Meet Francisco! Head of BIM & Asset Management at AKKA Spain

Your role and story with AKKA

I am currently working as Head of BIM & Asset Management for AKKA Technology Spain. I knew AKKA but was not aware of the actual size of the company, thus I quickly realized that there was so much potential. Working for AKKA has been great so far and has allowed me to work alongside very competent people, both colleagues and clients. I feel that I’m learning something new every day. Participating in internal initiatives of the company such as training, conferences, etc. is one of the things that I enjoy the most. 

Your background

Right after finishing my Civil Engineering degree, I started working for a Contractor here in Spain. After one year, I felt that the UK could offer a lot of opportunities professionally speaking, so I moved there looking for new challenges. I was lucky enough to find a job for a big engineering company and during my period in the UK, I managed to step up relatively fast and got the chance to work on several important projects such as the operation & maintenance of the M25 in London and I finally ended up working as a lead engineer for Transport for London. BIM was being implemented within the industry at this very moment, thus I was able to be part of this implementation, experimenting with the challenges and benefits of the process.

Your achievements

When I started at AKKA, there was not an established business in terms of BIM and Asset Management within the AECO industry (Architecture, Engineering, Construction and Operation) but we knew that the company already had everything required to position ourselves in this market. I like thinking that my previous experience within the Infrastructure Asset Management & BIM industry in the UK allowed me to have a holistic vision of the opportunities and challenges for AKKA in order to support its clients. We focused on creating a unique approach towards BIM & AM, we name it “Digital Asset Lifecycle Management”, taking advantage of the company experience in similar fields within other areas (Energy, Industry, Automotive, etc.) and unifying efforts with other related departments such as RAMS and the Centre of Software Delivery. This enabled us to participate in all sorts of projects, especially in the ones where a complex multidisciplinary solution is required. This contributes to creating a distinctive view for AKKA, focusing on quality and customer needs. 

We created a dedicated BIM&AM team, working transversally for most of AKKA areas but mainly within the railway industry, and successfully participated in several projects, both with existing clients and new ones.

Today we are actively collaborating with our colleagues in other countries to maximize business opportunities while having a consistent approach towards BIM and AM AECO projects. 

How do your friends describe you and your spare time?

It´s a difficult question. I would say that my family and friends perceive me as a person with a strong sense of responsibility and I feel that they usually trust me for any help or advice, this is something that I value a lot. Something very important to me is trying to have always a positive attitude towards work and any other aspect of my life, but have to confess that, sometimes, I tend to worry a bit more than I would like. 

In my spare time, I enjoy traveling (not able to do so lately) and having long walks in nature with my partner (and my dog). I usually have a book to read and I recently developed an interest in listening to podcasts about various topics (technology, history, science, etc.).

For more info about AKKA Spain, click HERE