The Team


Down below you can find the professional profiles and biographies of Zereon Associates's Core Team. 


Please do not hesitate to contact us if you see some specific topic, industry or work area of interest to you.


Mario Ceron, MBA, MA
Founder & CEO



GEMBA, ESADE-Babson College
MBA, ESCP-Paris Chamber of Commerce
Venture Capital Academy, Berkeley Law-ICADE
Digital Transformation, MIT Sloan-CSail-Emeritus
Agile Scrum Certificate, EXIN
MA & BA Business, ICADE
GRP ®, CECP ® WorldatWork

  • Our Founder & CEO, Mario Ceron, MBA, MA, created Zereon Associates in 2017 to add true value to distinguished international Clients.  A resident in Zürich, Switzerland, for ten years, Mario has a truly global mindset and a passion for the exchange of advanced business ideas.
  • Prior to creating Zereon Associates, Mario had a successful 25+ years executive-level career at KPMG, Indra Corp., SR Technics, Ball Corp., Ecolab, Mercer, Altadis-Imperial Brands and Arthur Andersen.  As a practitioner and as trusted advisor, Mario led many international projects and teams for his Clients' advancement, and regularly works for Fortune-500 corporations, investors groups and start-up/scale-up companies alike.
  • Mario is a frequent speaker and author and member of several professional associations, global 2% in different MIT diplomas among other accomplishments.
  • Areas of direct expertise: Board / CEO / Top Management affairs, Strategic Growth & Digitization, International Business, Tech Selection, Startup Ecosystems, Artificial Intelligence adoption, Cloud, Blockchains, M&As, Investments and Business Plans, PE/VC, Financial Deals, Sales Effectiveness, Org Design, Restructurings / Turnarounds, Performance Measurement, Classic and Agile Projects, Equity Pay and Executive / Employee Remuneration, Teams and Workforce, Leadership & Change, General HR.
  • Industries of direct expertise: Oil & Gas, Utilities, Construction & Real Estate, Manufacturing, Pharma / Healthcare / Life Sciences, Chemicals, Transportation & Logistics, FMCG, General / Category-based Retail, Banking and Financial Services, Insurance, Advanced Technology / IT, Telecom and Media, Professional Services, Startups and Ecosystems.

Francesc Fages, MBA, MSc
External Advisor



MBA, ESADE-NYU Stern
MSc Real Estate Economics & Finance, London School of Economics
Corporate Finance Diploma, London Business School
Project & Investment Risk Management, MIT
MSc & BSc Engineering, Polytechnic University of Catalonia

  • Francesc is a seasoned professional with vast and comprehensive international consulting and interim management experience, acquired by working in different countries and industries globally. Francesc has been supporting Zereon Associates with the organization and delivery of project operations and WorldatWork certifications since 2021.
  • Prior to his time with Zereon Associates, he worked for organizations such as Bank Alkhair, Aviva Investors, Barcelona Port Authority, Valeo and Calsonic. Francesc has experience as both a leader and team member of multicultural cross-functional, geographically-dispersed teams and is a fluent speaker of Spanish, Catalan, English and French.
  • Areas of direct expertise: Business Plans, Investment and Financial Analysis, Financial Modelling, Due Diligence, Capital Raising, M&A, Joint Ventures, Tax Structuring, Market Research, Business Development & Growth, Supply Chain Management, Organizational Analysis, Job Valuations, Rewards Design and Implementation, Project Management.
  • Industries of direct expertise: Manufacturing, Automotive, Engineering, Clean Tech, Real Estate, Asset Management, Banking, Private Equity, Consulting, Professional Services.

Riccardo Balsamo
Non-Executive Advisor (Founder and CEO, Delega)



Startup Expert
BA Business, Bocconi

  • Riccardo Balsamo is the Founder and CEO of Delega, a startup working with several major global Banks and corporations helping them optimize their Treasury / Cash Management processes, Compliance and Risk Management with solutions related to signatory management, rights' determination and operation streamlining. 
  • Active in international startup and investing/PE/VC ecosystems, Riccardo and his team are deploying cloud solutions and computing and other innovations (blockchain, AI / ML) to serve their clients' needs.  Prior to that, Riccardo had a successful career as corporate executive in a major multinational Bank, and was formerly a consultant with Accenture. 
  • Areas of direct expertise: Finance Operations, Payment Methods, Treasury Management, Banking Solutions Implementation, Process Analysis, Tech Selection, ERP Implementations, Startup Ecosystems, Cloud, Blockchain, PE/VC, Financial Deals, International Business.
  • Industries of direct expertise: Banking / Insurance / Capital Markets, Auditing & Consulting, Startups.




We remain at your disposal to comment on any expertise areas or industry focus of your preference.

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