Please describe a day in your life

Cristina Ielo: I’m quite an early riser. I wake up early, read the main news online, drink lots of water and then off we go. I wake up my 4-year-old son, and we get ready to go out together.

My working day alternates more operational moments with more creative ones, which are my favourite ones. Back home, we all have dinner together, and, between a race with toy cars and a cartoon, I try to carve out a moment for myself, reading the pages of a book (I always have at least two on my bedside table) or listening to good music.

How many projects are you currently working on? Please describe them:

Many are continuous over time. Then there are projects that I like to define as “special” because they are new and intended to innovate the processes in progress. One of those that is involving me most in this period has to do with Artificial Intelligence and its applications in the social field.

In your opinion, who is the most influential person/company in the world of technology these days?

I have no doubt: Elon Musk. He is investing heavily in pushing himself to test technologies that few had even thought about before him. As a person who deals with communications for a living, I also like to analyse the way in which he communicates his “businesses”. It’s always hard to forget.

If you could pick one app/product/project existing now that you wish you were involved in, what would it be?

It would certainly involve artificial intelligence and related application areas. I am sure, in fact, that this tool can represent a valid ally if well-governed. The real challenge now is understanding how to control it instead of suffering from it. If we want it to play on our side and empower us, we must first fully understand its advantages and risks and regulate and encourage its conscious use.

How do you see technology evolving in the next ten years?

I risk being repetitive, but I believe the next technological evolutions will inevitably involve artificial intelligence on ambitions we can’t even imagine today. We haven’t seen anything yet; we will have to study a lot to keep up and welcome what will happen with openness and curiosity rather than distrust.

What are the three characteristics you have that make you successful in tech?

First, curiosity. I have always been very curious about discovering and testing new things to get an idea of possible applications in my work, too. The second is enthusiasm. Especially in the initial phase of discovery or study, I get excited and want to know more and more. The third is the desire to share with those who know more. Comparison, if constructive, is the best source of enrichment.

What is the most challenging thing you had to deal with during your career?

Spread awareness of how important it is to monitor certain channels actively. It seems obvious today when we talk about social channels, but it wasn’t 12 years ago, when I started.

What is your most outstanding achievement up until today?

I started from scratch on projects whose potential not everyone understood, and I have seen them grow, work, and bring results.

What do you wish yourself with respect to your career?

I hope to continue to desire to learn and delve deeper into what is happening around me. By studying, listening, and observing, new stimuli arise, and new stimuli are essential to not shutting down but keeping learning and experimenting.

Where do you see yourself in five years?

In a detached house with a garden not too far from the workplace. Maybe 5 years is too little. For the rest, I plan to continue doing what I do, always finding new keys and new ideas to keep up with the trends and innovations of the moment without losing sight of the values and goals to pursue.

What is your next goal?

To work to make interaction with online users more effective but without giving up the right amount of empathy which is the basis of every human relationship that can be defined as such.

What do non-tech people around you (family, friends) think you do?

It was more difficult at the beginning, less so now. My mother has partly understood that my work has to do with social channels, and every day, she writes to me on WhatsApp to tell me that she has liked a post published on one of the social pages/profiles I manage. Come on, it’s something. She misses everything that happens before and after, which is the most relevant part. But we will get there.

Which famous person would you like to have dinner with and why?

Samantha Cristoforetti. I have so many questions about what it’s like up there among the stars, about how small we will be in the eyes of those like her who wander through space in search of new frontiers and new futures.

Do you have a person who influences or motivates you?

I am lucky enough to have a life partner, Fabio, who believes a lot in my abilities and motivates me not to settle. I do the same thing with him. I believe this is the true strength of our being together despite being very different.

What did you dream of creating/inventing/doing as a child?

I dreamed of building a rocket to go into space.

How has Covid-19 changed the way people view technological development?

The COVID-19 pandemic undoubtedly accelerated technological and innovation processes in all sectors. It made it necessary to adapt to different requirements in a very short time. Digital channels prevailed over physical ones, and a lot of work had to be done to make them possible. It probably would have happened even without COVID-19, but not with the same speed.