Meet The EMBA Class Of Entrepreneurs: Executives Today, Founders Tomorrow 

Pietro Putetto
SDA Bocconi 

Venture name: Politecna Europa Srl
Date of founding: 2014
Program: SDA Bocconi EMBA  

 Tell us about your career background: I graduated from the Polytechnic University of Turin with a degree in Aerospace Engineering. Throughout my career, I have continuously invested in my professional development by attending courses on communication, negotiation, financial accounting, and international trade. I also spent three years in Oman, an experience that proved to be highly formative both professionally and personally, exposing me to different cultures, business environments, and ways of working. 

Later, I attended a program at Harvard focused on the management of small businesses. After years of continuous learning and practical experience, I felt it was the right time to take a more structured and comprehensive approach to my managerial development. This led me to pursue an Executive MBA at SDA Bocconi, with the goal of strengthening my leadership skills and broadening my understanding of business management across all key functions. 

What is your business/venture? I have always dreamed of being an entrepreneur and building something of my own. After graduating, I started my career working as a plumber in my family’s small business. This hands-on experience gave me a deep understanding of the construction industry and its practical challenges. 

I later decided to pursue my own path and moved into the design and engineering of large-scale buildings, including schools, research centers, and hospitals. My focus was on providing integrated design services, bringing together multiple disciplines to deliver more coordinated, efficient, and high-quality projects. 

What inspired you to found this business? I was working in the industry through my father’s small company, but I noticed a very rigid separation between the different design and construction disciplines, including electrical, plumbing, civil works, and finishing. I therefore believed it was important to establish an architecture and engineering firm that would bring all these specializations together under one roof, enabling us to deliver projects to clients more quickly, with fewer meetings, and with greater coordination and consistency across all disciplines. 

 Why did you enrol on the EMBA? In 2022, we sold our company to the Planet Smart City group, and I was asked to build and grow an internal consulting division focused on smart districts and smart buildings. The company that acquired us had a much more structured corporate environment, which I initially found challenging to navigate due to my lack of experience working with functions such as a CFO, an HR Director, and a Board of Directors to whom I was required to report. 

Up until that point, my business partner and I had always managed the company in a very entrepreneurial way, making decisions quickly across a wide range of operational and management topics. Adapting to a more formal corporate structure, with defined processes, governance, and reporting lines, required a significant shift in mindset and working style. 

How was the EMBA helped you/your business? The EMBA helped me develop a theoretical framework for many situations that I had previously handled largely through intuition and practical experience. While I was already accustomed to dealing with these challenges, I often lacked the formal concepts and methodologies behind them. 

It also gave me a comprehensive understanding of the different functions that operate within an industrial organization, helping me organize these areas conceptually and better understand how they are interconnected. As I mentioned, after joining a more structured company, the EMBA proved particularly valuable in enabling me to appreciate the perspectives of Finance, Human Resources, Marketing, and Strategy. It helped me communicate and collaborate more effectively with these functions and engage with the Board in a more informed, precise, and impactful manner. 

What’s the one thing about the EMBA that you think is undervalued? The EMBA is not just about increasing your academic knowledge in a particular field. One of its greatest strengths is the remarkable network of people you build throughout the journey. By the end of the program, you find yourself surrounded by a diverse group of highly accomplished and talented professionals. What makes this network particularly valuable is the shared mindset that develops among participants. Having gone through the EMBA experience together, people are genuinely willing to listen, share their expertise, and, whenever possible, support one another in achieving their personal and professional goals. 

This has been one of the most powerful benefits of the program for me—something I did not fully appreciate when I first started the journey. The strength of the relationships, the trust that develops, and the willingness of people to help each other have exceeded all my expectations. 

What’s next for your business? The next stage of my entrepreneurial journey is the spin-off of the consulting business that I was tasked with building four years ago. Since then, the division has grown substantially and has now reached the scale, capabilities, and market presence required to thrive as an independent entity. The objective is to unlock its full potential by establishing it as a standalone company with its own leadership, strategic direction, and growth ambitions. 

Would you recommend the EMBA to other entrepreneurs? If yes, why? Absolutely. First and foremost, it was an outstanding life experience. Beyond the academic content, the program helps you gain a deeper understanding of yourself through a variety of challenges, experiences, and stimuli that go far beyond traditional exams. From my perspective, it enabled me to better frame, categorize, and approach the complex problems I face on a daily basis in my professional life. It provided me with tools and frameworks that helped transform experience and intuition into more structured decision-making. In addition, especially during the spin-off phase that I am currently leading, both the network of faculty members and the relationships built with my classmates have proven to be extremely valuable. Being able to draw on such a diverse and highly qualified community for advice, feedback, and support has become one of the most significant benefits of the EMBA experience. 

NEXT PAGE: Tars Van der Vaerent, Vlerick Business School 

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