MAPFRE boosts the weight of technology and data in its business and simplifies its corporate structure

MAPFRE has decided to elevate the strategic nature of technology in its business. To this end, on December 31, the Corporate Operational Transformation Area, which included Technology, will be eliminated, and Vanessa Escrivá García is appointed group chief technology and data officer. This area will also incorporate, starting January 1, Corporate Data, led by Maribel Solanas, group chief data officer of MAPFRE, as well as the group’s entire Al strategy. The objective of this integration is to further enhance the value of data as a strategic group asset. This area will report directly to the chairman and the CEO of the company.

“In any activity, but particularly in insurance, where we manage data and provide service to more than 30 million customers, technology is crucial tool in facilitating the achievement of the group’s strategic objectives,” said chairman and CEO Antonio Huertas. “We’ve made huge strides in the transformation of MAPFRE, thanks to the drive and strategic leadership of José Antonio Arias. Now we want to further accelerate the impact of technology on the business and the incorporation of AI into our activity, which is increasingly digital, although always guided by people.”

The elimination of the Corporate Operational Transformation Area, which has more than met the objectives set down since its creation, also represents a simplification of the corporate structure that will improve efficiency. The functions of this area, excluding technology, will be directly supervised by first vice chairman, José Manuel Inchausti.

As a result of this reorganization, the person currently overseeing this area, José Antonio Arias, will become group head of Real Estate and Resources starting on January 1, functions that will be integrated under the group’s chief financial officer, José Luis Jiménez Guajardo-Fajardo. José Antonio Arias now takes on management of this new area, which is of great strategic importance to the group, where his managerial experience and proven track record will be very relevant.

The changes also affect the Technology, Innovation, and Transformation Advisory Council (CATIT), the consultative body created in 2020 and comprising independent experts who advise the governing bodies of MAPFRE on technology, innovation, and transformation decisions. Vanessa Escrivá joins this committee as a new member, while Leire Jiménez Ayesa will add the position of secretary to her role as a member of this advisory council.

Executive committee 

MAPFRE’s executive committee is to be enlarged with the incorporation of Raúl Costilla Prieto, group chief business officer and the new group chief technology and data officer, Vanessa Escrivá.

Other relevant appointments 

José Antonio Ledesma, current group head of Procurement, will join Corporate Security on March 30 as security control manager, a newly created position deemed necessary due to the increasing regulatory complexity affecting the insurance business. 

José Luis Bernal, current chief digital, data and innovation officer at MAPFRE USA, will, on January 1, take on the role of expert manager to strengthen the group’s transformation projects and enhance their impact on the business. He will report to Alfredo Castelo, group chief people, strategy and sustainability officer. 

Appointments to the Board of Directors 

The board has ratified the appointment of María de Los Angeles Santamaría as a member of two of its committees – the Risks, Sustainability and Compliance Committee, substituting Ana Isabel Fernández Álvarez, and the Appointments and Remuneration Committee, replacing María del Pilar Perales Viscasillas.