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Madrid, June 4<\/strong> \u2013 For lawyer Juan Jos\u00e9 S\u00e1nchez Puig (Madrid, 1977), CEO of ISDE Business School, the leading institution in legal and financial education in Spain, managing success is harder than reaching the top. With EBITDA growth of over 30% in the past year and more than 1,300 students \u2013 just in the legal area \u2013 in the current academic year, S\u00e1nchez Puig is betting on new technologies and the medium-term international expansion of the institution\u2019s successful model to conquer new markets such as Africa and Asia.<\/p>\n \u201cAI is here to stay, and if you don\u2019t create value, it will overtake you,\u201d<\/strong> warns S\u00e1nchez Puig in this interview for the ISDE Sports Convention (ISC) communications team. The ISC is the leading international congress on law and the sports industry, organized by ISDE in collaboration with LaLiga, whose sixth edition will be held this Friday, June 6, at the Centro Municipal Galileo in Madrid.<\/p>\n The ISDE CEO, who began working at the institution in January 2004, highlights that this year\u2019s ISC will be \u201cpacked with new developments,\u201d including an ethical analysis and debate on the application of AI in high-performance sports, the rise of new sports formats like the Kings League (promoted by Gerard Piqu\u00e9\u2019s company Kosmos), and emerging markets like Africa, with the 2030 World Cup\u2014co-organized by Morocco, Spain, and Portugal\u2014as a backdrop.<\/p>\n \u201cWe were the first to identify emerging markets like the Middle East, and now we\u2019re turning toward Africa,\u201d<\/strong>says S\u00e1nchez Puig. One roundtable will feature Brian Wesaala, President of the Africa Football Foundation, and Sarah Ochowada, FIFA representative in Africa. He also celebrates that the organizing committee, including former handball international Jos\u00e9 Javier \u2018Jota\u2019 Hombrados, has secured other \u201cpowerful panels\u201d featuring LaLiga President Javier Tebas and FIBA Europe President Jorge Garbajosa, among others.<\/p>\n After LatAm, Africa and Japan?<\/strong><\/p>\n With campuses in Barcelona (the first), Madrid, Asturias, and New York, ISDE launched its Master\u2019s in International Advocacy and Digital Law in Mexico this past April. \u201cWe had to be in Mexico, as it has a huge Latin American market, and many firms are setting up there. We not only have to attract talent to train here but also support its development locally,\u201d said the CEO. He did not rule out exporting Sports Law programs if the new campus consolidates.<\/p>\n In Saudi Arabia, ISDE trained executives from the national Olympic committee, football league, and government officials\u2014the same model used in Dubai and Qatar shortly before the 2022 World Cup.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve also been active in Africa because more and more students are coming from those countries. In December, we participated in the most important sports congress on the continent, in Kenya. If we train the right leaders, that wealth can reach the population, and that\u2019s a way of contributing to Africa\u2019s development,\u201d<\/strong>he said.<\/p>\n He illustrated the idea with a parable: give a farmer tools, seeds, and fertile soil, and they\u2019ll grow tomatoes and become self-sufficient. \u201cISDE has identified an opportunity through sports\u2014why? Because sports and sports law are global. In the future, we\u2019ll begin training in Africa, although without a permanent campus yet. The next step could be Asia, specifically Japan. In 2017, we trained the J-League, and we\u2019re currently in talks with Waseda University in Tokyo,\u201d<\/strong> he revealed.<\/p>\n The ISDE Method: Tailor-made Headhunters<\/strong><\/p>\n What sets the ISC apart, according to S\u00e1nchez Puig, is that speakers share practical experiences as a \u201cpedagogical vehicle\u201d to train future leaders. \u201cIn law, we are leaders, and the most important thing about this congress is sharing knowledge within ISDE\u2019s success ecosystem: the combination of top talent, the best professors, the top firms, and having those firms recruit our students. At ISDE, theory and practice aren\u2019t separate\u2014they go hand in hand, alongside top brands and prime campuses in Madrid, Barcelona, Asturias, and New York, fully integrated into the professional world. That\u2019s how we fulfill the founding firms\u2019 mission: to scout, identify, and train talent to bring it into their teams. They act as their own headhunters,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n Committed to educating the best with the best, S\u00e1nchez Puig noted that ISDE collaborates with Georgetown and the University of Miami in the U.S., among others. \u201cIf you’re trained in solid values, there\u2019s a great return: more clients, more cases, and more income. And if you\u2019re a principled person, you govern money\u2014it doesn\u2019t corrupt you,\u201d<\/strong> he summarized.<\/p>\n Among the company’s upcoming projects, after being acquired by Magnum Capital four years ago, are the Summer School, a new module in the financial area through an agreement with Bolsas y Mercados Espa\u00f1oles (BME), which he says is one of the most exciting for the 2025\u20132026 academic year. He also wants to expand the school\u2019s bachelor\u2019s offerings. \u201cISDE can\u2019t have only one Law degree, even if we are number one in both student numbers and excellence. We\u2019re now launching other degrees in International Trade, Economics, and\u2014why not someday\u2014a degree in Business Administration,\u201d<\/strong> he hoped.<\/p>\n The AI Water Drop<\/strong><\/p>\n How will AI impact the legal world? Will it offer added value for professionals to counteract its threat? \u201cAI is here to stay, and if you don\u2019t create value, it will overtake you. Institutions like ISDE push you to keep training at the highest level because the value you generate is irreplaceable by technology. AI should make you more competitive, and the client should feel that added value in the service you deliver,\u201d<\/strong> S\u00e1nchez Puig replied.<\/p>\n He believes the goal is to ride the technological wave and avoid being overwhelmed. He recalls a lesson from Javier Rodr\u00edguez Zapatero, former CEO of Google and President of Grupo Digitalent, about the water drop: \u201cHe told me, \u2018You say technology doesn\u2019t kill you, just like a drop of water doesn\u2019t. But it\u2019s that last drop that makes it impossible to breathe\u2014and in the end, it\u2019s the drop that kills you, not the 100,000 centiliters before it.\u2019\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n