Biography
Victoria Hernández-Valcárcel is an influential leader at the intersection of technology, finance and innovation, with a career spanning corporate leadership, governance and venture investment. She currently serves on the boards of listed and private companies, strengthening governance and strategy across telecoms, banking, mobility and industrial technologies. She is also a Member of the Board of the EIC Scaling Club, contributing to the scale-up and strategic positioning of Europe’s most promising deep-tech companies.
A trusted contributor to the European Innovation Council (EIC) since its launch in January 2018, she served as an Investor Jury Member, helping shape €10.1 billion of investment into breakthrough technologies. She also contributed to the European Commission’s STEP initiative on scaling strategic technologies at Series B–D to reinforce Europe’s technological sovereignty.
Victoria was the first woman in Europe appointed Executive Chair of the Board of a telecom operator, leading Orange Spain. She later served as Senior Vice President at Proximus, overseeing ICT and cybersecurity for major European corporations and international institutions, including NATO. At British Telecom Europe, as Director of Mergers & Acquisitions, she led multi-billion-euro investments, strategic acquisitions and major digital transformation programmes across the continent.
She is President Europe of the Global Telecom Women’s Network (GTWN), a longstanding and globally influential voice for senior leadership in the digital economy. In 2023, Victoria received formal recognition from President Ursula von der Leyen for her contribution to the adoption of Directive (EU) 2022/2381, the EU’s landmark “Women on Boards” Directive.
A recognised voice on the ethical dimensions of technology, she is actively engaged in Digital Humanism, and has published essays on how AI, governance and human agency can be aligned in the age of disruptive innovation.
Based in Paris, Victoria is also the proud mother of one lovely daughter.