Let us introduce you to Douglas Alfaro, the new Chief Business Officer at Wallbox

Let us introduce you to Douglas Alfaro, the new Chief Business Officer at Wallbox

The interview

Tell us about yourself, what is your current role and what’s your background?

I’m the General Manager for Wallbox in North America. I started my career in renewable energy and energy efficiency, some of my first projects were running government incentive programs that helped people be more sustainable by making home energy upgrades and adding renewable energy sources like solar panels. I also have an extensive background in electric vehicles and electric vehicle infrastructure. I helped build out extensive networks of fast chargers and overnight charging stations nearly 10 years ago throughout North America and Europe before joining Wallbox to bring our company to the US. 

What do you do at Wallbox? What does an average week look like? 

My primary role is to represent and build Wallbox’s brand, vision, and strategy in North America and my week can be quite varied in my role as General Manager. Some days, I’m taking care of the company’s fundamentals, focusing on carrying out and creating new processes that would allow us to scale and grow efficiently in the market. Other days, I’m working closely with our Sales teams speaking to customers and explaining new products to partners. Every few months I also visit our Barcelona HQ to collaborate with our other business leaders and product teams. 

What are you aiming to achieve with the work you do? 

I want to see Wallbox as a leader in the industry.  We have the opportunity to establish ourselves as the primary name when people think about e-mobility. We’re lucky to be in a once-in-a-lifetime transition for energy and transportation and we’re in a prime position to be the main player in this space if we execute well. There is no major household name when you think of EV charging or home energy management so every customer interaction, every deal we close, every chance we get to bring our company forward and give it visibility is an opportunity to cement Wallbox as a leading company in this space. 

Professionally, what are you excited about right now?

I’m very excited to be taking the next step and moving to our Barcelona Headquarters to become Chief Business Officer at Wallbox. This is a great opportunity to build off of the strengths already established in every country and combine the best practices that have made each market a major success. By combining one global vision with local execution we can really take advantage of our global footprint and offer partners a truly seamless experience to work with Wallbox anywhere in the world. 

If you could invent one piece of tech, what would it be?

Apart from the innovative products we build at Wallbox I like the idea of inventing a way to help people who have difficulty adapting to rapidly evolving technology to get hands-on tech support when they need it. I see lots of families where the kids are the tech-support to their parents to help set up all of the technology within the home. I also see a lot of people in the community who need help with things like mobile banking, online medical appointments, video conferencing to see their family and friends, and other basic needs that have become so digitized over these last few years.  Even EVs and EV Charging can be a topic as more and more people adopt this advanced technology.  I hope we take this concept into account in our website, app, and platforms in the future!

What do you do to relax? 

I have two young children who are just happy to wake up to family in the morning and to be put to bed at night. I save special time for these moments so I can spend some uninterrupted family time to play games and simply be together and relax. In my free time, I also love nature and will either be mountain biking or hiking in the mountains or making complex weekend itineraries for family trips. All those years of route-planning for long-distance and destination chargers have trained me well!

What can people expect next from you and your team? 

I’m expecting a lot of incredibly exciting things for this year as new teams and people come together into a new global organization. I’m very enthusiastic about the opportunity for fresh ideas and approaches to surface and for how those may make us a stronger organization in the future.