The Machiavelli Defense Forum is Italy’s leading event for dialogue between institutional decision-makers, military leadership, and the defence industry on the country’s strategic future.
Join the key players in defence to help shape the decisions that matter.
Undersecretary of Defense, Italy
President, Senate Defense Committee
Chief of Navy Staff, Italy
Chief of Airforce Staff, Italy
National Armament Director, Italy
Commander of the Joint Operations Command (COVI), Italy
Commandant of the Nato Defence College, Denmark
Deputy Chief of Army Staff, Italy
CEO, Leonardo
CEO, Rheinmetall Italy
President, MBDA e AIAD
EVP Strategic Communication Director, Fincantieri
Head of General Advisory Office to the Chief of the Defence Staff, Italy
Capability, Armament and Planning Director, European Defense Agency
Director Office of the Chair of the Military Committee, NATO
Wing Commander, Great Britain
Former Ambassador to NATO, Italy
Special Envoy for Arctic, Italy
COO CSFE, Eurofighter
CEO, Rina Consulting
President, Drass
Senior Head of International Relations, Kongsberg
Chief Information Security Officer, Ansaldo Energia
Vice-President, Elesia
Chief Business Officer, Odysight.ia
President, Olidata
Senior Director Mediterranean Region, SentinelOne
Chief Information Officer, D-Orbit
Cyber Security & Intelligence BU Director, Sysnet
Legal, Compliance & Regulatory Affairs Director, Cellnex
Chief Technology & Information Officer, Polo Strategico Nazionale
Advisor, Minister of Defense
President, Machiavelli Foundation
CEO, Machiavelli Foundation
Senior Counselor to the President, Heritage Foundation
Research Fellow, Royal United Services Institute
Lecturer, University of St. Andrews
Professor, Institute of World Politics
Editor, Analisi Difesa
Head of the Scirè Submarine System
NATO SHAPE - J9, Civil-Military Cooperation
President, Centro Studi Athena
REAL-WORLD EXPERIENCE
English-Italian translation provided in the Verdi Room.
Welcome Addresses and Institutional Opening Remarks
Guido Crosetto
Maurizio Gasparri
Daniele Scalea
Guglielmo Picchi
The harmonization of procurement procedures across Europe, with a focus on transnational industrial collaboration, standardization, innovation acceleration, and scalable production capacity to ensure strategic depth and operational readiness even in prolonged high-intensity conflicts.
Stefano Cont
Lorenzo Mariani
Giacinto Ottaviani
Linus Terhorst
From emerging threats — such as low-cost drones, hypersonic missiles, and autonomous swarms — to the need for next-generation integrated air defence systems. How to combine cutting-edge technologies for air superiority with the mass, resilience, and rapid regeneration capabilities required to sustain high-intensity and protracted conflicts.
Antonio Conserva
Giuseppe Cossiga
Alessandro Ercolani
Cristiano Montrucchio
Mark Robertson
Future challenges in the underwater domain — from next-generation submarines and unmanned systems to multistatic sensors — and the need for sustainable capabilities to ensure deterrence and control in an increasingly contested environment.
Giuseppe Berutti Bergotto
Michele Budetta
Sergio Cappelletti
Among the strategic challenges facing the Alliance, overcoming internal divisions stands out — through greater European responsibility and a firm, reliable American commitment. Maintaining a strong collective defense capability is essential to ensuring credible deterrence.
James Carafano
Marek Jan Chodakiewicz
Andrea Gilli
Francesco Maria Talò
The growing strategic, military, and economic implications of the High North (Arctic), a region that has become a key theatre of geopolitical competition between Russia, China, the United States, and NATO allies. New maritime routes, vast energy and mineral resources, Russian military activities, and the emerging challenges for the security of Northern Europe and Atlantic defence.
Isabella Rauti
Kyrre Lohne
Agostino Pinna
Alberto Sodomaco
Gianclaudio Torlizzi
In modern conflicts, operational superiority is increasingly determined in the domain of infrastructure — whether visible or invisible — encompassing observation, communication, data, and decision-making. Drones, telecommunications, and distributed systems all depend on the ability to transmit information and coordinate effectively in real time.
Gianfranco Annunziata
Ivano Cortinovis
Fabio Saba
Eliam Sagi
What contemporary conflicts teach us about the need to combine technological innovation with resilient, scalable stocks of munitions, platforms, and supply chains in order to prevail in prolonged wars of attrition.
Salvatore Cuoci
Gianandrea Gaiani
Giovanni Maria Iannucci
The new vulnerabilities and protection opportunities for Italian and European critical infrastructures — from energy to telecommunications, from transportation to data centers. The central role of AI as an advanced defense tool, but also as a potential weapon in the hands of adversaries, in an increasingly complex geopolitical landscape.
Paolo Cecchi
Matteo Corso
Ivan Monti
Cristiano Rufini
Eylam Tamary
Paolo Trevisan
The real strategic challenge is not merely possessing advanced tools, but transforming them into timely, effective, and coherent decisions. It is in this critical step — from technology to decision — that the determining factor emerges: the human element.
Vincenzo D'Anna
Annalaura Di Michele
Max A.L.T. Nielsen
Lorenza Pigozzi
Iole Boccia
Via Nazionale 7 – 00184 Roma