El futuro del sector editorial | Núria Cabutí, CEO de Penguin Random House y Javier Aparicio Maydeu

In the end, development in society is based on education. So for us, excellence in knowledge and education is fundamental. I personally believe in it, and I believe this is the foundation of how societies develop. Collaborating with a program like this is, in a way, a pleasure for us. In the last five or six years, we've had practically 50 people from this master's doing internships at our company. Many of them later joined and are working in completely different areas of the publishing house. This collaboration has been going on for a long time. About two years ago, we suffered a serious loss — our friend and colleague Claudio López Lamadrid, who was a born editor, a great editor who also collaborated extensively with the university. We wanted a project that would maintain Claudio's spirit of always transmitting to young people the love for literature and the publishing profession. He was also interested in this extending beyond Spain's borders to Latin America, where he always felt connected. A colleague from our board, Patxi de Ascó, our commercial director, proposed creating scholarships and reaching out to Javier's team. And that's how it started. Claudio had taught in the master's for a couple of years. What fascinated me about him was his strong personality — when he thought something was terrible, he said so. When he thought something would be suicidal, he'd tell you directly, looking you in the eyes. This kind of professional who speaks truthfully to young people does it because he wants them to progress and become the future of the sector. Claudio would have loved knowing that scholarships now carry his name — scholarships for choosing young international talent. It's a beautiful tribute, and we've been fortunate that you've trusted us again to do this together. Perhaps between our two teams we can make Claudio proud. When we communicated the initiative internally, our employees were very happy, because it transmits that vocation of sharing knowledge and helping young people. In recent months, we've seen changes in the market and the editorial world, with certain trends accelerating. Regarding talent and the university connection, talent remains fundamental — a key piece in our publishing house. We deal with people; our raw material is our authors. We increasingly need people with stronger relational skills, who can adapt, who are empathetic, and who can develop ideas from a conversation with an author. It's fundamental to have universities like Universitat Pompeu Fabra, which for so long has focused on specific studies for the editorial sector. You need knowledge of literature and sciences, but above all those softer skills that are increasingly important — and combining a creative part with a more analytical part. What we need are students and employees who can combine literary creation with analytical skills and market understanding.

I think with UPF we've achieved perfect symbiosis. First, because from the beginning you incorporated faculty who know the subject matter with a very practical approach. Editors, graphic designers, and people from our marketing department collaborate by giving lectures to students. This practical approach is one of the first keys that have made this master's work so well. Second, thanks to Javier's drive in creating a truly comprehensive program covering 360 degrees of the publishing world. There's also the internship component where university and company go hand in hand. This model — being close to the business world, incorporating professionals as faculty, and providing internship opportunities at publishing houses — is the key that has made this master's so distinctive.