Alfredo Estrado is co-founder and CEO of TRC, and Gemma Martinez, its CFO. TRC is a 100% Spanish family company, today largely focused on developing products for the defense and national security sector, but … The first steps focused on the health field. The company was founded in 1989 by Alfredo and his brother Alberto, with another sister also as partner, Ana Isabel, to develop software for hospitals. Since then, with many problems, a lot of effort, and financing everything at will, it has been growing steadily until 2025, when it is estimated that it will close with a turnover of around 120 million euros and nearly 400 employees, showing that artificial intelligence – warn both managers – when used and implemented well does not destroy jobs.
The modern sector today is defense, influenced by the current era of cybersecurity, and the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority has moved from the health field to the defense and security field without problems. When and why was this change made?
-About 15 years ago, after seeing how important the health sector was from a systems point of view, we realized that part of this knowledge could be extrapolated to the world of defense and security, which currently represents about 70% of our activity. Unlike other competitors, we do not adapt third-party solutions, but rather develop our own technology. Our goal is to maintain digital sovereignty and avoid dependence on foreign countries. At TRC we believe in technology developed here, with local talent and global vision. We are committed to technological independence that not only protects, but also generates opportunities. Since the year of the pandemic, we have become a highly specialized company that has produced high-level solutions in Spain and abroad. We need to take advantage of this opportunity that the defense market offers us so that the big movers in this sector can count on us and so that Spain truly has the option to compete in the global market with the capabilities of small companies like ours.
– Today, defense and security, sectors of the future already exist? It seems almost impossible to move on…
– I would also like to talk about electronic warfare. It is the market of the future, the war of the future. Electronic warfare, in the end, is the ability to intercept signals that are in a range that we cannot see or hear so that we can guess what is coming and act or attempt to issue signals that dissipate or generate false information in that environment. It’s about saving lives, that’s our goal. And with 100% Spanish talent.
-You are talking about 100% Spanish talent and 100% Spanish technology, who are your clients?
– The state, through the Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of Defense, and thus all the Spanish army forces. We are present in border control and electronic warfare systems, and we participate in the development of the Spanish anti-drone system, in collaboration with Indra and Escribano, as technology programmers. What we are doing is providing technological capabilities that were not available in our militaries. And all with special solutions.
-All world governments are investing more in defense than ever before. Spain, as part of the European Union, was not left behind. In fact, in the past two years, it has witnessed an unprecedented increase in its spending in this sector. How would the 2% of GDP that our country must invest in defense programs impact the Truth and Reconciliation Commission?
– Large defense programs tend to be concentrated in the Directorate General for Defense Policy, with large-scale investments in which technology companies like ours may not have as much direct importance. However, there are two areas where investment is being made, and they are areas in which we are clearly investing: one, cybersecurity – which has demonstrated the need to protect our critical infrastructure, as demonstrated after the power outage, even though it was not a cyber attack; The second is technological sovereignty and strengthening the national industrial ecosystem.
-He says that Indra is clearly the leader in this sector in Spain. What is your opinion on the merger between Indra and the family company of its chairman Escribano Mechanical and Engineering (EM&E)?
-I think this merger should happen, because it adds value to the market as well. But this is integration and more is to come. Another thing is how I may appear because of the conflict of interest that there may be, but it is a very necessary union and it should not end there. In my opinion, Indra is the big driver of this sector, and I believe that the Escribano Group is a key factor for the development of the defense industry in our country. If we want to fight and face such a competitive market, we have to add capabilities. We want to offer our solutions and are looking for partners to cooperate with.
-In this sector, there is always talk about cooperation between the public and private sectors, but cooperation between the private sectors is also necessary…
– In this sense, the sector has witnessed a sensitive moment since before the pandemic, with movements such as the increase in public participation in Indra that anticipated a certain consolidation of the market. And in this process, from now on, we all have to be a little humble and Indra be generous enough to understand the diversity of all abilities in Spain so that we can assemble them into a great “player”, to provide value not only in our country, but also in Europe.
-And in this possible merger of defense companies in Spain, in this great national hero, does the Truth and Reconciliation Commission see in him?
Personally, I would be happy to be invited to that party. Working alongside a great company like Indra, Telefónica or similar, gives you more power to grow, to become bigger, to reach challenges and goals that you cannot reach because of size. The interesting thing is value generation. We have to be global, and to do that we have to start by being great at home and then leap out.
-You have been talking about applying artificial intelligence in your company for years. Isn’t it a double-edged sword for society and companies?
-(Gemma Martinez) For years it’s been all about artificial intelligence. It’s here to stay, but you have to know how to use it. It must be organised, managed and controlled, but in our company, as for society in general, for state management, the Ministry of Defense, etc., AI is an absolutely essential tool. We don’t have enough resources – I mean people – who can do everything a machine does 24/7 without any margin for error. We carry it in the DNA of the company. Thanks to artificial intelligence, we have made a huge leap, both qualitatively and quantitatively, from four years onwards.
-When did you discover that it was necessary to make this huge leap?
-(GM): At TRC, we’ve been working with AI long before society assumed it was vital to their lives. We are ahead of many other companies despite our small size. We use it to develop our products, to provide service to our customers, to manage ourselves internally, and ultimately throughout the organization.
-How did the company’s numbers change after its implementation?
-(GM): In 2021, we had a turnover of approximately 30 million euros and a staff of approximately 100 employees. Now, we will close 2025 with around 120 million in sales, around 400 employees, close to zero net financial debt and €90 million in portfolio, to continue growing organically and inorganically.
ER: That’s what Gemma is explaining, we’re all very aware of that. We have done a great service to the employees and the company because in the end, the mechanical work, the low-wage work, the work that wastes time, will be done by a machine, which will also allow us to hire other professionals who charge much higher fees and who will add more value to the company. We no longer invest in people who prepare papers, but in people who add value and develop solutions. This is where we are, and this is the differential value that we have with the rest of the companies.
-What expectations do you have in mind for the future?
– (General Motors): Over the next five years, we plan to continue growing organically, by double digits, around 20%, and with an increasing profit margin. Next year, although it looks like the Spanish economy may slow down a bit, we will continue to grow.
Will this growth also depend on launching new projects?
-(AE): In January, we will introduce two completely new products in the field of defence, one related to virtual reality and the other related to the protection of our armed forces. There is nothing yet in the world similar to what we created. 100% Spanish technology with 100% Spanish talent, one based on virtual reality in alliance with a Spanish company from Alicante, the first in online video games in the world.
– Drones seem essential to current defense systems, and in fact, the war in Ukraine has accelerated interest in counter-drone systems. At TRC they have successfully developed the Cervus III anti-drone system, which is already used by the armed forces in peace missions abroad. What does it consist of?
– From the beginning, we have viewed the world of drones differently from the Department of Defense’s interpretation of it. Once again we stood on the other side of the table. The defense believed that the drone was a type of device that crossed the Atlantic Ocean, and that it could from the United States, for example, or from Morocco, attack Spain and we would not see it. We never explained that this was the danger of drones, it was none of our business, and we do not have the technology or capabilities to do so. This is the case with Indra. We’ve always appreciated that the drone, or the real drone threat, was this little drone, type III, which is a very small, regenerative drone, that you set up with a YouTube video, and it stands 2 km in front of you and fires a 100-gram discharge at you and charges a detachment. That was the struggle we wanted to live, which is what exists now in Spain, and which is the reality of what is happening in Ukraine. No drones from Russia arrived there. No, the Russians brought in trucks, destroyed drones, and killed as many people as they could within 3 kilometers. It’s a drone that’s hardly worth any money, it assembles quickly, it moves, it doesn’t alert, and it attacks. To counter that little drone, we developed a version of what we did in electronic warfare, because that drone leaves a digital footprint on the spectrum. At TRC, we were able to identify it not only by the footprint it left, but by the type of movement it made, which is why we created AI cameras that are able to see how it moves. In fact, we are able to fly a drone in front of a flock of birds at a distance of 2 km, which is a black dot. The camera is able to distinguish which drone is which and focus on the drone just by the type of movement it is making. It is a Spanish technique, developed by the Spaniards. What we are missing is “someone” to put our technology on the international market. It is a success story for us and, above all, for the Ministry of Defence. It is not a weapon, it is used to protect our deployments and critical assets, and in the civilian world, it is also beginning to be used in environments with large crowds of people. It is an approach to a problem from another technological point of view. The most interesting thing for me is that it is 100% Spanish and allows us to be independent from any external supplier.
Technology is no longer just a means of support, but has become a national strategic asset. Is Spain ready now?
-Definitely yes. We need to be able to bring this to the international market. We have very advanced technological capabilities in Spain but we don’t quite believe it.
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