Gabriele Taviani

Gabriele Taviani

Chief Digital & E-Commerce Officer · Retail · AI

For twenty years I've run e-commerce and digital marketing in retail — cosmetics, organic food, gift, fashion — across Italy, Brazil and the UK. I work on 12–24 month mandates: I come in, turn the online channel from a cost into a profit center by integrating it with stores, build the team, and leave it able to run on its own. Since 2022 I've added AI to the mix: agents and automations I design myself that actually work in the business.

Looking for an e-commerce/digital leadership mandate at a mid-to-large retailer, including fixed-term. Milan or hybrid, available immediately.

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+400% online sales in 18 months
10+ M€ media budget managed, peak year
350+ stores integrated with online
5 books published
2 AI platforms published
40+ courses taught as instructor

Key Skills

Leadership

E-Commerce P&L & Budget from cost to profit center
Team Leadership teams from zero, 5–40 people
Go-to-Market & Startup founder, investor, exits

Growth & Omnichannel

Performance Marketing growth measured, not promised
Omnichannel & Drive-to-Store stores + online, one customer
CRM & Marketing Automation retargeting, my Hoepli book

AI-First

AI Agents & Automation agents on KPIs and processes
AI Strategy & Adoption AWA method · author
Data & Analytics attribution beyond last click

Executive Experience · Retail

2023 — Present

Founder & Venture Builder

GTAVIANI Consulting & Venture Builder — Milan

Mandato: Create and fund digital retail ventures, between corporate mandates.

  • K-Beauty Center (W&W): Milan-based retail startup with Chinese partners, subscription K-beauty format; business plan, partners and investor fundraising.
  • AI Workspace Agency (B2B SaaS of AI agents for retail SMEs) and DrGuido.ai (B2C health assistant): both published and in use.
  • Advanced AI skills built on business strategy and operations, not on technology.
Sep 2022 — Jun 2024

E-Commerce & Digital Marketing Lead (project-based contract)

ECORNATURASÌ S.p.A. — Organic food, 350+ stores, ~€435M — Milan

Mandato: Make e-commerce a channel integrated with the store network, not an internal competitor.

  • Data-driven e-commerce strategy: budget, management control, BI dashboards shared with the network.
  • Integrated the acquired startup Portanatura; unified marketing automation (SalesManago); operations and after-sales team.
2020 — 2022

CEO and co-founder

SLYMETRIX S.r.l. — E-commerce analytics SaaS — Rome

2019

E-Commerce Marketing Consultant

BROKERAD Ltd — London

Sep 2017 — Dec 2018

Digital Officer (E-Commerce Project Manager)

BOTTEGA VERDE S.r.l. — Cosmetics, 400+ stores — Biella

Mandato: Grow e-commerce results through digital marketing.

  • E-commerce revenue from €4M to over €7M/year (+75%) in 16 months.
  • Set up the digital office; overhauled the digital strategy: e-commerce, mobile app, new markets in Italy and abroad.
Jun 2014 — Feb 2017

E-Commerce Director

WISHDAYS / EMOZIONE3 — Smartbox, gift & experience — Verona

Mandato: Build the group's e-commerce channel from scratch.

  • +400% e-commerce sales in 18 months; multi-channel attribution, mobile, Facebook retargeting.
  • Team of 5 built from zero; group acquired by Smartbox in 2016.

Startups & Entrepreneurship

2020 — 2022

CEO and co-founder

Slymetrix S.r.l. — Rome

E-commerce business analytics SaaS: fundraising, international marketing, customer acquisition; orderly sale of the technology assets to the buyer.

2012 — 2014

CEO and co-founder

Paypersocial Ltd — London

Social affiliation; teams in Brazil and Moldova; US, Italy, UK and Brazil markets.

2009 — 2011

Director and co-founder

Slytrade Ltda — São Paulo

Affiliate network: 25,000 publishers, 30 clients, 150 campaigns.

Brazil · 2007–2012

2011 — 2012

Country Manager Brazil

Effiliation SA — São Paulo

Opened the South American subsidiary: joint venture, team of 6, clients Buscapé and MercadoLivre.

2008 — 2009

Mobile project marketing

Bandeirantes SA (TV Band) — São Paulo

Localization of OneMedia's mobile payment platform.

2007 — 2008

Country Manager Brazil

Brazileiro Ltda — São Paulo

European e-commerce operations for the Brazilian charter airline BRA.

Earlier Experience · Italy 1991–2006

2006

E-Commerce Manager

Olitalia — Forlì

2003 — 2005

Marketing Manager

Studio Pleiadi (Technogym group) — Cesena

1991 — 1998

Sales Manager Italy

two B2B companies — Italy

1991 — 1993

Monomandate commercial agent

DeAgostini Professionale — Rome

First job: selling legal and tax databases to law and accounting firms. This is where I learned to sell.