Interview with Elvira Quesada, AI Team Leader at Walmeric

Our first interview of 2024 is with Elvira Quesada, #WalmerianWoman at Walmeric who leads the Artificial Intelligence team. Elvira tells us about the challenges she has faced managing people, Walmeric’s role in AI and how OpenAI has broken into this field. Don’t miss it!

1. What is the biggest challenge you have faced as a leader and how did you overcome it?

Leading people is one of the biggest challenges I have ever faced. During our training, we are taught to memorize, solve problems and, hopefully, to work on the ability to open our minds to think and develop new ideas. But without a doubt, something they never prepare you for is to manage people and the thousands of variables and conditioning factors that surround us: background, knowledge, experiences, personal problems, insecurities, etc. For me, the greatest difficulty when it comes to leading is to find the balance between helping and giving the necessary tools so that a person can work, develop and grow and, at the same time, giving them enough freedom and space so that they can also face new challenges individually, even if they sometimes crash and fail, and learn from them. I always try to give the best of myself both professionally and personally so that I can also receive the best from others. After all, a leader cannot achieve anything on his own if he is not able to pass on his knowledge, communicate and help his colleagues.

2. How would you describe the impact your role has on the company and the work team?

There is no doubt that Artificial Intelligence is at its peak right now. While it is true that we have been hearing about this term that has become so fashionable for several years, OpenAI has burst in with its well-known ChatGPT, bringing Artificial Intelligence to all areas, regardless of age or knowledge we have about it. However, we must not forget that Artificial Intelligence is much more than this well-known chat, and that this is just one of the many applications in one of the many fields in which it can be used. But let’s focus on Walmeric: AI can have a great and beneficial impact on our business. We can apply it in different ways to our products, as well as create new ones that add value and help our customers improve their sales. Even so, we must always think of applications that make sense within our business and that add value to the service we provide to the customer. And to achieve all this, it is essential to know the customer and their business perfectly, to know what their day-to-day problems and needs are, in order to attack them and offer them the right solutions.

3. What is your long-term vision for your career in the company?

I have only been at Walmeric for a short time, but if I had to describe it I would use the words team and family. If there is one thing I have noticed during this month, it is that everyone has the feeling of belonging to a single team, and that is certainly noticeable in the atmosphere. I have a lot to learn at Walmeric, both from the business and from all its professionals, and therefore I think I have a long way to go here.

4. What advice would you give to other women aspiring to leadership positions in the company?

My advice, without a doubt, would be to never stop training. I believe that in order to be in a leadership position, the most important thing is to have the ability to find tools and solutions to the new challenges and problems that we face. It is not about always having an immediate solution to the problem, but knowing how to look for it and apply it. And, at the end of the day, that security and peace of mind of knowing that we will find a solution to any problem we face can only be achieved through experience and constant learning.