NABA – Innovation Stories

In the latest episode of NABA INNOVATION STORIES is Omar Hassan, a former boxer and currently one of the most interesting, original and beloved exponents of contemporary art. A graduate of the Brera Academy of Fine Arts and a student in the workshop of Alberto Garutti, in the course of the episode Hassan reflects on the pictorial gesture in its randomness and at the same time in its strength, on some events in his biography that have inspired his work, on the search for light, on the importance of failure. The painterly gesture of his work, the fist that characterizes the Breaking Through series, does not destroy but creates; Hassan, a true conceptual artist, also narrates his art by exploring the search for light with another series of works, Injections. Painting light, along the lines already dreamed of by the great masters with his own, autonomous, independent vision of reality, is one of Hassan's great goals. Along with making sense of time, and creating something that lasts beyond time itself-a dream that only art can achieve. 

To be a design innovation executive in the most competitive place in the world. Is it impossible? Not for Leandro Agrò, special guest of NABA INNOVATION STORIES. Agrò has always been linked to Interaction Design and projects with a very high digital impact, and currently lives and works in Silicon Valley, California. Agrò, also a book author and a pioneer of the Internet of Things, focuses on the role of design today, to understand how to read the phenomena that surround us. And there's also room for reflection on artificial intelligences and, above all, the need not to always sit at one's desk, building all possible levers for a better future.

Annamaria Testa is the special guest of a new episode of Naba Innovation Stories. The focus is on creativity and its infinite nuances - which then build the world we live in. Testa, author of the essay "La trama lucente" reminds us how, after all, creativity represents the greatest factor of change, the expression of intelligence that allows us to adapt to the environment, as well as making us who we are. Creativity, as the communication consultant, journalist, essayist confirms, is the indispensable premise of innovation, a human thought that becomes real in an insight or invention. In the episode, in which Testa also discusses relevant themes such as artificial intelligence and the disruptive power of women, it emerges how creativity is a psychological and individual phenomenon that "happens" in our own minds, or in the minds of groups of people with whom we find ourselves sharing ideas and thoughts.

In her 20+ years career Italian manager Silvana Toppi has worked with ease in finance, M&A, supply chain, digital transformation and much more, sharing her talents with the relevant multinationals she has worked with, with significant roles also as CFO. In her interview with NABA INNOVATION STORIES Silvana Toppi opens up across the board about all that being a woman in business at high management levels entails, with a major focus on diversity: it is impossible, according to Toppi, to work without inclusion. And talking about impact for women is not pleonastic, in the manager's vision: it is necessary.At the time of the interview, Toppi held an important management role at HP. She is currently Group Head of Digital Administration, Finance & Control at A2A.

Giuseppe Mastromatteo is a photographer, artist, president and Chief Creative Officer of Ogilvy Italia, among the most influent companies in advertising. With Mastromatteo, who is also vice president of ADCI, the association of Italian art directors, the episode of Naba Innovation Stories explores different nuances of creativity. The artist and creative director tells his story from the beginnings of his career to his most important achievements, sharing an original point of view on communication and the world of work, creative but not only. Mastromatteo focuses on how the exchanges between human beings, the interactions, are the ones that "provoke" the strongest ideas; he also believes that looking into someone's eyes as they talk to you about their understanding of creativity is more important than evaluating their portfolio.

Massimiliano Magrini is Co-Founder and Managing Partner of United Venture, a Milan-based independent venture capital firm founded in 2013 that invests in people and technology. Their Manifesto reads: we are a venture capital firm that supports visionary entrepreneurs in reinventing companies through technology. Magrini's words are not confined only to the philosophy of "venture capital" but become an important opportunity to reflect on the soul of those who wish to innovate. Among the key elements are the need to follow one's own path without others dictating it and the continuous search for divergent thinking that creates discontinuity and change, as he recounts in the essay "Fuori dal gregge" (Egea). For Massimiliano, who has a distinguished track record in leading international technology companies, a key component is motivation, which enables the brightest minds to always bring something different to the table-and to react in the face of difficulties.

Visionary Fields Forever is the first entrepreneurial project on Engineering Culture in Italy, a method for business development that thanks to innovative gears, systems, and processes enhances cultural heritage to create long-term value. Simona Orsini, co-founder of Visionary Fields Forever together with Stefania Vismara, tells what the origins and visions of the project were, with the aim of supporting companies, institutions and partners to expand their horizons with original and creative values.

Duccio Vitali is the CEO of Alkemy: a company founded to bring digital to Italian businesses, today it enables their growth through generative Artificial Intelligence and data, to define a customer experience suitable to the post-digital context. The innovation of business models, reflections on the future of design, and willingness to listen to the new generations struggling with the world of work, are some of the elements addressed by the top manager, who advises to "always put everything back on the table" in order to succeed in achieving important results.

Nicolas Bovey - acclaimed scenographer and light designer and two-time UBU award winner, is the special guest of the new episode of Naba Innovation Stories. The artist will focus on innovation from a unique perspective: that of an ancient universe like theater, where the archaic and originality intertwine, creating unrepeatable moments. Is it possible to find something innovative on stage? Bovey answers this simple yet complex question by specifying that, for him, an artist must "regenerate a condition of mental openness, of non-preconception, and of no presupposition," with scenography serving as the translation of a profound emotional state. Note: Bovey's suggested essay is Des lumières et des ombres, by Henri Alekan.

Maddalena Amoruso is a Data Officer and data scientist applied to business who, in the course of the episode, reflects on topics related to her profession but also to current events. In three points, Amoruso explores the opportunities for integration between artificial intelligence and customer journey, including the future of generative AI in interacting with interfaces and services. Relevant space also on the link between data streams, big data analytics and machine learning techniques to understand the best customer journeys, as well as the importance of the ability to motivate and inspire a workteam to achieve significative goals.