Piera Gallo
ESCP Business School
Age: 44
“Global brand storytelling leader blending strategy, culture, and people to drive transformation in complex organizations.”
Hometown: Turin, Italy
Family Members: One daughter (7)
Fun fact about yourself: I’ve built an entrepreneurial career within large corporations, working for the brands I grew up with as a child, all rooted within 30 kilometers of my original hometown. This ranges from Ferrero, alongside entrepreneur Dr. Pietro Ferrero, to shaping an iconic Italian automotive brand for over a decade with the same CEO (Olivier Francois). A childhood dream turned into a lifelong journey.
Undergraduate School and Degree
Ph.D. in Business Administration, University of Turin
Master’s Degree in Business & Economics, University of Turin
Where are you currently working? Marketing Vice President – Italian Brands, Stellantis
Extracurricular Activities, Community Work and Leadership Roles
EU Women Leaders 2026 – Selected among 20 leaders from over 1,500 candidates across 100+ countries in an EU co-financed program accelerating women into executive and board roles
Committed EMBA Connector & Member, ESCP Executive Alumni Task Force
Guest Lecturer, ESCP Business School
Guest Lecturer, University of Turin
Member, UPA (Utenti Pubblicità Associati) – Brand & Communication Commission
Which academic or extracurricular achievement are you most proud of during business school? Why? The EMBA helped me fundamentally reframe leadership in complex, multicultural, and highly matrixed organizations. It also accelerated my awareness of AI’s strategic impact, starting from the Texas module, which directly led me to launch the first fully AI-generated TV commercial for Stellantis. The program turned abstract disruption into concrete execution.
What achievement are you most proud of in your professional career? Why? It was leading the marketing strategy of iconic Italian brands at Stellantis during deep industrial and cultural transformation.
Doing so as a woman in the automotive industry – in an Italian company with a strong legacy, while balancing heritage, innovation, and performance across global stakeholders – has been the most challenging and meaningful achievement of my career.
Who was your favorite MBA professor? Why? Professor Laura Boscolo and Professor Venuti.
At a pivotal moment in my life and career, they pushed me to pause, reflect, and rethink how I lead. Their classes felt like a mirror, forcing clarity, courage, and more conscious decision-making.
Why did you choose this school’s executive MBA program? I wanted a truly European, international perspective, beyond both a purely Italian view and the traditional US-centric narrative.
ESCP offered diversity of thought, cultural depth, and human values, alongside strong academic rigor and peer-level challenge.
What is the biggest lesson you gained during your MBA and how did you apply it at work? It was that leadership, AI literacy, and strategic freedom of thought are now inseparable.
I applied this by strengthening alignment, trust, and purpose in my teams, while actively integrating AI into brand strategy and decision-making. It also future-proofed my leadership profile for the next 20 years.
Give us a story from your EMBA on how you juggled work, family, and education. Managing a global executive role, an EMBA, and motherhood required ruthless prioritization.
Clear boundaries, discipline, and the mutual support of an exceptional cohort made it possible. It wasn’t about balance, it was about resilience.
What advice would you give to a student looking to enter an executive MBA program? Be radically clear about why you are doing it.
An EMBA is not just professional development, it’s a total transformation, personally and intellectually.
What was your biggest regret in business school? No real regrets, only time constraints. With an intense executive agenda, I would have loved to join even more electives and international modules.
What is one way that your business school has integrated AI into its programming? What insights did you gain? AI was embedded into strategy and leadership discussions, focusing on ethics, productivity, and organizational impact.
The key insight: our jobs won’t be replaced by AI, but by people who know how to use AI better than we do.
What was the main reason you chose an executive MBA over part-time or online alternatives? Human connection. Real networking, real pressure, real debate—and trust built through shared experience, not screens.
How did you finance your EMBA and make it more affordable? Through personal investment, seen as a long-term strategic choice to keep my leadership profile relevant and competitive for the next 20 years.
What is your ultimate long-term professional goal? I want to take on senior leadership and decision‑making roles shaping Italian brands globally, blending heritage, roots, soul, storytelling, and passion. And to show my daughter that leadership can look like her, without having to doubt herself the way I once did.
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