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Dr. Maria Spies is Co-Founder of HolonIQ, the world’s leading research and intelligence platform for the future of education, and Chief Innovation Officer at QS Quacquarelli Symonds, where she leads the Innovation Practice, supporting universities in digital transformation and AI integration through tools such as the AI Capability Framework.
At HolonIQ, Maria heads the Education Intelligence Unit, driving global research, foresight, and benchmarking across the learning economy. Her work has produced influential frameworks such as 5 Scenarios for the Future of Education, Global Learning Landscape, and Digital Transformation Frameworks used by policymakers, institutions, and investors around the world. She also leads HolonIQ’s global market analysis and the annual identification of the world’s most promising EdTech companies, mapping innovation and investment flows across the global learning ecosystem.
Outside of QS
A sought-after advisor to leading institutions and organizations including UNICEF, the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), and Amazon Web Services (AWS), Maria works at the intersection of data, policy, and innovation. She has advised on global initiatives such as the UNICEF EdTech for Good Framework, and a series of joint HolonIQ–IDB reports on digital transformation and EdTech across Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC)—including one of the largest regional studies of higher education digital readiness, based on insights from nearly 100 universities.
With more than 20 years of experience across public and private education systems in over 50 countries, Maria combines deep sectoral expertise with strategic foresight to help governments, universities, and companies design the future of learning.
She holds a Doctorate in Higher Education from the University of Liverpool, where her award-winning thesis examined public–private partnerships in higher education, along with a Master of Adult Education, a Bachelor of Arts, and an Executive Certificate in Strategy and Innovation from MIT Sloan.
Influential work
Dr. Spies serves on the International Advisory Board of the Graduate School at Luiss Guido Carli (Italy), is a member of the Network for Quality Digital Education (Australia), and is an Adjunct Faculty member at the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education (USA), where she teaches in the Global Education Entrepreneurship and Innovation program.
A trusted voice on the future of learning, Maria is a frequent keynote speaker at global forums on education, innovation, and technology, shaping how systems and organizations worldwide navigate digital transformation and the evolving global learning economy.