--- title: "Davide Scalera · Entrepreneur, consultant and trainer" description: "I bring AI, marketing and soft skills into companies: in projects, in the training room and with Update Labs. Where I come from, and what I believe." url: https://davidescalera.it/en/about lang: en --- entrepreneur, consultant, trainer # I bring AI, marketing and soft skills into companies In consulting projects, in the training room and through the systems I build with Update Labs. They’re three fronts of the same job: if you’re deciding whether to write, this page has where I come from, what I work on and the numbers with their basis. ![Davide Scalera standing, hands low and loosely clasped in front](https://davidescalera.it/_astro/davide-hero-calmo-2026.8ZC_Fhjm_ZFxoE2.webp?dpl=6acbeef2a8d2f5dc78849172) ## Three fronts of the same job Consultant, trainer, founder: three fronts that work on the same subjects, AI, marketing and soft skills, and each one feeds the others. The classroom material comes from the projects I’m running; the projects become systems the company keeps when I leave, and the cases from those systems go back into the classroom. - **Consultant.** I work inside companies on AI adoption, marketing and organisation, and I build use cases around their real processes rather than around product features. - **Trainer.** I teach the same subjects, using material from the projects I’m running at the time. - **Founder.** As founder and Head of Research of Update Labs, I build what a company keeps once the project is over: procedures, training programmes, event formats and AI automation. ## Where I come from, and why AI and marketing belong together I came to AI from strategic marketing, and to me they do the same job: keeping a company in business for the long run as everything changes. That’s also why the Update Labs tagline is “Don’t Reset. Update.” What I work on: generative AI for everyday work (Microsoft Copilot, Claude, Gemini), marketing and corporate communication, public speaking, negotiation and leadership. Public speaking, negotiation and leadership are on the list because they decide whether adoption sticks. On public speaking I also work on the part that isn’t in the slides: voice and stage presence, which I learned in the theatre and which people need for a meeting, a pitch or a room of their own. ## What I believe about this work If you have read this far, you are probably deciding whether to write to me. So here is what I think, which is the fastest way I know to show you how I work. Communication is marketing, but marketing is not only communication. The word comes from “to market”, and the “-ing” carries the rest of the meaning: it is not a place you arrive at, it is something you do every day. It is everything that keeps a company in business over time, far more than two reels on Instagram. I came to AI from there, and to me it does exactly the same job. It is now one of the things that decide whether a company stays in business or slowly drifts out of it, and chatting with a model is not the same as adopting it. What it takes is an update: going back into how the work is done, rather than buying licences and hoping. Update, not reset. It is the name of my company and the thing I believe most: what already works inside a company should not be thrown away so you can start again somewhere else. It gets evolved, without being overturned. Starting from scratch is the move that looks brave and is almost always the expensive one. Everything else follows from that. What I teach comes from the projects I am running at the time, not from a deck built last year, because I cannot teach something I am not doing. I work on the participants’ real files, even when that is harder for me. And when AI is the wrong tool I say so, because the alternative shows up three months later and the client pays for it. There is one thing I ask of a company: that somebody inside it genuinely wants to change how the work gets done. If that person exists, we can build the rest. If not, a course is a pleasant day that has moved nothing a week later, and that is not worth calling me for. If this sounds like you, write to me. If it doesn’t, at least you know before spending half an hour on a call, and that is fine too. ## The numbers, with their basis I've trained more than 2,000 professionals on structured programmes in 4+ countries. On top of that come plenary sessions, some with more than 1,000 people in a single day. 97% average end-of-course satisfaction, 88% retention. Teaching since 2016, running my own business since 2022. The 97% and 88% come from final tests and satisfaction surveys, normalised and aggregated across providers. Sources are not shown, for confidentiality. I’ve been teaching since 2016, in English and Italian, directly for companies and as a contract trainer for training providers, including on funded training schemes. I work remotely from Milan on Central European Time and travel for in-person sessions. ## Update Labs, the company I founded Update Labs works with small and mid-sized companies on strategy and marketing, training, events and AI adoption, and leaves what it builds with the client’s team: procedures, training programmes, event formats and automation. I’m founder and Head of Research; the work is done by four Labs, one per front, with me and with the network. - **Strategy Lab:** marketing and organisation - **Learn Lab:** training (ULP Courses, Growth Program) - **Event Lab:** events and formats (TrueStory Biz, B2CEO) - **Tech Lab:** AI adoption and automation [Update Labs ↗](https://updatelabs.it/) ## Where to find me In Milan; across Italy and Europe when a session is on site; remote on Central European Time for everything else. On LinkedIn I write about the same things I do in the room and in projects, with the same numbers: if you want to hear how I talk before you write, start there. If you already have a group or a project in mind, skip that step. [LinkedIn ↗](https://www.linkedin.com/in/davscalera)[Get in touch](https://davidescalera.it/en/contact) ## Who I’ve worked with. Join them. Companies, organisations, associations and events: the people I’ve worked with since 2016, directly or through partners. Gruppo LEN TIM Innovate Lab Anthea Group Poste Italiane Teaching in Italy Digital Attitude Autostrade per l’Italia Meta CISITA Parma RE/MAX LanguageCert Assoform Romagna WS Audiology Macmillan Education ISCOM E.R. Intesi Group Superprof Formindustria Emilia-Romagna Teledata OrizzonteScuola.it FOR.P.IN. Audire Innovate Lab Nuovo Cescot E.R. ISAAC Teaching in Italy Il Sestante Romagna TIM Meta ISAAC Associazione Italiana Dislessia CNA Emilia-Romagna Si Collection Google Educator Group CFTA S.A.L.A. Srl TEDxRoma Gruppo FRASI Il Cortile Poliferie UMANA Forma Comune di Piacenza Open Casello Only Form SPI CGIL Radio Enjoy Dot Academy FIAGOP ETS St. George’s Institute CO.L.SER Altair Agency Associazione Italiana Dislessia ISCOM Formazione Modena Grapes Chain Google Educator Group Scuola Beni Strumentali GSE TEDxRoma ACIMAC Comune di Milano Poliferie ACIMALL Digital Flow Open Casello AMAPLAST Gazzetta di Parma Radio Enjoy UCIMA OKimpresa St. George’s Institute CNA Emilia-Romagna Redini Studio Associazione Italiana Dislessia CFTA Fitask Google Educator Group Gruppo FRASI Duke TEDxRoma UMANA Forma UCIMA CFTA Gruppo FRASI St. George’s Institute CISITA Parma TIM The English Academy Assoform Romagna Poste Italiane Universal Speaking ISCOM E.R. Autostrade per l’Italia The World Language School Formindustria Emilia-Romagna RE/MAX Centro Leonardo FOR.P.IN. WS Audiology Apple Tree Nuovo Cescot E.R. Intesi Group Paideia Il Sestante Romagna Teledata ## Planning a programme, a project or an event? Get in touch I answer personally. If it makes sense, we talk for half an hour. [Get in touch](https://davidescalera.it/en/contact)