the AI sector? Is it for technical professionals or is there critical room for management?
Regarding the opportunities that AI is generating in the market, I’m seeing how its application makes it possible to improve efficiency in industrial projects, lower the time needed to complete complex tasks, and even replace repetitive tasks. Both big companies and smaller ones want to go beyond “AI is going to change everything,” from automating repetitive tasks (like managing invoicing) to making C-suite-level strategic decisions. AI is going to help us understand lots of information that we currently ignore, that is, insights and information that nowadays may determine whether we retain or lose a customer. And regarding the type of professional, there is a myth about programming: today many people continue to think that if you don’t know how to program you can’t work in artificial intelligence. That’s false; in fact, programmers are among those affected the most by this technological revolution because AI writes the code for us , even though this doesn’t mean that they’re no longer important. As for management positions, I’d say that they will come out ahead because we’ll probably experience a quaternization of the economy, which simply means an economy in which everything revolves around data. That’s why it’s often said that what companies really need more than AI or AI agents is to work pay close attention to data and data governance.
“Working in a more agile environment has been so beneficial: I have more responsibilities, I actively participate in the strategy and some corporate decisions, I’m learning more, and more quickly, and I also see that I can have a real impact on the company”
- At what points in your day-to-day life do you feel that your education at Esade is more necessary than ever?
Several classes I took at Esade are useful to me in my day-to-day work. Still, I think it would be useful to provide more training on how AI can be applied in the processes we alumni encounter in our daily lives. Even though the BBA focuses on economics and business management, AI is going to impact us such that anyone who doesn’t know how large language models (LLM’s) work, the types of learning, and how to train models, or how statistical inference reasoning works, are going to become obsolete in their job search, because many companies are still hiring people because they are “cheaper” than buying software or an algorithm. It sounds bad, but it’s the way things are. And as long as the cost of creating models and training them is considerably lower, either you know the basics of this topic and are used to using AI in your daily life or “you’re dead” in the job market. Finally, some of the things I learned in my degree about managing change are essential, because we often come upon this issue in companies.
- You’ve worked internally with Esade Careers to speed up processes via AI. What was it like to apply your professional knowledge at Esade? What impact has this digitalization had?
Clearly all companies and organizations that want to position themselves as AI natives have to integrate artificial intelligence into their processes and, in the case of Esade, into their value proposition and internal processes. In the case of Esade Careers, we’ve helped to speed up processes using this technology and decided to include AI in platforms like VMock (for CV’s) and even to help alumni find their best match on the job market. This digitalization enables information use to be optimized and all the possible insights to be drawn not only to better position yourself in the job market but also to be perceived externally as an AI adopter.
- Your story is a perfect example of the possibilities of networking. What does it mean for you to be part of a community where other alumni may end up becoming your partner or mentor? How do you think young alumni should approach their relationship with the network?
I’ve gotten several internships and my current job through networking. Being part of the Alumni community enables you to contact graduates who are in countries or sectors where you’d like to work. I remember that I looked for alumni in LinkedIn and wrote to them to learn about Erasmus or find out what daily life is like in a given company. I personally think the Alumni community is one of Esade’s most important assets and allows you not only to contact people with experience but also think about people from your own generation whom you might start a company with in the future., I would recommend that young alumni not be “afraid” or embarrassed about writing to people on LinkedIn, or by email, or even participating in Esade Alumni events. It is actually a fantastic opportunity to meet people and stay in touch with interesting people for any job opportunities that may arise in the future.
“I’m fairly certain that AI is going to be a game changer. Anyone who aspires to learn and be promoted in a company has to know how to use this technology”
- Where would you like to see yourself five years from now? What role do you think human collaboration with AI will play in professional development?
That’s actually a pretty difficult question to answer, and I’m going to use a quote from a book I’m reading about AI right now written by Raymond Kurzweil in 1998. Basically, he says that technology is going to speed up exponentially as the information used to create it increases. In other words, as systems use more specific information (based on tools, models, infrastructure, algorithms, etc.), the advances will come more quickly and the interval between advances is going to decrease. Therefore, in the next five years we may see as much progress as in a decade last century. Having said this, I see myself in this sector in five years, perhaps outside Spain and Europe. I see myself learning more about artificial intelligence because it really motivates me, although right now I’m really happy at werchota.ai and plan to stay there a long time. Regarding professional development, I’m fairly certain that AI is going to be a game changer just like it will be in any other field. Anyone who aspires to learn and be promoted in a company has to know how to use this technology. More than replacing us (although it will in some cases), AI is going to enhance our capacities. I always give the same example: if you imagine a spider with eight legs, then AI is going to allow us to have twelve or fourteen. And at work, I think that the majority of humans will work in overseeing algorithms and LLM’s.
