María Martín Civiac on technology, leadership and “being a bridge”

Is it possible to be both a bridge-builder and an outsider? 

For María Martín Civiac, the answer is an emphatic yes. Currently a Product Owner for Venue Services Applications at UEFA, as well as a board member at the Spanish Ski Federation and a Technical Delegate in Alpine Skiing, she has built a career at the intersection of sport and technology. 

In the third in our series of interviews with coaches and participants from the FIS Women Lead Sports Master Program, Inside FIS caught up with María to reflect on leadership under pressure, the value of diverse perspectives, and why “being the bridge” between people, systems and decisions is more important than ever. 

Inside FIS: You have built a career in the elite sport and technology industries, but how has working in high-performance IT environments shaped your leadership style? 

María Martín Civiac (MMC): I think when you’re working in both IT and sport there are three main pillars you’ve got to lean on: clarity, trust and adaptability. 

I see myself as a bridge. In the office, I act like a bridge between the business and development teams, and on operations it’s the same, but with more angles. I need to inform the IT command center, the clients and manage the team - all at the same time! 

In the environments we work in - competition data, event systems, broadcast-related technology - everything is highly time-sensitive and there is little margin for error, so decisions often need to be made in real time. You’ve got to be able to communicate clearly under pressure and be able to prioritize what really matters. 

You may have three different issues, but you need to understand what the developers’ first priority is. You’ve got to ensure they’re focused and there’s alignment internally within the development teams, but also with clients and management, so everyone knows where we are and what the expected resolution is. 

Like [fellow Women Lead Sports graduate] Gro Eide said when you spoke to her, trusting your team and granting freedom to make mistakes is also essential. It’s very difficult to get things right the first time in IT, so trying and failing are a vital part of the everyday process. 

It is important to create an environment where teams feel empowered to act quickly and take responsibility, and if you try to micromanage you’ll stress people out and prevent them from focusing. You need to give your team space, while also getting structured updates you can pass on to those that need them. 

Inside FIS: From FIS to the IOC and now UEFA, what have these experiences taught you about decision-making and accountability? 

MMC: One key lesson I’ve learned is that different organizations have different structures, cultures, and levels of technological maturity. So, you’ve got to learn how to adapt the decisions you make to the context you’re in, while staying clear and accountable! 

At the IOC, for example, the results systems which I was responsible for follow a more traditional development model. You have a four-year cycle with requirements gathering, development, and finally validation. It is more structured, what we call a waterfall model. 

At UEFA our solutions are used on an almost daily basis, so we work in a more agile way. We are continuously finding small things we can improve, fix and adapt to make our solutions better. 

Inside FIS: What made you apply for the FIS Women Lead Sports program and would you recommend it to other women and their allies? 

MMC: Before I heard about the program my former manager at FIS told me about [WLS course leader] Gabriela [Mueller Mendoza], who also has a background in engineering and transitioned into coaching – which resonated with me. 

As a computer engineer, I’ve often worked in environments where leadership, especially in technical roles, was not very diverse. So, when I saw the opportunity to apply for WLS, within a minute I'd sent an email to the Spanish Federation to say I was interested!

I also agree strongly with Gabriela about the importance of setting ambitious goals. If you don’t have a clear direction, a “North Star”, then it’s difficult to align decisions or measure progress. And WLS is not just about individual development, but about contributing to a more inclusive and supportive culture across the whole sports industry. 

Inside FIS: How valuable was it to exchange perspectives with participants from non-technical backgrounds? 

MMC: Very valuable! In technical environments, it can be easy to get caught up in your own perspective, but by interacting with people from different backgrounds - athletes, coaches, federation staff – that’s when you gain new insights. 

I also experienced this first-hand when becoming a Technical Delegate (TD). I didn’t come from a sporting background like the others applying to be a TD, and I didn’t know everything about course settings or technical rules. 

But I did have experience in results, timing and scoring from my time at FIS and it was something I was interested in trying so, despite being the only non-athlete or former coach, I still applied, passed the exam and, eventually, I got my TD national-level license. 

Inside FIS: Can you think of a time when being an outsider helped you in a snow sports environment? 

MMC: Yes! Just last year I wrote to the organizers of the World Cup in Andorra, as I was going to be there visiting family during the event, and asked if it would be possible to give them a hand with something. And at the event a few weeks ago, I ended up being a member of the jury.

So, we were communicating by radio and my husband Jakob, who was part of the course crew, told me there’d been a mistake with the results in the FIS Live Timing, but the internet wasn’t stable enough [to check it]. And because I’ve got so much experience with results, from both FIS and the IOC, I could see that the athlete in bib 34 should have had a DNS not a DNF, which nobody else had spotted.  

I might not have the sporting background the other TDs have, but I bring expertise that they don’t have either. Everyone benefits, as diverse backgrounds and diverse perspectives make teams stronger.

Something similar happened when I first joined FIS. I was very young, I was a female computer engineer, which there weren’t many of, and I was from Spain - so I ticked quite a few “outsider” boxes! I’m sure some of my colleagues were thinking, “What’s this lady doing here? Has she got lost somewhere?” [Laughs] But despite me not being the most complete engineer around, my boss Daniel saw something in me that he thought would benefit the team and the collaboration was amazing - I ended up staying for nearly six years.

Inside FIS: Have you seen progress in terms of gender balance since you started in sports and technology? 

MMC: I think there has been some progress, but it is slow. When you take the two worlds, sport has been traditionally male-dominated and technology too. So, when you combine both, it becomes even more challenging. 

I don’t have all the answers, like maybe there still aren’t enough women with engineering experience or who are studying it, but I think there’s still a lot more room to empower women in IT. Representation is improving, but the upper leadership levels are still largely male. 

That is why building communities is important. For example, I’m part of Women in Tech Switzerland and a volunteer for organizing events, and we try to bring more women to our events and also to show them you don’t need to be 200% tech-focused, you can be in IT and do other things too.  

It’s important to have that sense of community and support. Here at UEFA, I realized there’s about 12 women in ICT, so I created an ‘ICT Chicas’ group, where I share if I’m going to attend an event or if there’s a good networking opportunity. And now and then we meet for lunch and exchange ideas on our main issues, and it all helps us feel like we belong. 

Inside FIS: What advice would you give to women who may not see themselves as leaders? 

MMC: My advice would be to go for it! Try and try again. If you never try, you’ll never know. Ask questions, be open and get involved in conversations that matter. Communicate your goals and ambitions, because people can’t read your mind. 

Asking is so important, look out for opportunities - there are a lot -  and ask about them. Like I mentioned earlier, you don’t need to know everything from the start, you can learn along the way. 

Inside FIS: Talking of which, can you tell us about your involvement with IT and International Relations at the Spanish Ski Federation? 

MMC: As a computer engineer, I never thought I’d be involved in International Relations! But I knew May Peus, the President of the Spanish Ski Federation, from my time at FIS and I helped him a bit with his campaign when he was running for election for the FIS Council at the Congress in Reykjavik (ISL) in 2024, and I’m helping him again now with his re-election bid. 

I’m also involved with running the “Países Iberoamericanos FIS” meeting at the Zurich meetings with a group of mainly Spanish-speaking nations (Andorra, Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Morocco, Mexico and Portugal) - to try and find synergies. 

And in IT terms, recently I’ve been helping their CEO and IT team collaborate with FIS to be able to get direct access to their data. The idea is to build an AI dashboard that uses data to help them pick who will represent the national squad, rather than just assumptions or gut feeling. 

I’m a volunteer board member with them, not an employee, and the Spanish Federation are already extremely strong when it comes to performance tools. What I can bring to the table is my knowledge of the systems and processes that FIS and other federations use.

Inside FIS: One final question, though it’s a big one! How do you see the role of AI in your work and in sport? 

MMC: AI has many advantages. In my daily work, it helps me be more efficient, improve documentation and structure my communication better - and because I use it every day and give it feedback on what works and what doesn’t, it’s a really big help to have it adapted to my needs and my style.

I see huge potential for AI in sport - both at FIS and across national federations. There is still significant opportunity to integrate AI more systematically into daily operations, whether it’s improving processes, supporting decision-making, documentation, or accelerating product development. I also think there is strong value in sharing best practices across federations, so that organizations can learn from each other and scale what works.

I’m excited to contribute to this space more broadly, as I’ve recently been appointed as a national ambassador for the Microsoft Global Sports Innovation Centre. I see this as a great opportunity to connect with new tools, ideas, and workshops, and to help bring that knowledge back to sports organizations like FIS.  From what I hear within the FIS IT department, there is already a clear ambition to position as an “AI-first” environment, and that's very encouraging.

Inside FIS: Yes, at a recent seminar I attended, they said to treat AI “like an intelligent stranger” in terms of the personal information you share with it… 

MMC: Yeah, and in software, many people are a bit afraid that these systems are going to end up coding by themselves. You can automate some tests but you still need a human that understands the business and can report back on what went right, what went wrong and what to do next. Human input's still essential to understand context, validate outputs and make decisions.