The first BFS Graduation Ceremony

The Institut d’Estudis Financers and its finance school, the Barcelona Finance School (IEF-BFS), held their graduation ceremony yesterday, Wednesday, January 28, at the Illa Diagonal Auditorium. The event brought together more than 200 attendees, including students, faculty, institutional representatives, and professionals from the financial sector.

The ceremony was presided over by Juli Fernández, General  Secretary of Economy and Finance of the Generalitat de Catalunya and President of the Board of Trustees of the Fundació Privada Institut d’Estudis Financers, who accompanied the students of the 2024 and 2025 promotions of the different master’s and certification programs of the IEF-BFS at a key moment of closing the academic stage and beginning of their professional career.

The event was attended by a wide range of institutional and financial sector representatives, including collaborators, managers and professionals from entities linked to the IEF Board of Trustees, which includes Banco Sabadell, Banco Santander, CaixaBank, Caixa Enginyers, Institut Català de Finances and the Conselleria d’Economia i Finances de la Generalitat de Catalunya, reinforcing the center’s role as a meeting point between training, talent and industry.

Juli Fernández, General  Secretary of Economy and Finance of the Generalitat de Catalunya, presides over the ceremony

The General Secretary for Economy and Finance, Juli Fernández, affirmed that the IEF-BFS “has established itself as a benchmark for innovation and knowledge in the field of finance,” while also highlighting its educational focus and its capacity to deliver high-quality training. During his inaugural address, Fernández also delivered a message of leadership to the new graduates, emphasizing rigor and responsibility. He stressed the importance of “never abandoning one’s own judgment” in an environment of constant change and increasingly sophisticated tools such as Artificial Intelligence. He also cautioned them that they would not have to choose between technology and people, but rather that they would need to be able to integrate both “with intelligence and sensitivity.”

The secretary emphasized that graduation represents entry into a professional world with an “extraordinary responsibility,” which consists of “helping to make good decisions in a complex world,” and encouraged the new graduates to “work with ambition, but with purpose,” being aware that their work will have a real impact on companies, families, and projects, and that such impact will always bring a certain “professional pride.”

Artificial intelligence, main focus of the debate

The day included the round table “AI and finance: roadmap for the next decade”, which addressed the main challenges, risks and opportunities posed by the application of artificial intelligence in the financial field.

The debate included the participation of Pep Martorell, an expert in technological strategy, supercomputing and artificial intelligence; Alfredo Muñoz, professor of commercial law at the Complutense University of Madrid and an expert in digital assets, tokenization and AI; Martin Longobuco, co-founder of CD4IoT and director of the Executive Program in AI applied to finance at the BFS; and Eloi Noya, director of innovation and technology at the IEF-BFS.

During the round table, key issues were analyzed such as the potential and limitations of generative and autonomous AI, legal responsibility and ethical challenges of automated decisions, the risks of bias and algorithmic discrimination, cybersecurity and technological dependence on large international models, as well as building trust in increasingly automated environments.

The speakers also reflected on the evolution of the professional skills needed in the coming years, both technical and non-technical, and on the main challenges that professionals and organizations face in adopting AI-based solutions, from data management and organizational culture to regulation.

Specialized training for a sector in transformation

The ceremony concluded with the awarding of diplomas to the IEF-BFS students and included a speech by Ferran Teixes, CEO of IEF-BFS, who emphasized the role of specialized and continuing education as a key driver for the professionalization of the financial sector in a context marked by digitalization, regulatory complexity, and rapid technological evolution.

Ferran Teixes stated that “the development of an individual implies a collective improvement, an increase in the intellectual GDP of society. Educated individuals form a more cultured and better-prepared society, undoubtedly better equipped for the new challenges we face every day. At IEF-BFS, we want to recognize this effort. We do so by giving them the best of ourselves through our programs and by providing them with the best resources and professionals so they can achieve their learning objectives.”