The growth of the technology industry presents a challenge that goes beyond investment and the development of new technologies: having the professionals needed to bring them to life. The integration of artificial intelligence into business operations, the emergence of new industries and the transformation of business models are reshaping the skills companies need. Against this backdrop, VDS 2026, the international tech event organized by Startup Valencia, is strengthening its commitment to talent through NextTalent, an initiative that connects students and professionals with universities, startups and corporations to create new career development opportunities in Valencia.
NextTalent is supported by the Universitat de Valencia and the Universitat Politècnica de Valencia as NextTalent Partners of VDS 2026. Its program forms part of the ninth edition of VDS, taking place on October 21 and 22 at the City of Arts and Sciences in Valencia, and will combine professional networking, hands-on experiences, business challenges and sessions featuring executives from national and international companies.
The initiative addresses a strategic need for the competitiveness of Valencia and its technology industry. Attracting companies and investment is essential, but so is developing the professional capabilities that enable those businesses to grow, innovate and retain their teams locally. As international competition for talent intensifies, collaboration between universities, startups and corporations becomes particularly important in aligning education with market needs and creating long-term career opportunities.
Nacho Mas, CEO of Startup Valencia and VDS, emphasizes that “talent is one of the main factors determining the growth potential and competitiveness of a technology ecosystem. At a time when artificial intelligence is transforming professions and business needs, connecting education with real market opportunities is essential. Through NextTalent, we want to bring young people closer to entrepreneurship and technology companies, support their professional development and help ensure that Valencia remains an attractive place to create, develop and retain talent.”
From universities to businesses: real opportunities for tech talent
NextTalent is built around four initiatives combining education, employability, community and the resolution of real business challenges. Its goal is to help young professionals enter the technology sector while giving companies new ways to identify promising talent, encouraging direct interaction between emerging professionals and organizations seeking new capabilities.
NextTalent Crew brings together students and early-career professionals interested in discovering the technology sector and building relationships with entrepreneurs and companies. NextTalent Jobs provides access to career opportunities at startups and technology companies, while NextTalent Fest offers an in-person experience featuring talks, workshops and networking between businesses and professionals. The program is completed by NextTalent Challenge, which allows participants to work on real challenges set by organizations and demonstrate their abilities beyond their CVs.
One of the main highlights will be The Challenge, the VDS hackathon, with its competition taking place on October 21. The initiative will bring together around 50 participants working in multidisciplinary teams to develop solutions to challenges related to innovation and climate technology. Throughout the day, participants will put their technical knowledge, creativity and teamwork skills to the test, supported by industry professionals and mentors.
The program will also feature a special finale: on October 22, the winning team will receive its prize during the VDS 2026 closing ceremony on the Main Stage, in front of representatives from the international technology industry. In this way, NextTalent will give participants an opportunity to demonstrate their skills through practical experiences and gain insight into how technology companies operate.
Artificial intelligence, gaming and new ways of learning
The development of new skills will also take a practical approach through activities that allow attendees to experiment with artificial intelligence tools and test their decision-making, collaboration and problem-solving abilities.
Among them is the “Build Your First AI Agent Team” bootcamp, led by Javier Santos, AI Discipline Leader at Product Hackers. This hands-on learning experience will introduce AI agent development to people interested in building their first team of agents, exploring how these tools can be used to organize tasks, automate processes and address specific needs. The workshop aims to turn a technology that is transforming business operations into an accessible, applied learning experience.
One of the most distinctive activities will be “Decision Labs: Elixir Economics”, an experience combining gaming and business simulation to explore how strategic decisions are made under pressure. Featuring gamers BaleGG and RevolAimar, the activity will use live competitions and esports-inspired dynamics to recreate situations involving resource allocation, risk management and team coordination. Through individual and paired matches, commentary on players’ decisions and a subsequent analysis of the strategies used, attendees will see how concepts commonly associated with business management are equally important in competitive virtual environments.
The connection between technology and education will also take center stage with an EdTech forum organized by the Universitat de Valencia, expanding the discussion around the potential of technological innovation in education and the development of new skills. This initiative strengthens the university’s presence at VDS and its contribution to connecting academic knowledge, new learning tools and professional needs.
Rolls-Royce, PowerCo, NTT DATA and Preply to examine the future of talent
The program will feature executives from major international companies discussing how artificial intelligence, data and emerging technologies are transforming employment and people management. Their sessions will offer insight into how organizations across different industries are adapting their teams, introducing new capabilities and responding to growing international competition for highly skilled professionals.
Among the speakers is Szymon Kukulski, Vice President and Head of People Insights at Rolls-Royce, the British industrial company with a global workforce of 42,600 employees. His session will examine how data analytics and artificial intelligence are changing talent management and people-related decision-making in large organizations. Rolls-Royce’s experience will provide a perspective on anticipating new skills requirements and adapting organizational structures to technological transformation.
The connection between education and industry will have a particularly relevant example for Valencia with Ricardo Guerrero, HR Director at PowerCo, the Volkswagen Group company developing its battery gigafactory in Sagunto. The project requires specialized technical profiles and new industrial capabilities, driving collaboration between companies and universities to prepare the professionals this industry will need.
Earlier this October, PowerCo, the Universitat de Valencia and the Universitat Politècnica de Valencia inaugurated the first Continuing Education Master’s Degree in Battery Cell Manufacturing and Technology, designed to address the need for qualified personnel at the Sagunto gigafactory. Fully funded by PowerCo for the eleven students enrolled in its first edition, the program offers a concrete example of how cooperation between academia and business can translate into specialized training and career opportunities linked to new industrial investment.
Guerrero will share his experience of the challenges involved in attracting, developing and retaining talent in a strategic industry for the energy transition. He will be joined by Nuria Llopis, Talent and Organizational Transformation Specialist at NTT DATA, who will bring the technology consulting perspective on evolving professional skills and new approaches to team management. Moderated by Lodewijk Cuypers, Founder of Rentamos-Globexs, the discussion will compare how major industrial and technology organizations are preparing their people for the years ahead.
The transformation of education and learning will be another key topic, featuring Dmytro Voloshyn, Co-Founder and CTO of Preply, the international language-learning platform that reached a valuation of $1.2 billion in 2026 and connects more than 150,000 tutors with students in 180 countries. His session will explore how artificial intelligence can personalize learning, develop tools that support teachers and improve educational processes. Voloshyn will join Ola Yurchuk, Product Executive and Techstars Mentor, for a conversation about the opportunities created by combining emerging technologies with human expertise in education.
Talent management at major Spanish companies
The program will also draw on the experience of HR leaders from companies with an established presence in the Spanish market, offering perspectives from industries where technological transformation is changing training needs, leadership models and the organization of work.
Among them will be Paul Tran, General Manager of People and Values at Importaco, the Valencia-based food group, who will share his experience in talent management, corporate culture and people development. He will be joined by Lucio Fernández López, Director of People and Corporate Social Responsibility at GOMARCO, a Spanish company specializing in sleep products, whose professional background combines human resources management with social responsibility and organizational development.
Also participating will be Juan Tinoco, Group HR Director at Hero, the international food company, who brings extensive experience in people management and organizational culture transformation. These executives will contribute the perspective of established businesses that must adapt their structures, develop new professional capabilities and respond to the expectations of different generations of employees.
The startup perspective will also be represented by Pablo García Barrilero, Co-Founder of Closflow AI, a company specializing in the application of artificial intelligence to B2B sales processes. His participation will offer insight into how emerging technology companies are integrating AI tools into their operations, developing professional skills and adapting teams to new ways of working.
Valencia: a place to develop talent and global technology companies
NextTalent will also highlight the career opportunities offered by Valencia’s technology industry and the conditions companies need to attract and develop teams capable of supporting international growth. The ability to create high-value career paths is particularly important in strengthening Valencia’s position as an attractive destination for both technology companies and international talent.
In this context, Joaquín Berral, COO of PropHero; Pedro Armas, Chief of Staff at the same company; and Andrés Nieto, CEO of weVLC, will examine talent strategies and the capabilities Valencia’s technology companies will need to support their growth through 2030. Moderated by Pilar Pascual del Riquelme, Head of Public Relations and Communications at PropHero, the conversation will address talent attraction, organizational evolution and the importance of building teams capable of competing in international markets.
The program will also include activities focused on developing professional and business skills. Natasha Gorobinskaya, Founder and Director of Blueberry Research Group, will lead a practical session on communication and pitching projects to investors. Meanwhile, Lucía Gastélum, Product, Marketing and Artificial Intelligence Specialist, will participate in a conversation on new approaches to branding, communication and consumer behavior alongside representatives from Pilatus and ModestBeauty.
The international growth of Spanish technology companies will also feature in the program, with Javier Megias, COO of Zubi Group; Carlos Muñoz, Co-Founder and COO of Alinia AI; and Álvaro Castro, Head of Equity Primary Markets at Bolsas y Mercados Españoles (BME). The discussion will address the challenges companies face when scaling, accessing capital and developing the organizational capabilities required to sustain their expansion.
The VDS 2026 agenda will also feature other activities focused on talent and professional development. On October 21, the Ctrl + Alt + Career workshop will focus on career development, while System Restart: Women’s Talent, Rebooted from Within will explore women’s talent. The Santander X University Awards will also take place that day, while on October 22, The Future Starts with You: Talent & Entrepreneurship will examine the connection between talent and entrepreneurship.
Through NextTalent, VDS is strengthening its role as a platform connecting universities, startups, corporations and investors, placing the next generation of professionals at the heart of the technology industry’s growth. The initiative aims to help Valencia not only attract new companies and investment but also provide professionals with the opportunities they need to learn, develop their careers and contribute to the transformation of the region’s business landscape.
The competitiveness of Valencia’s technology industry will depend as much on its ability to attract investment and develop new companies as on the talent capable of driving their growth. With the support of its university partners and the participation of national and international companies, NextTalent aims to turn the connection between education, emerging skills and business opportunities into a driver of growth for Valencia.
Support from major corporations and institutions
VDS 2026 is supported by major corporations, technology companies and national and international institutions. Banco Santander participates as Diamond Sponsor, while Valencia Innovation Capital, part of Valencia City Council, serves as Host Partner. The Generalitat Valenciana joins as VDS Defense Partner, Plug and Play as VDS Competition Partner, and the Universitat de Valencia and the Universitat Politècnica de Valencia as NextTalent Partners.
Supporting Sponsors include Estonia’s e-Residency, Work in Estonia, Tallinn, Fundación LAB, CaixaBank DayOne, Malta Enterprise, OVHcloud Startup Program, IBM, Lãberit, Opentop by Valenciaport, BStartup by Banco Sabadell, EY, Burda Principal Investments, Suma Capital, PropHero, Wayra Telefónica, Aquaservice, MAPFRE, Microsoft, Temu, OMN Hub and RRHH Digital, among other companies and organizations contributing to the international reach of this ninth edition.
This support is complemented by the participation of companies connected to Startup Valencia through its Corporate Innovation Club, including BStartup by Banco Sabadell, Wayra Telefónica, Plug and Play, HP, BBVA Spark, Marina de Empresas, Banco Santander, Innsomnia Group, CaixaBank DayOne, Naturgy, Sesame, Zinco and Santalucía Impulsa.
At the institutional level, VDS 2026 continues to receive support from its Institutional Partners, including Valencia City Council, Valencia Innovation Capital, the Generalitat Valenciana, the Universitat de Valencia, the Universitat Politècnica de Valencia, the Parc Científic de la Universitat de Valencia, the Instituto Valenciano de Finanzas (IVF), the City of Arts and Sciences, CDTI, ENISA, Red.es, ICEX, Madrid Innovation and the Science Park of Miguel Hernández University, alongside Spanish government bodies.
The collaboration of these organizations reinforces VDS’s role as a platform connecting the public and private sectors, creating new opportunities for business, investment and international collaboration while strengthening Valencia’s position as a global technology innovation hub.
