ALUMNI COMMUNITY
Photo credits: luigicongedo.com
Luigi Congedo Pavel G Ferreri
Principal, BootstrapLabs
Masters in International Business, Class of 2013
Top 100 Italian Leaders Under 30, Forbes, 2018 Worldwide Leader of Global Sales, IBM Cloud Platform;
Kubernetes & Developer Services, IBM
MBA, Class of 2006
IBM Recognized Public Speaker, 2017
Luigi is passionate about the impact of technology and
entrepreneurship on society. Since graduating he has worked
in the business development and finance worlds, and his
accumulated experience saw him named one of Forbes’
Top 100 Italian Leaders Under 30’. Before Hult, Pavel had founded a successful small outdoor
advertising business. Yet his entrepreneurial cravings remained
unsatisfied. His MBA experience was life-changing as he realized
that his technological skills were seriously lacking compared to
his classmates. Rather than admitting defeat, he set the ambitious
goal of working for Microsoft after his MBA. He went on to spend
the next decade becoming an expert in disruptive innovation and
digital transformation through AI, Blockchain, Cloud computing,
and other emerging technologies, and helping companies
innovate through his work with global tech leaders from
Microsoft, Oracle, Salesforce.com, and IBM.
In the last eight years, he has worked in international
development and new market expansion, with stints at Samsung,
AngelHack, and RadiumOne. He also launched a pharmaceutical
e-commerce company based in Italy, lovesano.it. In 2014 Luigi
moved to Silicon Valley to work at BootstrapLabs, a leading
venture capital firm that focuses on applied AI, where he became
responsible for investment and portfolio management. He has
participated in over 20 investments to date, and he leads his
firm’s annual Applied AI Conference which brings together over
800 AI leaders. Luigi is a frequent speaker and mentor at startup
programs and events.
Luigi supports various global projects aimed at entrepreneurs.
He praises Hult for giving him the opportunity to learn soft
skills such as understanding cultural differences and how to
manage your personal reputation. Appreciating the power
of technology was another indispensable skill he mastered,
and one that he feels is vital to success in today’s international
business world.
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During his four years at IBM, Pavel has held multiple sales and
leadership positions, most recently being promoted from the
Watson, Cloud & Blockchain Industry Solutions team in North
America, to Worldwide Leader of Global Sales for IBM Cloud
Platform; Kubernetes & Developer Services. He is responsible for
growing worldwide revenue and utilization levels of the IBM
Cloud Platform; Kubernetes & Developer Services, across all
go-to-market channels. Pavel has also continued further
education, and has become an active real estate investor, public
speaker, coach, and influencer.
Pavel’s advice to students and alumni alike is: “Be brave, be
confident enough to take on big challenges, and be super
creative with how you reinvent yourself.”