5 questions to...
Giorgia Zampiglia
Interview with the Sales Director Aerospace, EPC, Logistica & Hospitality of Engineering.
Giorgia Zampiglia is a prominent figure in the ICT landscape, with over thirty years of solid experience in selling services and solutions within complex and international contexts.
Her career is distinguished by deep expertise in designing commercial and business development strategies, combined with strong leadership in managing distributed teams and in negotiation. Giorgia excels at understanding clients’ needs - both explicit and latent - and at identifying new business opportunities, proposing and leading the most suitable digital transformation paths to address corporate challenges.
She currently serves as Sales Director at Engineering, where since 2019 she has been managing an area covering key sectors such as Aerospace, EPC, Logistics, and Hospitality. Previously, also at Engineering (2013–2018), she headed the Transport Division.
She has also held managerial positions at T-Systems Italia, Siemens IT Solutions & Services, and the Olivetti Group.
1. GIVEN THE GROWING DEMAND IN THE AEROSPACE SECTOR, PARTLY DRIVEN BY THE INCREASE IN MILITARY SPENDING, HOW CAN ORGANIZATIONS BE READY TO MEET THE NEEDS OF THE MOST IMPORTANT MARKET PLAYERS?
At this historic moment, when investments in the sector are multiplying, digital transformation is essential to support the growth of the European and Italian defense industries. It enables the creation of intelligent, interoperable, and secure weapon systems, while also allowing the integration of AI, big data, and cyber resilience - all crucial to counter new forms of hybrid, AI-based attacks. Moreover, it enhances production efficiency and industrial competitiveness, ensuring technological autonomy and alignment with NATO and European standards.
In particular, the digital transformation of product engineering is now considered vital in this market. The use of tools such as Digital Twin, virtual modeling, and collaborative platforms allows for the simulation, testing, and validation of systems before physical production. This approach drastically reduces development time and costs, avoiding rework and delays, improving quality and reliability, and ensuring greater safety. In a complex sector like defense, it is the only way to maintain competitiveness and innovation speed.
The Engineering Group has long developed strong expertise in applying the Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) and Digital Twin approaches throughout the entire product lifecycle.
This means not just digitizing documents but shifting engineering from a traditional document-centric to a model-centric approach, bringing tangible benefits: faster development, as MBSE makes it possible to manage the growing complexity of Defense systems through unified virtual models; maximum reliability and compliance, since by using Digital Twins it is possible to simulate extreme operational scenarios and analyze the impact of changes or updates in a virtual environment, ensuring the final product is inherently safe and compliant with rigorous NATO and industry standards (as demonstrated by our AQAP 2110/160 certification); integration of logistic support for model-based design, facilitating the integration of Through Life Support and predictive maintenance from the earliest development stages.
The digital model becomes the foundation for optimizing the use of spare parts and personnel, ensuring long-term operational readiness and reducing lifecycle costs.
At Eng, we support this transition with advanced expertise in AI, Cloud, Cybersecurity, and IoT, providing the digital platforms and methodologies needed to guarantee our clients technological sovereignty and an immediate response to the constantly evolving Defense requirements.
Our strong System Integration capabilities and deep process knowledge allow us to deliver comprehensive solutions, ensuring Defense market players the resilience required to face today’s geopolitical challenges.
2. CYBERSECURITY REPRESENTS A CRUCIAL FACTOR IN THE AEROSPACE MARKET, BOTH FOR COMPANIES IN THE SECTOR AND FOR NATIONAL SECURITY AND CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURES. WHAT ARE THE MAIN CHALLENGES TO BE ADDRESSED?
In the Aerospace market, Cybersecurity is a matter of national security and infrastructure resilience. Its criticality lies in the convergence of IT and OT systems and the growing interconnection of the supply chain.
The main challenges we face start with the protection of Critical Infrastructures and OT Systems, recognizing that airports, air traffic control centers, satellite navigation systems, and space platforms are constant targets. Another key issue is the resilience of the digital Supply Chain: the ecosystem is complex and globalized, and a targeted attack on a third-tier supplier can compromise the entire production chain. This calls for rigorous governance and shared security standards. Furthermore, there are AI-driven hybrid attacks that exploit Artificial Intelligence to launch sophisticated and rapid assaults - such as Deepfakes for social engineering or automated zero-day attacks - which must be countered with AI-based Cyber Resilience solutions.
We address these challenges with a holistic approach that combines 24/7/365 Managed Security Services, operated by our Security Operation Centers (SOC), with Identity Access Governance (IAG) and Digital Forensics solutions. We leverage AI for predictive monitoring and early anomaly detection, ensuring our clients a high level of Cyber Resilience that protects the entire lifecycle - from component design to flight or space mission management.
3. ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE ALSO REPRESENTS AN OPPORTUNITY IN THIS SECTOR TO IMPROVE PROCESS EFFICIENCY AND ENSURE MORE RELIABLE AND SECURE SYSTEMS. IN SUCH A COMPLEX INDUSTRY, WHAT ARE THE OTHER POTENTIAL APPLICATIONS?
AI is a true game-changer for the aerospace sector, as it introduces unprecedented capabilities for analysis, automation, and optimization in an industry that has traditionally been resistant to change. Its adoption breaks cultural and technological barriers, accelerates innovation, reduces risks, and opens up new operational and industrial possibilities.
The potential applications we are exploring through our AI & Advanced Analytics Competence Center and our AI & Data Technology Business Line are vast and transformative. Beyond predictive maintenance and flight path optimization, AI plays a key role in enhancing Situational Awareness in complex environments: it can process enormous amounts of data in real time from sensors, radars, and satellites, identifying potential attacks or anomalies within fractions of a second, thereby improving operators’ decision-making in critical or defense scenarios (for example, in ISR systems – Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance).
In the case of autonomous and secure control systems (Autonomy), developing Machine Learning algorithms for the autonomy of UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles), autonomous vehicles, and in the future for Urban Air Mobility (UAM), ensures compliance with regulations and safety in shared environments.
Another key area is the optimization of design and production: AI applied to Digital Twin and Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) enables the virtual simulation and validation of thousands of scenarios, reducing the time and cost of developing new aircraft or critical components, and increasing their reliability right from the design phase. From the standpoint of advanced Cyber Resilience, AI is employed in our SOCs for behavioral analysis, detection of attack patterns, and automation of incident response (SOAR), providing a dynamic and adaptive defense against ever-evolving cyber threats.
Finally, AI is a true value accelerator: on one hand, it enables the recovery and modernization of legacy data repositories such as 2D drawings and technical documentation; on the other, it identifies and makes available hidden best practices, transforming them into operational knowledge and enhancing compliance.
Our consultants integrate knowledge of these solutions into the design of flexible, scalable, and interconnected platforms and architectures, creating a Digital Thread that powers the entire value chain - from R&D to post-sales.
4. EVEN IN THE AEROSPACE MARKET, WHEN IT COMES TO SUPPLY CHAINS, IT IS CRUCIAL TO MANAGE DISRUPTIONS AND VOLATILITY AND TO BE PREPARED FOR PERIODS OF UNCERTAINTY. HOW CAN THIS BE ACHIEVED?
The Supply Chain in the Aerospace sector is extremely complex, characterized by significant rigidity due to unique components, long life cycles, and strict regulatory requirements. Managing disruptions and volatility has now become a strategic imperative - one that must be addressed through digitalization and end-to-end transparency.
Our approach focuses on building a resilient and adaptive supply chain. For instance, when it comes to Supply Chain Visibility and Digital Twin, we implement integrated solutions and platforms that provide real-time visibility into every node of the supply chain. This enables simulation of the impact of potential disruptions (such as material shortages or logistics delays) and supports proactive decision-making based on quantitative analyses and what-if simulations.
In terms of demand, we use Advanced Analytics algorithms to refine forecasts for critical materials and inventory needs. This reduces stock volatility while preventing shortages that could halt production or maintenance. We also integrate continuous risk monitoring tools (Proactive Risk Management) - from suppliers’ cyber vulnerabilities to geopolitical risks - allowing clients to have mitigation plans ready in advance, shifting from a reactive to a proactive and measurable risk management model.
In essence, we help our clients transform their Supply Chain from a cost center into a competitive advantage built on responsiveness and reliability.
5. COMPANIES IN THE EPC (ENGINEERING, PROCUREMENT AND CONSTRUCTION) SECTOR ARE INCREASINGLY FOCUSED ON OFFERING SOLUTIONS TO REDUCE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT, IN RESPONSE TO GROWING DEMAND FROM INVESTORS AND CLIENTS AND TO ALIGN WITH GLOBAL SUSTAINABILITY GOALS. HOW DO WE SUPPORT THEM ON THIS JOURNEY?
EPC companies are at the heart of the energy transition and the development of sustainable infrastructure. The drive toward ESG is not only a response to investors and clients, but also an opportunity for profound innovation—an area where Engineering plays a key enabling role.
At Eng, we support EPC companies in this transformation through three interconnected pillars.
Thanks to the power of the Digital Twin for green design applied to EPC processes, we enable the simulation of a plant’s environmental impact right from the design phase. This includes optimizing resource consumption, reducing emissions, selecting low-impact materials, and accelerating both the design and revamping phases of energy infrastructure projects.
The second pillar is our ESG and Sustainability Performance Management platforms, where we provide data collection and analysis tools that allow real-time monitoring, measurement, and reporting of sustainability performance. This facilitates alignment with global standards such as the CSRD (Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive) and enhances transparency toward stakeholders.
Finally, through Artificial Intelligence solutions for energy optimization and asset management, we analyze operational (OT) data to recommend adjustments that reduce consumption and waste - both on construction sites and in operating plants - improving efficiency and supporting the Circular Economy (for example, through AI-driven recycling projects).
With our technological expertise and strategic consulting capabilities, we at Eng help EPC (Engineering, Procurement and Construction) companies strengthen their competitiveness, drive innovation, and pursue a responsible digital transformation.
AI is a true game-changer for the aerospace sector, and its adoption breaks cultural and technological barriers, accelerating innovation, reducing risks, and opening up new operational and industrial opportunities.
Giorgia Zampiglia
Sales Director Aerospace, EPC, Logistica & Hospitality of Engineering
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