On May 23rd, we returned to the Luchana Theatres in Madrid to offer clients, friends, and part of the LedaMC and Quanter team a unique day, under the title ‘IT Challenges in the era of Generative AI’. Among the attendees we were fortunate to have representatives from companies such as Correos, MasOrange, Agroseguro, Iberia, Iberdrola, Mapfre, Acciona and Repsol. We created a space for debate and reflection on the challenges and opportunities presented by generative artificial intelligence for information technology.
The event was inaugurated by Dácil Castelo, CEO of LedaMC, who recalled the company’s 20th anniversary celebrated last May with founder Rafael de la Fuente. She emphasized the importance of continuing his legacy through innovation and commitment to people. “AI is such a revolution that we don’t yet know its full extent. At LedaMC, we embrace this while keeping our essence: people are at the centre and generative AI serves humans. We will continue to work with, by, and for people”, said Dácil, referring to the integration of generative AI in LedaMC’s Quanter application.
Challenges and Opportunities of Generative AI in the IT World
The event’s keynote was delivered by Yan Bello, CEO of SpaceMinds and AI pioneer, who highlighted the transformative potential of AI in the IT sector. “AI must be a tool to achieve better results. We need to turn risks and threats into opportunities to create value”, he stated. He posed several interesting challenges: How can we measure the value generative AI adds to business? How can we govern data and manage risks? How can we provide the expected transparency and explainability?
It’s evident that AI generates significant value that organizations must learn to leverage. In this context, Julián Gómez, the event’s master of ceremonies, mentioned the creation of the Productivity Council by the Spanish Government, whose aim is to “play a crucial role in the design of public policies that seek to harness the benefits of artificial intelligence for the economy”. This led to a success story from an organization already working effectively with such productivity councils.
Ana Arredondo, Director of Information Technology at the Spanish Patent and Trademark Office (OEPM), shared her experience in optimizing software development at OEPM with LedaMC’s help. “Economic aspects are crucial in public administration contracts,” she noted. “We began questioning our efficiency at OEPM but lacked objective data. We needed a method for extensive auditing.” Arredondo highlighted how Function Points were key in resolving this issue and emphasized the importance of accurately measuring productivity and quality in projects. “Once you measure with a standard, you can compare. And when you start comparing, you can objectively discuss with your suppliers and conclude how to improve things.”
Introducing Quanter AI’s Smart Estimation
After Ana Arredondo’s presentation, Raúl Fernández, COO of LedaMC and Quanter, and Andrés Gutiérrez, Senior Consultant at LedaMC, took the stage. They began by discussing current technological trends, including Intelligent Applications and the democratization of generative AI. These trends are revolutionizing Quanter and its Smart Estimation. With a live demonstration, Andrés showed how Quanter can understand complex requirements and provide rapid, accurate cost and effort estimates in seconds, showcasing its potential to transform software project management.
“This is just the beginning”, commented Raúl Fernández after the demonstration. “We plan to continue in this direction by identifying non-functional requirements, incorporating new measurement methodologies, and developing assistants to provide responses based on project information within Quanter. We also aim to improve requirement specifications and advance our testing processes, which are already underway.”
How Generative AI Impacts Security, Productivity, and the Future of Work
The moment arrived for the panel discussion we were all eager to hear, and it surpassed all our expectations. Manuel Rodríguez (Director of Technology and Processes at Agroseguro), José Miguel Aoiz (Deputy Director of IT Development at Correos), and Vicente Robledo (Director of IT Operations at MasOrange) shared interesting experiences with Generative AI in their companies. Vicente Robledo emphasized: “Regarding Generative AI, we are beginning to learn, with the utmost humility, because (…) it will be a tremendous revolution.”
None of them hesitated to respond affirmatively to whether we should use Generative AI in our companies. Manuel added: “We must use it because it has many benefits, but we must be aware of the limitations and manage expectations and risks well.” Vicente emphasized that “we must use it, the real importance lies in how. The role of systems must be an advisor, a driver within the company, and above all, ensuring all that governance and associated processes.”
We also got to know their vision on the potential of Generative AI to transform productivity in software development, after presenting them with data from three different studies reflecting this improvement, but differing in the percentages obtained, ranging from 45 to 70%. Manuel highlighted: “Having an augmented developer is becoming an increasingly realistic idea, in all aspects: estimation, code generation, debugging, documentation, unit testing… the potential is enormous.” José Miguel expressed caution regarding code generation, pointing out the importance of considering the complexity of processes and the sustainability of code generated by machines. Vicente highlighted the accelerated progress of providers in this field and how this technology will even transform the maintenance of obsolete systems. And he reflected on the future of companies focused solely on development with these words: “If I train my own staff and generate code with those levels of productivity internally, with very small teams, more can be done. I believe that companies purely focused on software development may disappear if they do not reinvent themselves.”
And to conclude the panel, they answered a question from the audience that many of you may have wondered: What will be the impact of Generative AI on employment? José Miguel affirmed: “Fear among employees exists, awareness is needed, and we need to tell them that what we want is for them to perform tasks that add value. Automation can be used for staff reduction, but then you would be leaving the company always doing the same thing, without evolving.” Robledo added: “There is no need to be afraid, it should be seen as an exciting learning exercise.”
Now it was only left to show our gratitude to all the people who have been part of the event. And our CEO, Dácil Castelo, conveyed this to speakers, attendees, and the entire team of Leda and Quanter at the close of this day. After a well-deserved applause to all the speakers, we were able to share impressions, ideas, and experiences in the subsequent networking session about what is happening and will happen in technology in this era of Generative AI.
Will Generative AI be “the new gold rush” as Yan Bello said? We will see…
