David Garde Sánchez · avan31 — Engineering Leadership

Purpose

My purpose

I believe technology only makes a difference when people have the right context to reach their full potential.

My job is to build that context.

To create teams where autonomy, ownership, quality and continuous improvement are part of the culture.

Because the best products are the result of the best teams.

What I do

Four fronts, one purpose

Engineering Leadership

I build engineering teams able to tackle complex technical challenges with autonomy, commitment and a business mindset.

Technical Excellence

I drive a culture built on software quality, continuous improvement, automation and sound engineering practice.

Technology Transformation

I support organizations that need to modernize their processes, platforms and ways of working.

People

I firmly believe that any organization's greatest technological asset is its people.

How I lead

My way of leading

I don't believe in management through control. I believe in shared ownership. In trust. In transparency. In closeness.

Leading means:

Making the team's work easier
Removing obstacles
Developing talent
Helping the team make better decisions
Celebrating collective wins
Learning continuously from mistakes

Principles

Four ideas I don't negotiate on

People before process

Process helps. People transform.

Quality from day one

Quality isn't a phase. It's a way of working.

Agility with purpose

Being agile isn't about doing Scrum. It's about learning faster than change.

Technology that makes sense

Every technical decision must create business value.

Engineering

Building systems that evolve for years

Software engineering isn't only about writing code. It's about building systems capable of evolving for years. I promote engineering built on:

Maintainable architecture Code quality Automation Continuous integration Observability DevOps Collaborative culture

Artificial Intelligence

AI won't replace engineers. It will transform how they work.

I believe Artificial Intelligence represents the biggest evolution in software engineering since the arrival of the Internet. The teams that make the best use of it will be those that combine technical knowledge, critical thinking and leadership.

AI doesn't replace judgment. It amplifies it.

The future of Engineering

The next generation of technology organizations will be able to:

Build faster
Automate decisions
Reduce complexity
Keep learning continuously
Use AI as an accelerator

But the real differentiator will remain the same:

The teams.

About

Engineering Manager & Technology Leader

My career has been tied to enterprise software development, technological evolution and engineering team leadership. Over the years I've learned that the best technology comes from motivated teams, collaborative cultures and solid engineering. My purpose is to keep helping organizations that see technology as a strategic lever for building the future.

Areas of expertise

Engineering Leadership People Management Software Engineering Java Enterprise Architecture Agile DevOps Software Quality Technology Transformation Change Management Mentoring Engineering Culture

Space reserved for a professional-presence image
(team, speaking engagement, workplace…)

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Experience & career track

More than three decades of experience: from software development in 1995 to leading engineering teams at Helvetia España today, with a stop along the way to build his own venture.

Decathlon

Programmer analyst and web content lead for the corporate intranet, within Decathlon's engineering team, also leading its development.

eFactoría de Aplicaciones — Unicity

Programmer and functional analyst, later responsible for web development for external companies, alongside supporting the programming team at unicity.es.

Ibermática

Progression from programming analyst to project lead, passing through business analyst and other profiles, always linked to software development across different projects.

Certum

Software Manager, later IT Manager, leading the company's technological change that enabled exponential business growth.

Avan31

Own venture: bespoke software development leading a team of engineers with a passion for building custom solutions for every project.

Caser

Development and maintenance of the software for the group's service companies, leading the development teams. Later, as head of the claims-services systems area, leading the internal team and the external structure.

Helvetia España

IT Engineering Manager for Claims Life & Non-Life, within the IT Engineering Direction, based in Madrid.

Key projects

Flagship project Claims platform · Multi-company · Multi-line

PAP — Permanent Assistance Platform

I manage the engineering team that supports Helvetia España's multi-company, multi-line claims and service-benefits management platform. Continuing the work of those who managed the platform before me, together with a team of Helvetia engineers, we build and evolve the platform around our business needs, focusing every improvement on optimizing the experience for our users and driving business automations that improve costs, resources and service quality.

Caser · Helvetia EspañaDedicated engineering team

ERP · Architecture & leadership

NADO

Corporate ERP designed from scratch as architect and team lead. More than 15 years in active production.

15+ years in productionArchitect & team lead

Broadcast · High technical demand

OBS — Olympic Broadcasting Services

Broadcast scheduling control platform for the Olympic Games, delivered through Avan31.

International clientAvan31

Attention console · REST APIs

Re-moto

Our IT team develops the permanent-attention console built on REST service APIs. The system can register accident notifications autonomously, displaying the policyholder's information in real time on the console integrated into Caser's claims platform.

Caser SegurosReal-time accident notification

Digital platform · Sales

DICADI — ONCE

Digital sales platform for ONCE, designed and built to run a sales channel that is critical for the client.

CertumDigital sales platform

Ideas

Thoughts on engineering and leadership

In this section I share thoughts on technology leadership, software engineering, artificial intelligence, quality, architecture and the evolution of engineering teams. Because sharing knowledge is also part of leadership.

Coming soon

Technology leadership

What it means to lead engineering without falling into management by control.

Coming soon

Engineering and quality

Why software quality is a culture, not a phase of the project.

Coming soon

AI and the future of teams

How Artificial Intelligence is redefining engineering work without replacing human judgment.

Coming soon

Architecture and evolution

Designing systems built to change, not just to work today.

Building engineering teams that create the future.

Head of IT — Claims Life & Non-Life — Helvetia España

My purpose

Four fronts, one purpose

Engineering Leadership

Technical Excellence

Technology Transformation

People

Technology changes. The principles of good engineering stay.

My way of leading

Four ideas I don't negotiate on

People before process

Quality from day one

Agility with purpose

Technology that makes sense

Building systems that evolve for years

AI won't replace engineers. It will transform how they work.

The next generation of technology organizations will be able to:

Engineering Manager & Technology Leader

Decathlon

eFactoría de Aplicaciones — Unicity

Ibermática

Certum

Avan31

Caser

Helvetia España

PAP — Permanent Assistance Platform

NADO

OBS — Olympic Broadcasting Services

Re-moto

DICADI — ONCE

Thoughts on engineering and leadership

Technology leadership

Engineering and quality

AI and the future of teams

Architecture and evolution

Let's talk