Juan Bernabe Moreno, PhD

Director IBM Research Europe (UK & Ireland Research Labs) | AI & Quantum Computing Executive | Leading the Algorithmic and Applications mission for NASA - ESA | CDO | CAIO | CIO

Dublin, County Dublin, Ireland

About

I've served as executive on both sides of the technology equation: โ†’ ๐Ÿ๐ŸŽ+ ๐ฒ๐ž๐š๐ซ๐ฌ applying data and AI to transform major European corporations as Chief Data and AI Officer โ€” at E.ON (Europe's largest energy company) and Telefรณnica (#6 world-wide by number of subscribers, #1 non-Asian). โ†’ ๐Ÿ’+ ๐ฒ๐ž๐š๐ซ๐ฌ (and counting) creating the technology that will transform industries โ€”foundational AI, quantum computingโ€” as IBM Research Lab Director, partnering with NASA and ESA. ๐—ง๐—ต๐—ถ๐˜€ ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐—บ๐—ฏ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป ๐—ถ๐˜€ ๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ: the business acumen and corporate leadership to drive transformation, paired with the technical depth to navigate and build what's coming next. ๐—˜๐—ป๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ฝ๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐˜€๐—ฒ ๐—ง๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐˜€๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—บ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป as Chief Data and AI Officer My data transformation journey at E.ON is featured as an INSEAD business school case study ("E.ON: Building a New AI-Powered Energy World"), used to teach the next generation of business leaders how to build AI capabilities, drive cultural change, and create measurable value from data at scale. Before E.ON, I led data strategy and AI initiatives at Telefรณnica, one of Europe's largest telecommunications companies. ๐—œ๐—•๐—  ๐—ฅ๐—ฒ๐˜€๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฐ๐—ต ๐—Ÿ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐˜€๐—ต๐—ถ๐—ฝ Lab Director responsible for IBM's labs in Dublin (IE), Daresbury, and Hursley (UK), leading teams across quantum computing and AI. I engage directly with UK and Irish governments on national quantum and AI strategies, advise policymakers on sovereign computing and AI governance, and connect IBM Research with innovation ecosystems through partnerships like our joint research programme with Trinity College Dublin. ๐—ก๐—”๐—ฆ๐—” & ๐—˜๐—ฆ๐—” ๐—ฃ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐˜๐—ป๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐˜€๐—ต๐—ถ๐—ฝ๐˜€ I lead IBM's flagship AI-for-Science partnerships with NASA and the European Space Agency โ€” award-winning foundation models for science with 1M+ downloads, the first AI models deployed in space, and a NASA Agency Group Achievement Award. ๐—ฅ๐—ฒ๐˜€๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฐ๐—ต & ๐—ง๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐—ต๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด 50+ publications in top-tier venues ยท Multiple academic awards ยท Lecturer at Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich (Quantum Applications, Intelligent Systems) โ€” four years and counting. ๐—ง๐—ต๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ด๐—ต๐˜ ๐—Ÿ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐˜€๐—ต๐—ถ๐—ฝ International press usual contributor ยท Malcolm Gladwell's Smart Talks ยท The Times Tech Podcast ยท 20+ major events including IBM Think, Web Summit, and Wired. Happy to connect if you're pushing boundaries in algorithmic research, navigating AI transformation at scale, building a quantum-aware technology strategy, or shaping a future-oriented technology-defined organization.

Experience

  • IBM (Full-time ยท 4 yrs 1 mo)
    • Quantum and AI Algorithms and Applications - Strategic Partnerships Lead
      Feb 2026 - Present ยท 5 mos

      As Lead for Strategic Partnerships in Quantum and AI Algorithms & Applications, I bridge cutting-edge research with real-world industry impact by building and managing collaborations with world-class scientific and industrial partners. I work to validate our algorithmic capabilities against real benchmarks and hard problems, while channeling partner insights back into the research roadmap to drive new directions in areas such as sparse data handling, novel equation types, and emerging application domains. Through co-development and deep engagement with partners spanning the full value chain, I help establish the credibility and market authority of our technologies, while ensuring they deliver measurable business and scientific value across industries.

    • Director of IBM Research Europe / UK and Ireland
      Jun 2022 - Present ยท 4 yrs 1 mo

      Responsible of the activities of IBM Research in UK and Ireland, leading a world-class team of researcher professionals across three labs in Dublin -Ireland-, Hursley and Daresbury -UK- to create what's next in Artificial Intelligence, Quantum Computing, Multi Cloud, Semiconductors and other cutting-edge technologies

    • Strategy Lead Accelerated Discovery for Climate and Sustainability
      Sep 2023 - Apr 2026 ยท 2 yrs 8 mos

      Leading a team of researchers across 7 global research labs to explore how the convergence of AI, Quantum Computing and Hybrid Cloud can accelerate the discovery of sustainability and solutions.

  • Invited Professor - Quantum Applications / Intelligent Systems at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitรคt Mรผnchen
    Apr 2022 - Present ยท 4 yrs 3 mos

    Teaching Quantum Applications (quantum optimization algorithms, quantum machine learning, etc) (Summer Semester) Teaching Intelligent Systems (Winter Semester)

  • Chief Data Officer and Global Head of Data and Analytics at E.ON
    Apr 2017 - May 2022 ยท 5 yrs 2 mos

    Appointed as E.ONโ€™s first Chief Data Officer, leading the data and AI transformation of one of Europeโ€™s largest energy companies (70,000 employees, 15+ European markets). Reported to the Chief Digital Officer with a mandate to build capabilities from scratch, drive cultural change, and deliver measurable business value. ๐Ÿ”น Enterprise transformation (Data.ON) โ€ข Designed and executed Data.ON, E.ONโ€™s board approved enterprise wide data transformation programme โ€ข Built the data strategy, governance framework, and operating model to scale AI across the business โ€ข Transformation documented in the INSEAD case study โ€œE.ON: Building a New AI Powered Energy Worldโ€ (Ref. 6595), co authored with Prof. Theodoros Evgeniou ๐Ÿ”น Data culture and adoption โ€ข Made AI tangible via data evangelisation and high visibility, ROI driven use cases โ€ข Delivered early wins incl. automated wind turbine maintenance and intraday energy trading optimisation โ€ข Shifted the data function from centrally funded to self sustaining, with business units funding AI as internal clients ๐Ÿ”น Governance and architecture โ€ข Built a centralised data governance platform to address legacy fragmentation, GDPR across jurisdictions, and inconsistent quality โ€ข Established data ownership, data quality processes, and master data management as the foundation for AI at scale ๐Ÿ”น AI applications and impact โ€ข Delivered AI solutions across renewables trading (intraday pricing prediction, supply and demand forecasting) โ€ข Enabled predictive maintenance for wind turbines and grid infrastructure, improving asset performance and reliability โ€ข Implemented KPIs and a rigorous evaluation process for project selection, balancing innovation with commercial discipline ๐Ÿ† Recognition Featured as an industry benchmark at INSEADโ€™s digital@INSEAD webinar alongside Dr. Karsten Wildberger (now Germanyโ€™s Digital Minister) and INSEAD faculty, presenting the case study as the protagonist.

  • Telefรณnica Germany (Greater Munich Metropolitan Area)
    • Manager Web Intelligence and Online Data Science
      Apr 2015 - Mar 2017 ยท 2 yrs

      Managing a team of analysts and data scientist to implement a data driven culture in the online channel and all along the Telefรณnica organization. It includes: โ€ข Creating Data Products to support the online marketing activities (intelligent dashboards, market insights sensors, etc) with cutting-edge technologies (Big Data Stack, R, MEAN) โ€ข Growing up a best-in class analytics department extracting information from all variety of data that's immediately consumed and actioned โ€ข Implementing the data-driven mindset change across the organization (processes, tools, coaching, etc) โ€ข Providing in-field expertise for data-related projects (RTB, Audience Management, etc) โ€ข Championing a new way of Business Intelligence, with an intelligence team embedded directly in the line, with the same commercial goals and direct access to actions.

    • Big Data Lab Manager
      Jan 2014 - Mar 2015 ยท 1 yr 3 mos

      Heading the Data Lab set as data intelligence skunkworks-like team in Telefรณnica Germany with 3 goals: โ€ข To turn our core data assets into products โ€ข To maximize the value of data for our Core Business โ€ข To turn Telefรณnica into a data driven company Successfully delivered projects so far: โ€ข Device pricing modeling with scenario simulation based on own/market data โ€ข Market Insights Sensor tool for competition monitoring and early warning system. โ€ข Brand impact measuring model based on Social Media Insights and digital assets monitoring โ€ข Geo-localized competition index to assist Location Based Marketing for fixed line and mobile

  • Big Data Lab Manager at Telefรณnica Digital
    Dec 2012 - Dec 2013 ยท 1 yr 1 mo

    Headed the Big Data Products Lab for Telefรณnica Dynamic Insights, working globally to turn the data business into a reality The mission of the Big Data Lab I run is: โ€ข We turn ideas and concept into tangible things we put in front of the customers โ€ข We engage into a technical journey to explore the technical options and make sure that whatever we create and put in front of customers is feasible, or in other words: data can be loaded and processed in a reasonable time, the application is responsive with so much data and the costs to get to a solution are not a show stopper โ€ข We engage with our friendly customers to iterate over concepts and to shape them until we make sure that the customers would pay money for that (we turn our friendly customers into co-designers). โ€ข We make sure the quality of the insights we produce in the Lab is quantifiable and provide the proof โ€ข We enable managed services in to get more customers feedback and make some revenues at the same time