I've worked on both sides of this conversation
Ten years managing supply chain operations, then twenty-five in commercial banking, trade finance and payments. That combination is unusual, and it's the reason my advice tends to be useful to people on either side of the table.
Why I do this work
I keep seeing the same pattern, and it's almost never a technology problem.
A vendor builds something genuinely good. The economics work. A bank runs a thorough evaluation and signs. Then it struggles in implementation, because nobody in the process had been responsible for the operations it lands on. Suppliers don't onboard. The ERP integration was scoped optimistically. An approval chain nobody mapped adds two weeks. The team on the ground returns to the process it trusts.
Everyone involved was competent. They were simply all standing on the same side of a gap. Vendors know finance and technology. Banks know finance and risk. Operations teams know the work - and are often consulted last.
These days that takes the form of retained advisory: working closely with a small number of fintech vendors and financial institutions, often in a strategic advisory or board capacity, rather than delivering one-off consulting reports.
Background
Supply chain operations management
- Plant management and supply chain operations across manufacturing and automotive companies
- Direct P&L responsibility, with manufacturing, logistics, quality, accounting and engineering teams reporting in
- Day-to-day ownership of procurement, inventory, distribution and warehousing
- Focus on just-in-time production, lean manufacturing, supply chain optimisation and cost reduction
From operations into enterprise technology
- European Director, Supply Chain Council - business development and strategy across European markets
- Senior Pre-Sales Consultant, J.D. Edwards - ERP and supply chain software; the first bridge between operational practice and enterprise systems
Commercial banking, trade finance and payments
- Senior Research Analyst, Europe - Datos Insights. Wholesale banking, trade finance, supply chain finance and enterprise blockchain across European markets
- Strategic Advisor, Corporate Banking & Payments - Datos Insights. Advising banks, fintechs and private equity firms on commercial banking innovation, trade finance and cross-border payments
- Founder and Strategic Analyst - ERMI Research. Independent advisory and market analysis
- Research focus: cash and liquidity management, trade finance digitisation, supply chain finance platforms, programmable payments
Credentials and international roles
Standards work, policy contribution and advisory positions built up over twenty-five years.
- UN/CEFACT - Member of the Italian delegation; work on standards and good practice for sustainable procurement, aligned to the WTO Government Procurement and Trade Facilitation Agreements
- UNECE - Contributor to the Reference Model of the International Supply Chain
- World Bank / IFC - Strategic advisor on trade finance and SME access to finance
- European Commission - Contributor to the EU study on supply chain finance
- WTO - Working group participant on trade facilitation and finance
- CSCMP Italy Roundtable - Vice President, Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals
- ACCA - Strategic advisor, Association of Chartered Certified Accountants
- Trusted Treasury Advisor - Association for Financial Professionals
Writing and speaking
Twenty-five years of published research, commentary and conference work.
- Author - Measuring the Value of the Supply Chain
- Quoted in the Financial Times, American Banker and other industry publications
- Contributing editor - gtnews and Supply Chain Europe
- Speaker - SIBOS, EuroFinance and EBAday
- Founding contributor - International Supply Chain Finance Community
- Research - programmable payments, trade finance digitisation, supply chain finance platforms
Education, languages and base
- Education
- Electronic Engineering and Business Engineering, Sapienza Università di Roma
- Languages
- Italian (native), English (C2), Spanish (C1–C2)
- Based in
- Milan, Italy - working across Western Europe, with earlier years spent living and working in Tanzania and Zambia
Let's talk
Whether you're building a solution for banks or assessing one, start with a short conversation about your situation.
Schedule a 20-minute call