Madrid, Community of Madrid, Spain
My name is Luis Bernal, I am a highly accomplished senior executive with an outstanding track record of strengthening enterprise operations, decreasing risk, improving governance, and accelerating P&L performance in the global manufacturing and external audit sectors. As Head of IT (CIO) and Managing Director of the Digital Center for the Europe and Middle East and Africa regions with Holcim, I lead the IT organization driving technology-based business transformations. Before that, as Vice President, Head of Internal Audit for the Americas, I led an independent audit function strengthening organizational resiliency, profitability, and compliance across a major region. Since joining the company in 2006, I have successfully influenced the positive transformation of several business units in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. My team and I have consistently worked with our in-business executive partners to accelerate growth, deliver cost savings, build controls, and elevate the culture of performance. My skills and competencies include Global Operations Leadership ◆ P&L Management ◆ Business Strategy ◆ Corporate Audit & Controls ◆ Vision Definition ◆ Executive Leadership ◆ General Management ◆ Enterprise Business Transformation ◆ Operations Management ◆ Cross-Functional Management ◆ Business Development ◆ Mergers & Acquisitions ◆ Corporate Governance ◆ Resiliency ◆ Change Management ◆ Agile transformations ◆ Program Management ◆ Talent Development ◆ IT and more. I welcome your contact through LinkedIn.
Holcim is the leading global building materials & solutions company, producing $29 billion in annual revenues. In 2018 I was appointed to drive the transformation of the IT function in Europe and Middle East and Africa, and accelerate performance by promoting technology enabled innovation in business processes and operations in the 40+ country, $12 billion region. In this role, I direct a highly-skilled team of 400 digital and IT experts at regional headquarter in Madrid and country level. Notable achievements: ►Designing the Digital and IT strategy, vision, goals and priorities in support of company-wide goals, leading the digital transformation of business operations. ►Integrated 25+ acquisitions of newly acquired businesses. ►Building a high-velocity IT organization, accelerating the delivery of digital solutions through Agile methodologies (Scrum, Kanban, SAFe), continuous integration / continuous delivery and continuous testing. ►Boosted resilient operations, significantly improving the availability of critical systems through DevOps, observability and cloud-enabled operations. ►Forming a high-performance environment, maintaining low turnover rates, driven by empowerment and innovation and certified as a Great Place to Work. ►Delivered substantial cost savings on IT. I led the simplification of the IT organizations in the Europe, Middle East, and Africa by exploring integration synergies. ►Expanding data monetization approaches unlocking significant value in logistics and sales and marketing operations. ►Advancing Industry 4.0, directing the implementation of IT/OT convergence in cement plants and artificial intelligence (AI) solutions in predictive maintenance and quality. ►Reducing security exposure by boosting participation level in awareness programs, achieving ISO27001 certification and directing the implementation of advanced Identity and Access management (IAM), Vulnerability management, and End-point (EPP/EDR) solutions worldwide.
In 2015 I was promoted to build and lead a newly centralized, independent internal audit function strengthening organizational resiliency, profitability, and compliance across the 12-country, $8.5 billion Americas region. In this role reporting to the Head of Global Internal Audit, I shaped and executed the audit strategy, directing a multidisciplinary team of 25 partnering with the business on the creation and execution of strategic audit plans, the identification and assessment of risks and controls, and influencing the implementation of commercial, operational, and financial solutions. Notable achievements: ►Designing and leading the strategic Americas audit roadmap for a team serving as a critical partner, influencer, and control point on more than 30 projects annually. ►Having my role expanded to serve as General Manager of the Miami office. ►Architecting turnaround plans for key LATAM markets, driving EBITDA growth and sustained performance. ►Directed full scope of due diligence on 3 major proposed acquisitions and divestments, leading Big 4 firms, M&A teams, and stakeholders on the analysis. ►Delivering substantial cost savings on IT. I led the simplification of the IT organizations in the Europe, Middle East, and Africa by exploring integration synergies and influencing changes to service catalogue and delivery models. ►Building a high performing team with a strong pipeline of leadership talent. I developed multiple individuals into roles of increased responsibility at LafargeHolcim operations around the world.
I moved to Santiago, Chile to direct the LATAM internal audit strategy as the embedded executive partner to an 8-country region including the critical markets of Mexico, Brazil, and Argentina. In this capacity, I led the visioning and day-to-day operations for a cross-functional team co-located at facilities across the region, served as a core member of the Global Audit Leadership Team, and acted as the regional proxy for the Head of Global Internal Audit. Notable achievements: ►Transforming the enterprise operational mindset. I led the region’s first-ever compliance review, building trust and consensus around resolution of more than 50 critical enterprise risk exposures. ►Achieving a consistently high internal customer implementation rate on agreed action plans, with high degrees of accountability and compliance. ►Partnering with the country General Managers, the Legal & Compliance department, and the in-country teams to design, strengthen, and implement controls around fair competition, foreign corruption, and financial and IT systems. ►Streamlining and consolidating the Procure-to-Pay, Order-to-Cash, and Book-to-Report processes at the regional shared service center, delivering substantial cost savings and efficiencies. ►Improving overall internal operational efficiency by liaising with the IT leadership to implement CAATTs (Computer Assisted Audit Tools and Techniques) enabling direct access to the enterprise platforms and automating data analysis. ►Developing several team members to executive leadership roles.
In 2007, I was recruited to manage the launch and ongoing operation of the company’s first IT audit function. In this role, I recruited and led a team of four employees supporting the 15-country EMEA region. Notable achievements: ►Developing the core processes, performing enterprise risk assessments, and implementing all of the functional standard operating procedures, KPIs, and controls. ►Driving the successful closure of 25 key IT risks by simplifying processes and standardizing the support protocols. ►Implementing the ISO 2700X and ISO 20000 security and service management standards, internal control systems, and business process performance KPIs improving transparency, efficiency, and compliance. These processes are still in place to date.