Nestlé reshuffles its leadership, advancing Isla's appointment as president

BarcelonaAfter Nestlé experienced a complicated episode a couple of weeks ago with the abrupt dismissal of its CEO, Laurent Freixe, for pursuing a romantic relationship with a direct subordinate to whom he allegedly granted privileges within the corporate structure, the multinational food sector is now undergoing changes once again. This is the early appointment of Pablo Isla as the company's new president, which was scheduled for spring 2026, but will finally take effect on October 1st. Furthermore, the week of the executive transfer market has also been marked by the appointment of a new CEO at Tous. These and other changes are some of the signings of the week:

Nestlé advances the appointment of Pablo Isla as president

Nestlé's board of directors surprised the market by announcing that it will bring forward the appointment of Pablo Isla as company chairman to October 1, rather than waiting until April 2026 as originally planned. Isla will replace Paul Bulcke, currently chairman, who has been named honorary chairman "in recognition of his long and dedicated service to the company." The company has also appointed Dick Boer as senior independent director and vice chairman of the board, effective October 1. Marie-Gabrielle Ineichen-Fleisch has also been appointed vice chairman of Nestlé's highest governing body.

The early appointment of Pablo Isla—former chairman of Inditex and current member of the Nestlé board—as chairman comes just two weeks after the appointment of Philipp Navratil as the company's new CEO, replacing Laurent Freixe, after the scandal caused an internal upheaval within the company. Nestlé explained in a statement that Isla's appointment was accelerated by Bulcke's decision "to retire from the board earlier than planned."

Tous signs its new CEO at Parfois

The Catalan jewelry company Tous now has a new CEO. The Manresa-based company has approved the appointment of Susana Sánchez as its new CEO.replacing Carlos Soler-Duffo, who led the company for the past seven years. Sánchez was previously CEO of Parfois. Prior to Parfois, Sánchez was corporate general manager of Grupo Profand and held senior positions at companies such as Bimba y Lola and Dayaday.

Montse Pujol i Torrent, new president of the Business Meeting in the Pyrenees

Montse Pujol i Torrent has been appointed the new president of the Business Meeting in the Pyrenees, succeeding Josep Serveto, who has led the event since 2022. Pujol, founder and general director of the PMP Group, was unanimously ratified by the board members. Pujol is a technical architect by training, founder and general director of the PMP Group. She is the president of the Territorial Commission of the Association of Promoters of Catalonia (APCE) in Lleida and a member of the Social Council of the University of Lleida.

He began his career in a family business dedicated to structural prefabricated elements and founded his own business venture in 2000. He stood out with the Kyoto House (2006), one of the first bioclimatic prefabricated homes in Spain, which won several sustainability awards.

Jaume Miralles, new general director of AI, Efficiency and Data in Public Administration

Engineer Jaume Miralles has been appointed the new Director General of Artificial Intelligence, Efficiency, and Data in the Administration, a recently created body that reports to the Department of the Presidency and specifically to the Secretariat of Telecommunications and Digital Transformation. Miralles will be responsible for leading and executing the digital innovation strategy, maximizing the use of data and AI in the Generalitat, as part of the Digital Transformation Plan.

Miralles holds a degree in telecommunications engineering and a higher degree in electronics engineering from Ramon Llull University. He began his professional career at PricewaterhouseCoopers, although his main focus has been on IBM, where he has worked since 2003. In recent years, his experience has focused on artificial intelligence and data management. Since 2022, he has held the position of account director in the Catalan public sector, managing IBM's local business with projects for the Barcelona Metropolitan Area and Barcelona City Council.

Job&Talent strengthens its board of directors with two new hires.

Job&Talent has strengthened its board of directors with the addition of two new members to drive its next phase of growth, according to the artificial intelligence (AI)-powered workforce management platform. Specifically, the company has hired Bruce Felt and Javier Torremocha, who join current members Jim Grube, Natalie Tydeman, Guillaume Santamaría, and Juan Urdiales.

Felt, CFO at Flex, led the US IPOs of Domo, SuccessFactors, and FullTime Software. He currently serves on the boards of Veradigm, Betterworks, Cambium Networks, and Human Interest. Javier Torremocha is a co-founder and managing partner at Kibo Ventures and former head of the corporate advisory group at UBS. Job&Talent closed a Series F round last April, securing €92 million in equity financing to fuel its growth through AI. New investors joined this round, including Kibo Ventures, co-founded by Javier Torremocha, one of the new recruits to the Job&Talent board.