Today, we chat with Marco Gottini, a Berkeley Columbia Executive MBA class of 2011. He is an IT executive with more than years of international experience in IT strategy, IT operations, and management consulting. He is currently a Managing Partner at Bizal, portmanteau for Business (Biz) Alignment. He is also a board member of the Berkeley Haas Los Angeles chapter.

In this episode, Marco shares his younger years growing up in an Italian family who owns a winery, packing his belongings and moving to LA, his career in the IT industry, and deciding to go to business school as a challenge.

He also narrates starting Bizal, explains what business alignment is all about, and the importance of having a business framework and clear business goals.

Episode Quotes:

On alumni engagement - "It was just so amazing to see happy people having great experiences. So, it wasn't just about the school. It wasn't just about allegiance. It was about having a good time with people that are technically your family."

On having clear business goals - "When you know where you're going, you can figure it out better, and you can put KPIs in place that are significant and meaningful."

The importance of human factor in technology and business - "People forget about people more than anybody else. They think that technology solves everything. There are phenomenal technologies out there. And then where everything fails most of the time is people using them. People not following the rules, people doing other things, people breaking what technology was. So, you also have to consider the human factor. It's absolutely important. It's probably the most important enabler out of all of that in a company."

Show Links:

• LinkedIn
• Bizal
• Berkeley Haas Los Angeles

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