Claudia López joins Visium as Chief of Staff to help turbo-charge the next stage of our rapid growth

In September 2026, Claudia López joined Visium as Chief of Staff with a mission to help power the next stage of our growth. Claudia spent nearly 15 years helping Atheneum grow into a global organisation, most recently as Managing Director and Chief Operations Officer, leading operations across 11 international hubs and a team numbering over 500.

Visium operates from offices in Zurich, Lausanne, Valencia, Barcelona, Munich, and Sarajevo. Claudia's vital role is to ensure the company remains strong and coherent as it embarks on the next phase of growth, with clear decisions, consistent standards, and the right people focused on the right tasks in every one of our locations.

Why the growth of a partner is so crucial for its clients

AI assignments on behalf of pharmaceutical and specialty chemicals companies usually extend for months, touching on multiple regulated processes and involving a range of teams on both sides. Clients overseeing such programmes need a partner whose quality never dips, regardless of which office staffs the project, and who can maintain continuity even as the team grows and changes over the course of the work.

Claudia has spent most of her career solving that problem precisely for major organizations.

Fifteen years of scaling across regions

Claudia joined Atheneum in 2011, when it was operating from a single hub. Over the next 13 years, she established new offices across Europe, APAC, and the Americas from the ground up — hiring the first local teams, setting up operations, and laying down the standards that enabled each newly created hub to equal the quality of its peers. That work took Claudia deep into markets far from headquarters, as she transformed a single-location business into a 500-person global organisation spread across 11 international sites.

As Managing Director and COO from 2024, Claudia held responsibility for governance, compliance, and risk across jurisdictions, budgeting and forecasting across multiple entities, and executive-level client negotiations in regulated environments. Much of the firm's work was for life-sciences firms, forging strong and valuable connections between clients and experts in complex medical fields.

Grounded in governance from day one

Before moving into operations, Claudia achieved a thorough grounding in governance. She studied Political Science at Universidad Complutense de Madrid, earned a master's in European Interdisciplinary Studies at the College of Europe, and completed executive education at Harvard Business School in Boston, ESADE, and the London School of Economics. As well as giving her strong knowledge of governance, Claudia’s education vividly illustrates her approach to structure at a company whose clients operate under close regulatory scrutiny.

Claudia is PMP® and Prosci® certified, is a native Spanish speaker, and works professionally in English, German, French, and Catalan — together, covering the local language of every Visium office and client.

Why Visium, why now?

Claudia was drawn to a company whose mission connects her focus on people, process, and purpose with a sector she already knows inside out.

“I joined Visium because the mission of the company is aligned with my internal moral compass, and that is ultimately improving the lives of patients around the world.”

A manager of many talents

When she's not building governance frameworks and processes to help companies grow, Claudia uses her skills to reach a much younger audience while remaining true to her mission of improving lives. 

She helps children develop storytelling skills and encourages them to develop a profound love for reading. She is also the author of "Cookie y la fantasma Alborina," a book that teaches young readers about the importance of friendship.

‍