Carme Artigas

Senior Fellow, Belfer Centre, Harvard Kennedy School

Senior Fellow at the Belfer Center at Harvard Kennedy School, Co-Chair of the United Nations AI Advisory Group (2023-2025) and former Spanish Secretary of State for Digitalization and Artificial Intelligence (2020-2023)

Honors: Grand Cross of Military Merit, Dame of the Imperial Order of Charles V, Great Cross of Civil Merit.

Carme Artigas is a Spanish executive and entrepreneur specializing in Big Data, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Cybersecurity and Technological Innovation. With over 30 years’ experience, she is acknowledged as an international leader in AI regulation and governance.

Throughout her career, Ms Artigas has held positions as CEO, director, and chair of the boards of directors of various public and private companies. She co-founded and served as CEO of Synergic Partners - a pioneering Big Data company, in Europe, acquired by the Telefónica Group in 2015, and where she stayed on as CEO to oversee its full integration into the group.

In January 2020, she was appointed the Spanish Government’s first Secretary of State for Digitalization and AI - a position she held until December 2023. During her tenure, and as lead negotiator, Ms Artigas secured approval of the European AI Act (EU AI Act) under the Spanish Presidency of the EU.

She recently served as Co-Chair of the United Nations AI Advisory Council, coordinating a group of 39 experts and drafting recommendations for the Global Governance of AI, a paper which was approved, recently, and which is already being implemented. In October 2023, she was appointed Senior Fellow at the Belfer Center at Harvard Kennedy School, becoming the first Spanish woman to hold this position.

Early career:

Her career began with a series of executive positions at Procter & Gamble; as Director of Business Incubators at Barcelona City Council; and as CEO of Ericsson Innova (the Ericsson Group's European venture capital fund).

Academic background:

• Ms Artigas has a Master's degree in Chemical Engineering from the Sarrià Chemical Institute (thesis, by the Max Planck Institute);
• Postgraduate Degree in Industrial Management, from IQS;
• Executive Program in Venture Capital, from the Haas School of Economics at the University of Berkeley.