Building businesses across markets, assets and technology.
International executive leadership, strategic business development and industrial transformation across European markets. More than 25 years of experience connecting commercial vision, assets, technology and people.
Senior Director, Global Strategic
Business Development · VTG
My career spans entrepreneurship, company ownership, general management and international strategic development.
I began by building business software, founded Loginformatica and moved from technology into commercial leadership. As CEO and shareholder of SoGeTank, I expanded the company in European markets and managed its sale to VTG.
Since then I have led country operations, P&L, teams, commercial development and industrial assets at European scale. Rail and logistics are the operating ground on which I developed a broader executive practice: aligning strategy, people, capital and technology.
Over more than 25 years, I have worked across the commercial, operational and organisational dimensions of industrial businesses. My responsibilities have included P&L, teams, investments, market development, partnerships and relationships with institutions.
An early background in software and business systems still shapes my work: understand how the organisation creates value, then use technology to improve decisions, processes and execution.
Business planning, P&L, governance, teams and organisational coordination.
Market positioning, new offers, partnerships and international development.
Capital allocation, portfolio strategy, utilisation and long-term performance.
Automation, AI and digital tools applied to decisions and operating processes.
Strategic business development across international rail freight and logistics activities, with a focus on market positioning, growth opportunities and partnerships.
The role also includes the application of AI to business processes, commercial decision-making and market responsiveness.
European responsibility for Intermodal and Bulk activities: fleet strategy, asset allocation, commercial steering and performance management.
The scope included budgets, forecasts, investment priorities and the integration of the Bulk and Intermodal teams, within a segment of more than 36,000 wagons.
Management responsibility for the Italian market, including legal representation, sales, profit and loss, budgeting, forecasting and risk management.
Led a team of more than 30 professionals across wagon leasing and rail logistics, coordinating commercial and organisational activities.
Area Manager Italy from March 2011 to September 2014, followed by General Manager / Area Manager Italy from October 2014 to December 2015.
Responsibilities covered commercial and operational activities, customer relationships and business development, followed by full area responsibility for sales, profit and loss and legal representation.
Full business responsibility for strategy, investments, commercial expansion and company performance.
Expanded operations into Germany, the Czech Republic and Austria, and managed the sale of the business to VTG Aktiengesellschaft.
IT Developer / Head of IT & Network Security from December 1999 to December 2003: internal IT systems, databases and network security.
Sales Manager from January 2004 to June 2006, with responsibility for commercial development and marketing activities.
Founded Loginformatica, developing software and websites for corporate clients.
Created the management software used by SoGeTank to manage its wagon fleet.
Executive Board Member since 2013. European representation of wagon keepers.
Vice President since 2022. Transport and logistics industry representation.
President, 2015–2019. Vice President, 2010–2015 and since 2019.
Examples of ownership, country leadership and European portfolio integration. The industry context is specific; the executive disciplines are transferable.
The story we leave behind is written in the relationships we build as well as the results we achieve.
Guido Gazzola
I believe that the ability of an entrepreneur or manager can no longer be assessed solely through past results. The technological acceleration of the last five years calls for leaders who can combine the potential of technology with a human and personal approach to management.
People need to find meaning in their individual contribution, and to receive recognition and respect. For me, these are integral to how an organisation is managed and to the relationships it builds over time.
I do not regard replacing people as the objective of automation. The success of a modern business should be measured by the value it creates for people through technology. Automation is a tool: its role is to support human purposes, using the most suitable means for the task.
As processes become shorter, the energy and creativity that people can contribute should find new scope. I see an opportunity to extend the products and services a business offers while remaining faithful to its original mission.
I see the future of businesses across sectors in the horizontal integration of products and services connected to their primary activity. Strategic and functional interdependencies can strengthen the overall offering and make fuller use of shared capabilities and economies of scale.
A selected record of interviews, articles, conference contributions and institutional activity. Each entry links to the original publisher or organiser.
An analysis of the structural crisis in European rail freight and a proposal to rebuild competitiveness through an integrated industrial and cluster policy.
Panel contribution on integrating road and rail with airport logistics, alongside senior leaders from transport, infrastructure and logistics companies.
Coverage of an industrial partnership and the Steel Train roadshow, with Guido Gazzola explaining the business, innovation and sustainability rationale.
Report on a partnership expanding intermodal services through a platform that makes non-craneable semi-trailers accessible to rail.
Technical and business presentation on connected assets, RoadRailLink, energy systems and the Digital Automatic Coupler.
Interview on modal shift, market conditions and the strategic changes required to make rail freight more competitive.
International coverage of the first experimental R2L train in Italy, including the expected commercial and environmental impact.
Technology, writing and shared experimentation are part of how I explore new business possibilities. Within SabettaWorks, a small team combines interests and skills to develop applications and digital services.
VidiVadi is one of the projects we are developing together, focused on travel planning and navigation.
Our work brings together product definition, software development and the use of AI to support planning and access to travel information.
Travel planning · Navigation · AIA book exploring the limits of automation and the implications of artificial intelligence for work, the economy and society.
It develops a line of inquiry that accompanies my interest in technology: how its uses affect organisations, people and economic relationships.
Artificial intelligence · Economy · SocietyOur team’s applications and digital projects are developed within SabettaWorks.
Writing gives me a way to examine the relationship between technology, work and society in greater depth. The economic and social effects of artificial intelligence are a recurring subject of this interest.
Software development connects my early experience with an interest I now share with a small team. We began developing apps as a hobby; our work is an opportunity to experiment, learn and turn ideas into usable tools.
For executive opportunities, advisory work, board mandates, speaking engagements or a discussion about international growth, you can contact me directly.
guido.gazzola@gmail.com