{"id":1851,"date":"2025-01-28T22:26:23","date_gmt":"2025-01-28T21:26:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rafacontreras.org\/?p=1851"},"modified":"2025-02-24T21:06:58","modified_gmt":"2025-02-24T20:06:58","slug":"doctorado-no-hay-uno-sin-dos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rafacontreras.org\/en\/doctorado-no-hay-uno-sin-dos\/","title":{"rendered":"Doctorate: There is no one without two"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Today is one of those days that force you to pause, even for a moment, to take a deep breath and look back.<\/span><\/p>\n

I find myself receiving my second doctoral degree, this time from the Universidad Pontificia de Comillas<\/a>, on a topic I\u2019m truly passionate about: <\/span>Artificial Intelligence and the impact of its data on the Football industry.<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

I won\u2019t lie \u2014 the feeling is a mix of pride and relief. It\u2019s been years of hard work, of many ideas that seemed promising and others that didn\u2019t, but all of them have brought me here. The <\/a><\/span>DBA Program at Universidad Pontificia de Comillas \u2013 ICADE<\/span> is ranked among the best in the world, holding the <\/span>12th spot out of 148<\/span> according to the <\/span>Dubai International Ranking<\/span>.<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

If anyone deserves a special mention, it\u2019s <\/span>Professor Sergio Garc\u00eda<\/span>, who guided me, slowed me down when needed, and pushed me forward when I doubted myself. His patience with me should be a subject of study as well.<\/span><\/p>\n

As <\/span>Vice President of C\u00e1diz CF<\/span>, I must also acknowledge my partner and friend <\/span>Manolo Vizca\u00edno<\/span>, president of a club with <\/span>115 years of history<\/span>, for allowing me to transform a traditional club into a pioneer in the application of Artificial Intelligence technologies and digitalization processes. My thesis field is a historic club \u2014 so I was playing at home.<\/span><\/p>\n

This doctorate adds to the one I defended years ago at the <\/span>University of C\u00e1diz<\/span>, focused on <\/span>The competency profile of technologists in Andalusia<\/span><\/a>. That project, led by <\/span>Professor Carlos Guill\u00e9n<\/span>, was my first serious approach to the academic world, and since then, I\u2019ve been sure of one thing: <\/span>universities and businesses are two sides of the same coin<\/span> \u2014 though there\u2019s much to discuss about that relationship. I\u2019ll leave that for another post. In any case, that connection has been a constant in my career.<\/span><\/p>\n

I can\u2019t help but remember <\/span>Carbures<\/span>, born as a spin-off from a research group at the University of C\u00e1diz, eventually becoming the <\/span>first Andalusian company to go public<\/span> (now <\/span>Airtificial<\/span> on the Continuous Market). <\/span>Manuel Gal\u00e1n<\/span>, its academic mastermind, taught me something I\u2019ve never forgotten: <\/span>the importance of turning knowledge into real impact<\/span>. What we know means little if it doesn\u2019t have a practical application.\"\"<\/span><\/p>\n

The curious thing about moments like this is that you can\u2019t help but think about what truly drives you. <\/span>Why do you do this?<\/span> What pushes you to keep studying, researching, or creating? In my case, I believe it has always been a mix of <\/span>the need to understand the world and the desire to change it<\/span> \u2014 even just a little.<\/span><\/p>\n

This doctorate is not just a title to hang on the wall; it\u2019s a way to keep exploring what really fascinates me: <\/span>how technology \u2014 specifically Artificial Intelligence \u2014 can help us become better, to push our own boundaries<\/span>. This ties into the concept of <\/span>Nomadar Artificial<\/span>, an idea I\u2019ve been developing for some time and that excites me more and more. I\u2019ve already talked about it in another blog post. It\u2019s not about some futuristic utopia but about understanding that the tools at our disposal exist to <\/span>enhance us, not replace us<\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n

I remember that when <\/span>Carbures<\/span> went public, <\/span>Professor Gal\u00e1n<\/span> said something that stuck with me: <\/span>\u201cWe did it because we didn\u2019t know it was impossible.\u201d<\/span> That phrase, far from being a clich\u00e9, captures the essence of how I approach every project, every challenge. There\u2019s always something beyond \u2014 something that seems unattainable until someone makes it a reality.<\/span><\/p>\n

Today, while holding this diploma, I don\u2019t see this as an end but as another step. Because, in the end, what truly matters is not the recognition but what you do with it.<\/span><\/p>\n

What comes next, as always, is <\/span>work, ideas<\/span>, and, most importantly, the <\/span>conviction that the best is yet to come<\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n

At this moment, I think of my daughter <\/span>Pilar<\/span>, a constant witness to my growth \u2014 and I to hers \u2014 and my son <\/span>Rafa<\/span>, who already surpasses me in stubbornness and is a true <\/span>AI native at just two years old<\/span>. I do this for them too.<\/span><\/p>\n

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[<\/span>Video of the ceremony held at Universidad Pontificia Comillas in Madrid. Watch here<\/a><\/span>]<\/span><\/p>\n

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 <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Today is one of those days that force you to pause, even for a moment, to take a deep breath and look back. I find myself receiving my second doctoral degree, this time from the Universidad Pontificia de Comillas, on a topic I\u2019m truly passionate about: Artificial Intelligence and the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1854,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[100,6],"tags":[28,53,69,80,97],"class_list":["post-1851","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nomadar","category-universidad","tag-crecimiento","tag-innovacion","tag-rafael-contreras","tag-tecnologia","tag-universidad"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/rafacontreras.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/174cb910-d672-4368-8fd5-6eb8be31f113.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rafacontreras.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1851","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rafacontreras.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rafacontreras.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rafacontreras.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rafacontreras.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1851"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/rafacontreras.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1851\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1999,"href":"https:\/\/rafacontreras.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1851\/revisions\/1999"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rafacontreras.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1854"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rafacontreras.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1851"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rafacontreras.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1851"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rafacontreras.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1851"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}