Reading Time: 4 minutesCities must adapt continually to retain and attract talent amidst global uncertainty. Lisbon is using tech innovation and cultural vibrancy to attract mobile talent.
Carlos Moedas - (Mayor)
Carlos Moedas (born 1970 in Beja, Portugal) is a civil engineer with a degree from Instituto Superior Técnico (1993) and an MBA from Harvard Business School (2000). He was one of Portugal’s first Erasmus students and studied at the École Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées in Paris.
He began his career working for the French conglomerate Suez Lyonnaise des Eaux in France, later working in investment banking at Goldman Sachs in London. In 2004, he became head of Aguirre Newman in Portugal and board member in Spain. In 2008, he founded his own investment firm. In 2011, he led the Social Democrat Party’s economic team, was elected to Parliament, and appointed under-Secretary of State to the Prime Minister.
In 2014, he was appointed European Commissioner for Research, Science and Innovation, managing Horizon and designing the 100-billion-euro Horizon Europe programme. Since 2019, he has served on the board of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation and as Vice-President of the Jacques Delors Institute in Paris. On September 26, 2021, he was elected Mayor of Lisbon.