“I use dialogue. I ask questions. And I don’t give answers.” Alessandro Bruni

In this episode of 15 with Fosca, I sit down with philosopher, strategist, professor, author, and musician Alessandro Bruni for a conversation about philosophy, business, Italy, AI, and how to keep our footing in a world that seems to be changing faster than we can name it.

Alessandro teaches at the University of Pisa and leads the Naima Brain Trust, bringing philosophical thinking into the world of companies, brands, strategy, sustainability, and transformation. But this is not a conversation about abstract theory. It is about how we think, how we ask questions, how organizations lose and recover their sense of direction, and why philosophy may be more necessary than ever in an age obsessed with answers.

We talk about why markets and organizations are, in Alessandro’s words, “objects of conversation”; why real strategy begins with dialogue rather than ready-made solutions; and why companies must understand their own DNA before they can grow. We also discuss his latest book, I 4 pilastri per le aziende B2B, which looks at innovation, design, brand, and sustainability as the four legs of a table, and what happens when one of those legs is missing.

From B2B companies “staying in the kitchen” like Cinderella, to Italy’s creativity and provincialismo, to AI as the “genie in a lamp,” Alessandro reminds us that the future belongs not to those with the fastest answers, but to those capable of asking better questions.

And because no conversation with Alessandro could stay entirely in the boardroom, we also touch on Beckett, Nietzsche, Cole Porter, Livorno, saxophone gigs, and the possibility of finding beauty, and even joy, in chaos.

Biography

Alessandro Bruni graduated with a degree in Philosophy from the University of Pisa. In 2012, he founded Naima, a consultancy and braintrust dedicated to business development and transformation based on innovation, design, branding and sustainability. He operated as both a manager and a consultant in companies of all sectors before founding Abla, a leader in speech-automated business solutions. Based on his experience, he says that business is – as most of human activities – is an endless and meaningful conversation: open, often unpredictable, surprising but structured. Strategy is the process of articulating such a conversation.

This is what he teaches in Strategic Development as an Adjunct Professor at the University of Pisa, Engineering Faculty, Business Management Course. From his contact and discussions with his students he derives and tests most of the methods he applies in business. And the other way round.

He is a Certified International Trainer in Strategic Selling e Conceptual Selling and coach at Palestre Digitali (a post graduate business innovation program sponsored by Accenture Foundation and Samsung).

He contributed to several tech start-ups in and is currently a tutor for competitive innovation hubs on new sustainable business ventures. He regularly consults businesses on Strategy & Transformation, Marketing Research, and Sales Practices.

He has served as Chairman of Parchi Val di Cornia, the aggregation of the most important (and beautiful) Archeo&Natural Parks along the coast of Tuscany. He practices and applies Joe Weston’s Respectful Confrontation as a core part of his commitment to Strategic Thinking and to support positive behavioral shifts in individuals and companies.

He is the author of Senza aspettare Godot, literally ‘Don’t wait for Godot’ a method in SME business growth and of I 4 pilastri per le aziende B2B, edited by Franco Angeli Editore.

His personal project is to help enterprises and their people focus on sustainable growth.

He loves music and plays jazz piano and saxophone.

Links

https://www.linkedin.com/in/alessandro-bruni-773223/?skipRedirect=true https://www.naimaconsulting.it https://www.francoangeli.it/Libro/I-4-pilastri-per-le-aziende-B2B-Innovazione,-Design,-Marchio,-Sostenibilità?Id=29685