Q-Day Conference 2024 “Generative AI: from Buzz to Business”
With 1,200 participants (in-person at Culturgest in Lisbon and also online) gathered around the theme “Generative AI: from Buzz to Business,” the 15th edition of the Q-Day Conference demonstrated how this technology is being used to create value and drive innovation, efficiency, skills, and sustainable growth in Portugal and worldwide.
Opening Session
Alberto Rodrigues da Silva, Secretary of State for Modernization and Digitalization, shared some of the initiatives carried out by the Portuguese government, some financed under the PRR, as a strategic bet to ensure public services can respond with simplicity, flexibility, and inclusion to citizens’ needs. In this context, the App.Gov.pt will be launched in 2025 “as part of the strategy to ensure that Portugal is at the forefront of digital transformation,” he said.
Maj Tellefsen, Head of Economic Affairs & Trade at the Danish Embassy in Portugal, discussed how international partnerships between the two countries can increase the EU’s competitiveness and unlock new growth and expansion opportunities in the global market. In 2019, Denmark already had a defined AI strategy. Today, AI is present across various sectors of society, from transport to healthcare, and has served to meet citizens’ needs.
Panel 1 – “Generative AI: from Buzz to Business | Global Vision with Local Execution” Moderated by Joana Petiz, Journalist and Editorial Director at Sapo
Antonio Neto da Silva, CEO of the Bank Training Institute, discussed the impact of Generative AI on the Global Economy, with increased productivity, new technological sectors, and the transformation of the labor market; but also its impact on Management, Competition, Strategy, and Innovation, among others. He believes that “countries, companies, and individuals who adapt more quickly to these changes will be able to harness the full potential of AI to create value and social advancement, gaining significant competitive advantages that will allow them to move into blue oceans.”
Bruno Oliveira, Head of Digital Hub & E-Business at SUMOL + COMPAL, emphasized that Critical Thinking will make the difference because “the ability to think critically allows for easier ‘conversations’ with the machine, assessing the accuracy of responses and identifying potential flaws.” He also mentioned that “being self-taught will no longer be just ‘nice to have’ – it will be a mandatory requirement. And here, organizations will play a crucial role in creating an environment that fosters collaboration, providing appropriate tools, time, and incentives for employees to work together continuously and efficiently.”
João Paulo Carvalho, Co-founder and Senior Partner at Quidgest, began his presentation by suggesting that we should stop being “mere enthusiastic spectators” (the euphoria, the buzz) and become active participants in this technological revolution that is Generative AI (the value, the business). He presented 8 ways to embrace and create value with Generative AI and emphasized the importance of using AI strategically, explaining that the true competitive advantage arises from the combination of AI with human knowledge, noting that “Generative AI has no purpose; it is Humans who give it one!”
Panel 2 – “Generative AI: from Buzz to Business | Purpose and Value for Society” Moderated by Leonor Pipa, Director of Link to Leaders
Luísa Ribeiro Lopes, Chair of the Board of Directors of DNS.PT Association, spoke about how we can leverage what we already do well as humans with the help of machines and Generative AI. This, in her opinion, is the true value of this symbiosis. “But if we do it without purpose, it doesn’t make sense,” she pointed out. It is necessary to upskill people for AI and for the millions of new professions that are emerging. AI can help in land planning, fighting climate change, and many other areas, but she warned that a large group of people is still excluded from this digital transformation.
Adolfo Mesquita Nunes, Partner at Pérez-Llorca Law Firm, clarified that Generative AI is not an issue exclusive to IT. It is a topic that goes beyond technological concerns and requires a clear strategic plan with established governance policies. Organizations must define how to use this new technology, set ethical boundaries, ensure legal compliance, and oversee its responsible implementation – including contracts that include risk analysis.
Pedro Fradinho Marques, Head of Advanced Analytics and Intelligence at the Shared Services of the Ministry of Health, explained how Generative AI is being used to transform public services in Health. Among the projects presented is a Datalake aimed at improving data analysis, supporting decision-making, promoting innovation and research, enabling data mining and AI models, and sharing cross-border data. He also presented Speech-to-text & NLP, which aims to convert conversations between patients and healthcare professionals into text, which is then transformed into clinical data and associated actions (clinical diaries, surveillance, prescriptions, etc.).
António Guedes de Amorim, Sales Director at Quidgest, stated that the impact of Generative AI on Public Management has improved process efficiency, such as classifying information submitted by citizens through public portals and routing that information to the appropriate departments. According to him, there are many opportunities to promote value in Public Management through Generative AI, considering that “the Public Administration is thirsty for innovation; Portuguese engineering is spectacular; Academia is involved and follows or leads, and the potential for evolution is limitless.”
Winners of the Co-Innovation Awards
The Co-Innovation Awards recognize and honor pioneers, visionaries, and all those who, with courage and determination, lead digital transformation within the Quidgest ecosystem. Meet the winners and some of the key ideas shared on stage at the Q-Day Conference 2024:
- Clients with History Co-Innovation Award | Turismo Portugal
- Clients with History Co-Innovation Award | Lisbon and Tagus Valley Regional Coordination and Development Commission (CCDR LVT)
- Agile Co-Innovation Award | Portuguese Army
- Strategic Excellence Co-Innovation Award | Strategic Excellence Co-Innovation Award
- Impactful Words Co-Innovation Award | PsicoSoma Publishing and authors of the book “Success in the Implementation of the BSC in Public and Private Organizations”
- Co-Innovation Award for the Local Community | Cascais Envolvente
- Digital Impact Co-Innovation Award | Directorate-General for Territory (DGT)
- Co-Innovation Award for Administrative Modernization| Secretariat-General of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers (SGPCM)
- Co-Innovation Award for Equality and Inclusion | Municipality of Famalicão
- Continuous Co-Innovation Award | Las Training
- Co-Innovation Award for Sustainable Development | ADENE – Energy Agency
- International Co-Innovation Award | National Data Protection Agency of São Tomé and Príncipe (ANPDP)
- National Partner Co-Innovation Award | GTE Consultants
- Connecting for the Future Co-Innovation Award | Polytechnic Institute of Coimbra (IPC)
- Science and Academia Co-Innovation Award | Faculty of Science and Technology at NOVA University of Lisbon (FCT-UNL)
Panel 3 – “Generative AI: from Buzz to Business | Business and Innovation Ecosystems” Moderated by Besma Kraiem, Founding Partner at IBK International Business Consulting
Madalena Talone, Executive Board Member at Caixa Geral de Depósitos, presented a 3-tier approach adopted by CGD, involving collaboration with software providers for AI feature integration, the adoption of industry-specific AI solutions through FinTech, and the internal development of tailored AI solutions leveraging open-source technologies. These advances include CGD’s virtual assistant – which handled 2 million transactions for 12 million clients in the first half of 2024. CGD also achieved “60% automation without human intervention” and processed over 14,000 documents, resulting in cost reductions and service improvements.
Nuno Brás, Partner and Co-founder at DareData Engineering, explained that “the spectacular yet fuzzy value of Generative AI generated a huge hardware investment!” To support this theory, he discussed the economic pressure created by this investment and used the metaphor of a “strange cocktail” of amazing yet fuzzy GenAI abilities, a huge need for hardware, pressure at the application level mixed with “unclear techniques to handle new tech, lack of data strategy, and too many service companies suddenly posing as AI experts, all stirred with Leaders’ FOMO – Fear Of Missing Out.
Sofia Rolo, Project Manager at Unicorn Factory Lisbon, described the vision of the platform where she works: “to create a world-class ecosystem in Lisbon” that helps founders start, scale, and become global, leveraging the growing adoption of AI in Portugal and Europe. Investment in AI is growing rapidly in Portugal, with projections exceeding 100 million euros by the end of 2024, according to IDC. However, one of the main challenges for Portuguese companies remains the difficulty of hiring staff with the right digital skills, she said.
Marcelo Ribeiro, Generative AI Strategist at Quidgest, said that “AI is advancing at an incredible pace.” In this context, Quidgest has launched several solutions that combine Symbolic and Neural AI (Hybrid AI): a tool that transcribes and summarizes long audio files in seconds; another that automates proposal creation by filling in extensive fields; instant language translation in multilingual software solutions; and even defining a Balanced Scorecard strategy map in just a few minutes. These new tools create value by increasing productivity, adapting to existing business rules, and giving teams more time and focus to dedicate themselves to innovation and strategic growth.
Session with Guest Country – Denmark Moderated by Sandra Mateus, Director for Strategic Opportunities and World Wide Public Sector at Microsoft
Mikkel Frich, Digital Transformation Consultant, focused on the importance of public sector digitization for achieving sustainable and equitable development. He emphasized that public digitization should be democratic, collaborative, and human-centered, and pointed out that it is as much a matter of culture as of technology. Another central theme was the need for a systemic approach to digital transformation, where no single entity dominates. This involves promoting collaboration between the public and private sectors, ensuring transparency, accountability, and the ethical use of AI.
David Pereira de Castro, President of the Board at SPOT Nordic, highlighted in his message that Portugal and Denmark are two countries that “can learn a lot from each other.” Denmark can learn from Portugal to expand international collaboration, create regulatory sandboxes, and improve reskilling programs. In turn, Portugal can benefit from the Danish approach to developing a cybersecurity and data ethics seal, strengthening public-private partnerships, and implementing comprehensive AI legislation.
Mikkel Solnado, CEO of Great Dane Studios and Visible-Agency, and AI Consultant, emphasized the role of AI in transforming business models, especially for solopreneurs. The speaker, who transitioned from the music industry to entrepreneurship, showed how AI can help a single individual accomplish tasks previously only possible by entire teams. These solopreneurs can leverage AI in various stages of the business – from branding and marketing to client outreach and SEO optimization. However, there are challenges, such as “reduced job opportunities” and “more isolated work environments,” he pointed out.
Susanna Coghlan, Europe Business Development Manager at Quidgest, noted that Denmark’s success in digital transformation is closely aligned with Quidgest’s mission, as “creating a data model is the starting point for every new software developed at Quidgest.” She also mentioned Quidgest’s ongoing work in Denmark, based on the company’s experience in managing and integrating complex information systems in the public and private sectors. “But, of course, we don’t do it alone,” she explained, emphasizing that partnerships have always been central to Quidgest’s international strategy.
Panel 4 – “Generative AI: from Buzz to Business | Future-Proof Skills” Moderated by Luisa Baltazar, Founder of HER Venture HUB
Luís Espírito Santo, AI researcher specializing in Generative AI and Computational Creativity, introduced key indicators to identify future-proof skills, focusing on their value, scarcity, and difficulty in being automated. Skills that remain valuable in economic, social, or ethical contexts, that are currently rare but acquirable and that cannot easily be automated are considered essential for the future. The speaker outlined a list of crucial future-proof skills, such as leadership, emotional intelligence, problem-solving, and empathy, which will remain important regardless of technological advances.
Pedro Pereira, Managing Director and Senior Partner at Boston Consulting Group, explained that Generative AI complements traditional AI by enabling more open and creative tasks. He compared Generative AI to the “right side” of the brain, more associated with creativity; while traditional AI acts more like the “left side” of the brain, closer to logical and analytical tasks. To conclude, Pedro Pereira said, “to remain relevant and capture GenAi’s potential, organizations must develop 5 key pillars: empowered vision, new processes, precise investments, key capabilities, compliant policies”.
Fernando Félix, Co-Founder & CTO at inncivio, emphasized that traditional learning methods are no longer sufficient, as they are too static, slow, and non-personalized. Generative AI was presented as “a game-changer for learning,” offering personalized and large-scale learning journeys. The concept of microlearning was also introduced—learning sessions in “bite-sized lessons,” flexible and engaging, capable of improving attention, engagement, and knowledge retention for immediate application in dynamic work environments.
Hugo Miguel Ribeiro, VP People Operations & Inclusion and Diversity at Quidgest, explored the concept of AI as a “skill leveler” and/or “skill elevator”, referencing Ethan Mollick’s article, “Everyone is Above Average.” He explained that Generative AI can help less-skilled employees improve their performance while enabling more talented employees to reach higher productivity levels and innovation. However, the key to maintaining competitiveness remains collaboration: “this idea of collaboration with AI is part of Quidgest’s philosophy, with our Genio platform, where non-programmers – citizen developers – effectively collaborate with AI to develop software without needing to know how to code,” he concluded.
15 years of Q-Day Conference
The Q-Day Conference has reached 15 editions dedicated to digital transformation. Already a landmark event in the Portuguese calendar, Q-Day brings together specialists, leaders, and thinkers from various fields. Since the first edition, we have debated the following themes:
- 2009: “Innovation Against the Crisis”
- 2010: “AAA+ Innovation”
- 2011: “Overcoming the Adamastor”
- 2012: “The Export Route”
- 2013: “Building the Future”
- 2014: “Deciding Better”
- 2015: “Strategic Intelligence”
- 2016: “Portugal: Sun, Sea & Software”
- 2017: “The Year of Digital Transformation”
- 2018: “Hyper Agile, Lean & Machine Learning”
- 2019: “The New Spring of Artificial Intelligence and Models”
- 2021: “SDG 2030 – Sustainable Development Goals”
- 2022: “Innovation from Within”
- 2023: “Decoding Generative AI”
- 2024: “Generative AI: frim Buzz to Business”
