I have always been fascinated by the power of technology since my early days. Part of this fascination was due to the fact that my parents bought me games like Star Wars Racer and an Xbox with Halo: Combat Evolved. It amazed me how these games could create such detailed, immersive worlds with incredible stories. By the age of five, I already knew I wanted to become a software engineer—particularly a game developer. As I grew up, I refined my interests, and at one point, I even dreamed of becoming a hacker (a good one, of course 😃). Later, my interests shifted slightly, but becoming a software engineer remained my clear goal. This led me to pursue a degree in Software Engineering at Perugia, where I learned the fundamentals of software development. After graduating, I was convinced I wanted to continue my journey in cybersecurity, which led me to choose a master's degree in CyberSecurity in Milan. While finishing my degree, I had the opportunity to join Cluster Reply, a great company specializing in cybersecurity, particularly working with Azure and Microsoft tools. There, I participated in a significant project involving migrating the email system of a large client from ProofPoint (their previous solution) to Microsoft Defender for Office 365. During this project, I learned a great deal about email security and improved my confidence in communicating with various stakeholders. However, after completing the project, I realized I wasn't fully satisfied with the work I was doing and needed a new challenge. Specifically, I wanted to return to what I truly loved: coding. As I was leaving the job and finishing my degree simultaneously, I received an offer from the University of Milan, giving me the opportunity to pursue exactly what I wanted.
When I'm not working, you'll usually find me chasing down one hobby or another, whether it's traveling somewhere new, doing sports, playing the piano, or playing games. I'm a big fan of music, which you can tell by the fact that I've played the piano for 15 years. Nowadays, I try to play it every day, struggling with Patrik Pietschmann's compositions, which are really challenging! I'll leave below one of his pieces, 'The Way of Hope,' played by me. I also played clarinet for 6 years, even making an appearance in an orchestra! Switching to sports, I love watching football, and I'm a big fan of Juventus (the biggest club in Italy, of course). Even though I enjoy watching football, I never liked playing it much, preferring other sports like swimming instead. I swam for almost 8 years, participating in some regional competitions. More recently, I tried Judo and achieved a blue belt! I considered competing, but after witnessing some serious injuries at a tournament, I had second thoughts about it 😕. Another big passion is tennis; I've been playing for a year now and absolutely love it! Chess is another hobby I deeply enjoy. After discovering the ranking system, I played intensely and reached a 2000 ELO rating on chess.com in just a year and a half. This achievement places me in the top 0.1% of players, something I'm very proud of. I even competed internationally, representing Cluster Reply at the FIDE World Corporate Chess Championship 2024. Traveling is also a passion of mine, and I plan to do it more often in the near future. My most recent trip was to London, an amazing place filled with people from all backgrounds. Of course, I also love coding, but that's probably clear already!
