🎓 The CEU universities convene their International Advisory Board in Barcelona

The CEU universities have held in Barcelona a new edition of their International Advisory Board (IAB), which brings together experts from the academic and business fields to reflect on some of the main challenges facing higher education today.

This meeting is held annually at one of the CEU universities and is one of the main spaces for strategic reflection. This year’s edition was also special, as it was held for the first time in Barcelona at the CEU Abat Oliba University. The 2026 edition was organised under the coordination of the Vice-Rector for Quality, University Strategy and Internationalisation, led by Swen Seebach.

Raising our gaze to face the challenges of the 21st century

The institutional welcome of the meeting enjoyed the participation of Javier Tello, Director General of the Fundación Universitaria San Pablo CEU; Marcin Kazmierczak, Rector of the CEU Abat Oliba University; and Ana Vásquez, President of the IAB.

During his speech, Javier Tello highlighted the strategic value that this body brings to the CEU universities as a whole. He pointed out that this international board allows the institution to “raise its gaze and better understand the context in which our universities must fulfil their mission in the 21st century”.

For his part, Marcin Kazmierczak stressed the importance of this type of meeting to keep universities open to the social, cultural and technological transformations of the contemporary world. In this vein, Ana Vásquez highlighted the importance of promoting spaces for shared reflection that allow current challenges to be faced from a collaborative perspective.

A programme focused on internationalisation, the student experience and artificial intelligence

The work sessions were devised from the priorities identified by the rectoral teams and the work carried out during the last months by the various vice-rectors. The meeting was organised around three major areas of work considered strategic for the future of the CEU universities: internationalisation, the student experience and digitalisation. In this edition, the block dedicated to digital transformation focused in particular on the impact of artificial intelligence in higher education.

The main objectives of the meeting included the analysis of international trends. In this vein, Alfonso Díaz, Corporate Commercial, Marketing and Internationalisation Director of the Fundación Universitaria San Pablo CEU, highlighted that the board allows external perspectives of great value to the institution to be included. As he explained, the members of the IAB bring their vision of the world from very diverse areas and help the CEU universities to “open windows and look beyond the daily activity” in which they are immersed.

For his part, Swen Seebach, Vice-Rector for Internationalisation at the CEU UAO, highlighted that the reflections and contributions arising from within the IAB can be translated into far-reaching transformations for the institution. “This advice helps us guide the CEU’s long-term strategic planning”, he said.

An international perspective at the service of the CEU university project

The International Advisory Board was created in 2014 at the CEU Cardenal Herrera University and was extended to all CEU universities in 2021. Its mission is to provide strategic vision and expert advice to support the academic and international evolution of the CEU universities and contribute to their training programmes so that these can respond to the needs of a society in constant transformation. The IAB includes outstanding professionals from the international academic, business and technological fields.

This edition was the first to be chaired by Ana Vásquez, Senior Vice-President of CDEIO at Hitachi, who has recently assumed the presidency of the board.

Also on the board are José María Peiró, Professor Emeritus of Social Psychology and member of IDOCAL and IVIE; José Carlos Martínez, former CEO of Consultia Business Travel and former director of Global Strategy at Intel; Keiko Ikeda, Vice-Director of the Institute for Innovative Global Education (IIGE) at Kansai University; Toni Jaeger-Fine, Director of Jaeger-Fine Consulting and senior advisor in the Faculty of Law at Fordham; José Manuel Páez, former vice-rector for Internationalisation at the University of Madrid and the Monterrey Institute of Technology; Vicente Ros, Director General of Initiative Spain; Paula Jiménez, Senior Vice-President of Sales at Karl Lagerfeld; and Mario Moretti, President and founder of Geox Group.

Carlos Escario, senior management consultant at Huete&Co, and Gene Ochi, former vice-president of Customer Strategy and Retention at UTI Worldwide, also participated as honorary members.