Digital Government Excellence

CHAPTER 8Diego Piacentini: Italy

 

Diego Piacentini served two years—from August 2016 to November 2018—as Italian Government Commissioner for Digital Transformation, reporting to the prime minister. In this role, he founded and scaled the government's Digital Transformation Team.

Prior to the civil servant role, Diego worked at Amazon.com for sixteen years as Senior Vice President of the international consumer business and a member of the senior executive team (S-team). Early in his career, Diego joined Apple Computer in Italy in his home city, Milan. Ten years later, he was appointed General Manager and Vice President of Apple EMEA based in Paris, before joining Amazon in Seattle.

After the civil servant experience, Diego finally started his own endeavor: a venture capital fund—View Different—that invests in and mentors entrepreneurs who use tech to reshape traditional sectors. In addition, he is a director on several boards, including Apolitical, The Economist Group, Bocconi University, Endeavor Italy, and IHME, and he has formal advisory roles with KKR, Exor Seeds, and Endeavor.

He holds a degree in economics from Bocconi University in Milan.

 

 

 

It is hard not to be impressed by Diego. Here is a man who left a top job in one of the global top companies to go serve his native country. And he did not even ask for or get any pay.

Given the context and complexity of governance ...