With a runner’s grace and an economist’s mind, Alessandro Bastoni heads up digital communications at Telecom Italia. He speaks with Andrew Thomas

Photographs by Cosimo Sergi

Mother Theresa famously said, “Peace begins with a smile,” and it is the smiling serenity of Alessandro Bastoni that is immediately apparent. Here is a man who instantly appears comfortable with who he is. Early web pioneer, internal television innovator, digital and social media visionary; on their own, phrases occasionally given to far-sighted communications professionals who have embraced technology, but very rare indeed to find someone for whom all three sobriquets apply. Yet these are all appropriate phrases for Bastoni, the head of digital identity and web activities for Telecom Italia.

Having graduated in economics, Bastoni started his career working for The Economist Intelligence Unit. Part of the Economist, this international research company investigated investment conditions for multinational companies looking for new opportunities. Bastoni was one of a number of economists writing investment reports on the economic climate in Italy.

Bastoni concedes that it is rare for economists to enter communications, but, setting the trend that would follow throughout his career he was fortunate enough to be the right man in the right place. Globally, the conference market was taking off, and was big business. Business International, a fellow Economist offshoot to the Economist Intelligence Unit (and the career starting point for US president Barack Obama) needed someone to arrange and sell conferences.

“I went from being an analyst and researcher to becoming a conference manager.” He says, adding, “My career path is quite a strange path.”

It was at this point, that Bastoni launched a new offering for Business International that was both bold and innovative and a move often created by maverick entrepreneurs keen to plough their own furrow.

“I started a totally new activity for Business International, and launched the first benchmarking club in Italy.” For Bastoni, the former analyst turned conference producer, this was to be the springboard for his career.

“All of a sudden I became a networker,” he says. “ My role was to put together people to share managerial practices.”

Yet it wasn’t just social skills that were suddenly developed. This was 1994, and the opportunities provided by the emergent internet were coming to the fore. A modicum of experience, combined with an excitement for the opportunities the internet offered made many an overnight expert, and the same was true for Bastoni. He had used the internet as a hub for his networking and benchmarking club, and headhunters, seeing what he was achieving, ensured he was on the top of Italian utility giant Enel’s list to help them define their digital strategy and create a distance training system.

“Effectively I was quite a young project manager, called in to help launch a new online training facility within the company. I accepted the role, but after a few months I was offered the position of head of internal communications,” he says. It was a big role, and for some a surprise appointment. “It was quite a surprise for me - I was only three or four months into the job and suddenly I was offered such a big position from such a high profile company.”

This was the mid-90’s and senior management around the world were beginning to realise the potential of, and take an interest in, the internet. Bastoni found himself with access to senior management in a way that, at any other time in the internet’s development such access would be unlikely. “I had an incredible opportunity because I was in the right place at the right time. There were not many other people at that time with my skills.”

The science of internal communications at that time was also developing, and Bastoni found himself running a large team. “My team was large, because that was the fashion of the time, not because I needed such a large team,” says Bastoni, commenting on trends within internal comms throughout his career. “Since then, companies like Enel have gone through a period of downsizing and reducing their structures. They were big teams but then companies like Enel, Telecom Italia and others streamlined their departments. Now what is happening is that they are growing again. Social media and digital are bringing new strength to comms departments.”

It was after Bastoni had been at Enel that the biggest opportunity, and the pivotal moment in his career, occurred.

Francesco Tatò, not only the CEO of Enel in the 90’s but also one of the most important figures in the Italian business community, met with Bill Gates. Whilst this was, on one hand a meeting between national business leaders, Enel, as one of Italy’s largest companies were the biggest clients of Microsoft in Italy at that time. The meeting was big news in the Italian business press. Bastoni thought it would be exciting to broadcast the meeting between the two over the Enel intranet. From this one-off broadcast he realised that internal web streaming could be a great opportunity for internal communications.

“I went to Fiat Auto. They had a television system within the company, but this worked on real tv – not on computers. Having seen their system the idea just started to grow – how could we make an internal TV station work on the intranet.”

There were other examples out there of companies using television. One was Mediolanum a financial services firm and part of the Medioset group. In the 80s they had launched a corporate television channel, for their salesmen. But, as with Fiat, it was a real channel, broadcast through satellites, to inform their sales force about new products and services of the bank. Bastoni knew the future lay in web TV.

Development in this space was still new and Enel was a big company. “I researched it for six months before approaching Franco Tatò and asking him if he would be interested in launching a TV channel for his employees. He showed interest, so I returned quickly with a plan for Enel Web TV – and Mr Tatò give me the go ahead.”

With the green light given to launch a television station, the implications began to sink in. Enel were a utilities company, not a media owner. “To make Enel TV work we needed skills and expertise that we didn’t have within the company. I had to outsource the facilities, the people – everything. I hired journalists to come in and work within Enel. To begin with there was nowhere for them; they sat with me in my office.”

Looking back, Bastoni is astounded at how helpful everyone was in the process. It wasn’t just Fiat Auto and Mediolanum who shared their experience and helped Bastoni make it happen. This had never been his background and he needed to go back to basics and study, from scratch, the inner workings of the television industry. “I went to the state broadcaster, RAI, and I asked them to teach me how to make television. They were very polite, said OK and gave me a lot of assistance in doing just that.”

When Enel’s television station was launched, Bastoni went from being the ‘internal comms guy’ to a television producer. His excitement at the recall of this time in his career is evident and his smile becomes wider. “It was a big story in communications at this time,” says Bastoni. “What we were doing was profiled by Sole 24 Ore. Everyone was talking about what we were doing, and other companies were approaching us to learn from our experience.” Suddenly Bastoni wasn’t just running Enel’s web TV. Banca Intesa appointed the utility giant to run their internal TV. “We built up their studios and for two years we ran the Banca Intesa channel.”

Expansion looked likely. Bastoni went to his boss to propose launching a small business unit. He had prepared a business plan showing there was appetite for a small business unit with a turnover of €10m a year, but Enel wasn’t particularly interested – Enel was an electricity producer. Things then changed; his boss went away, the focus altered and nothing happened.

These were heady days in the tech, media and digital space. The dotcom crash of 2002 was yet to happen and everyone was riding high. The obvious question to ask Bastoni is whether he thought of going it alone and creating a web TV production company. Briefly, his smiling countenance is replaced by one of wistfulness. “At the time I didn’t have the strength to do it myself. I wasn’t strong enough or courageous enough to leave the company and open the business. Now, looking back and seeing what has happened in the market, yes it could have been a very good idea. I have no real regrets, but there were times when I think back to that period and… anyway…” he trails off.

With the web TV channel firmly established, Bastoni felt the time was right to leave, and accepted a headhunter’s call to Telecom Italia.

“Telecom Italia were becoming a multimedia, technology company of the time. Enel never had been. I was very proud of my experience and my expertise at that time, and wanted to continue growing. It was a dream entering Telecom Italia.”

At Telecom Italia, Bastoni replicated the TV successes he’d developed at Enel. At Enel, however, internal communications operated within communications, here at Telecom Italia he reported into human resources. Whilst there were positives to this (Bastoni feels he has a much greater understanding of the human response) it did mean his role changed considerably. But that wasn’t the main change. The whirligig of time was catching up with webstreaming technology. Almost overnight the processes of webstreamed television changed. From the cutting edge, web TV was now the new normal. Alessandro Bastoni was no longer a revolutionary.

“I had become bored. Either I had to leave the company, or I had to change my role,” says Bastoni. Telecom Italia didn’t want to lose their man; in 2008 he switched from human resources to external relations, assuming responsibility for corporate digital communications. This switch to external comms is important. “When I had the opportunity to go back to external audiences I was delighted. Working for employees is thrilling but when you are a communicator it is also important to speak to customers and other external stakeholders as well.”

Once again he finds himself ahead of the technology curve. “At the moment, everything in comms is very interesting. There was a brief moment of stasis but now all of the attention is about integrating the web with social. There are big opportunities here, and for the future. I am learning again and creating a new expertise.”

Whilst he acknowledges that his last move was a lateral one, Bastoni is as animated now as when he was talking of creating his first television channel. “These are exciting times” he says. “I am engaged and excited in the way I was back then.”

Bastoni’s team is six strong, but he outsources a large part of the work they are doing. “There is quite a big offering of digital experience, particularly in social. But what is lacking in Italy are agencies that can integrate strategy and innovation with, say, design and user experience. So digital comms is still developing.”

When asked about his own development, Bastoni is hopeful that digital will increase in stature. “I see there being a new role within companies. A CDO, a chief digital officer. A front line role, reporting to the CEO. Digital in marketing is still not the main area but it will come, and within five years.”

Bastoni acknowledges that it is important that he stays ahead, not just in digital development. A regular runner of marathons he is in good shape and does not look at all like a man in his 50s. “I try to maintain my body but it’s also important to maintain my mind. The world is changing so fast at this moment that you have to keep learning.”

A regular speaker at conferences Bastoni has made the transition of digital revolutionary to an elder statesmen of the communications industry with grace and humility. His experience and expertise clearly shows, but at the same time the acknowledgement that he can still develop is evident. “I feel it is a moment in my life where anything could happen. I’m still young enough to adapt.”