As a specialist on the impact of emerging technologies, Punset was a consultant to COTEC, Advising Professor of International Marketing at ESADE, president of the Instituto Tecnológico Bull, Professor of Innovation and Technology at the IE Business School (formerly Instituto de Empresa) in Madrid, President of ENHER, Deputy General Director of Economic and Financial Studies at the Banco Hispanoamericano, and Coordinator of the Strategic Plan for the Information Society of the Government of Catalonia.

Punset started his political career in the Regional Government of Catalonia as Minister of Finance from 1978 to 1980, taking part in the implementation of the State of the Autonomies in Spain.

He was a member of Adolfo Suárez's Union of the Democratic Centre, with which party he won a seat in the regional parliament in 1980 and in 1980-81 was appointed Minister for Relations with the European Communities in the Government of Spain from 1980 to 1981.

As president of the European Parliament's delegation to Poland, he supervised part of the process of economic transformation undertaken in Eastern countries after the fall of the Berlin Wall.

He was also the president of the audiovisual production company smartplanet Archived 2006-10-04 at the Wayback Machine [linked page in Spanish] and board member of Sol Meliá Hotels & Resorts.