About Us

Amedeo Gagliardi

He graduated in Law from La Sapienza University in Rome. He is a lawyer with a background in legal counselling on public works and operational assignments within the high-speed railway construction group and leading construction companies. Before joining Autostrade per l'Italia he held the position of Head of Legal Affairs of Italferr, a company of the FS Group. He joined Autostrade per l'Italia in May 2007, where he initially worked in the purchasing and procurement department, later joining the company's Legal Department in 2012. In January 2015, he was appointed ASPI’s Head of Legal Affairs. He is also Director in some of the Group's subsidiaries and Chairman of Amplia Infrastructures.

Massimiliano Arces

In 1997, he graduated with honours in Civil and Hydraulic Engineering. After initial experience in geotechnical design firms, in 1999 he joined Arthur Andersen and then Deloitte & Touche, where he worked as a business consultant – in the field of HSE and social responsibility - supporting major Italian industrial companies.

From 2005 to 2008 he worked as a manager at Det Norske Veritas - a ship classification company and world leader in risk management and safety improvement solutions - where he strengthened his environmental and safety management skills in important national and international contexts.

In May 2008 he joined the Astaldi Group, where he gained significant international experience in the HSE management of complex infrastructure projects and where, until 2020, he held positions of increasing responsibility in the parent company, including HSE Manager, Sustainability Manager and head of Organisation and Integrated Management Systems.

He is a lecturer in dozens of masters and specialisation courses, including several EMAS and Ecolabel schools and, most recently, the Executive Programme in Compliance Management at Luiss Business School in Rome.

Since 2020 he has been a manager at Autostrade per l'Italia, part of the Group's transformation process focused on cultural and organisational growth in the area of Health, Safety and Environment.

Since September 2023 he has been Group HSE Director and now he is Group QHSE Director

Fernando De Maria

He graduated in Mechanical Engineering from Federico II University. He started his career at Fiat Auto in 1998 as team leader for the new Panda dashboard module.

In 2001, he joined Leonardo and started taking on increasing responsibilities in operations and sales. He has consolidated his experience in core business activities such as Aerostructures, Military Aircraft, Helicopters and Radar, often thanks to long periods spent abroad.

In 2019, he was Chief Executive Officer of FATA Logistic Systems and in 2020 of Leonardo Deutschland GmbH.

In January 2021, he joined Autostrade per l'Italia as Business Unit Operations Director.

Danilo Gismondi

He graduated in Economics and Business from Tor Vergata University.

He began his career in 1995 as a freelancer, working on various projects, first on management control systems, then as a Business Analyst on ERP systems.

In 2003, he joined Trenitalia SpA as IT Program Manager in the logistics and maintenance area. Over the years, he took on roles of increasing responsibilities until being appointed Chief Information Officer in January 2011, launching the company's digital transformation plan. In November 2019, he took on the role of Chief Information Officer and Executive Systems Director of the West Coast Partnership rail franchise in the UK, participating in the start-up of the new rail service on the west coast of the UK. In August 2020, he returned to Italy and took on the role of Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of FSTechnology, the FS Group's in-house company for the development and management of information systems. Since May 2022, he has held the position of IT Director and Digital Transformation Officer of Autostrade per l'Italia Group.

Gianluigi Iacobone

Gianluigi Iacobone was born in Canosa di Puglia in 1979 and he graduated in Economics and Commerce. He joined Autostrade per l'Italia in January 2005 and is currently the Director of Studies and Strategies and Head of the CEO Office. He is also a member of the Board of Directors of Movyon. He was Deputy Director of Purchasing and Procurement between 2021 and 2022.

From 2020 to 2021, he was a member of the Board of Directors of one of the service subsidiaries of the Group (Giove Clear). He has more than 15 years' experience in planning and control, with various roles and responsibilities both in the control of the company's business and human resources and in the management of other group companies, contributing to the redesign of processes, the definition and continuous improvement of reporting and the development of models and KPIs for measuring performance. After his graduation in 2003, he became a contract researcher in economics and innovation management at the Department of Economics of the Gabriele D'Annunzio University of Pescara, where he worked on national, sectoral and territorial innovation systems until January 2005.

Piergiorgio Peluso

He graduated in Economic and Social Sciences from Bocconi University, he joined Mediobanca in 1994 in the Holdings Department.

In 1998, he joined Credit Suisse First Boston (CSFB), where he managed complex transactions in the credit and utilities sectors.

In 2002, he joined the Capitalia Group, where he was responsible for the Corporate Division of the banking group. Following the acquisition of Capitalia by Unicredit, he took on the role of Head of Corporate and Investment Banking (CIB) for Italy and Chief Executive Officer of the Group’s Corporate Bank.

In mid-2011, he joined Fondiaria SAI as General Manager.

In 2012, he left the insurance field to join the telecommunications sector, in particular Telecom Italia Group (TIM), where he held the position of Chief Financial Officer of the Group.

He has been Chief Financial Officer of Autostrade per l'Italia since 2nd March 2023.

Riccardo Pugnalin

As of 1 May 2023, Riccardo Pugnalin has been the Director of Institutional Affairs and Communication of Autostrade per l'Italia.

Born in Milan in 1962, Riccardo has over 30 years of experience in the field of communication and institutional affairs. From 2020 to April 2023 he served as External Affairs Director and member of the Executive Committee of Vodafone Italia, in charge of institutional, regulatory and network security affairs. Between 2008 and 2020, he held various positions at Sky Italia, rising to the position of Executive Vice President - Communications, News and Public Affairs. Previously, he held positions and offices of increasing responsibility in other companies and groups such as BAT Italia and Fininvest.

Alessandra Vari

She graduated in Economics and Business Administration from La Sapienza University in Rome.

She started her career as an auditor with Arthur Andersen, where she also gained experience in business consulting. In 1995, she joined Ferrovie dello Stato Group in the newly established Audit Department and then moved to the Administration and Accounting Department with increasing responsibilities. In 2010 she was appointed Head of the Audit Department of Trenitalia until September 2022, and then took up the same position at Rete Ferroviaria Italiana. She was member of the Supervisory Board of Trenitalia, RFI and Trenord; the Supervisory Board of Netinera, a Berlin-based sub-holding operating in regional rail transport; the Arbitration Committee of AGENS, a trade association (transport and services) of the Confindustria system.

Since 1st February 2002, she has been Head of the Internal Audit Department of Autostrade per l'Italia.