On Saturday, 23 May 2026, the Auditorium of the Università della Svizzera italiana hosted the graduation ceremony for the thirteenth edition of the Executive Master in Business Administration (EMBA). The event marked a major milestone for the participants, who successfully completed an intensive academic and professional journey, sharing this achievement with family, friends, Faculty, and members of the USI community.

The ceremony opened with an address by the EMBA Academic Director, Professor Paulo Gonçalves, who highlighted the value of lifelong learning, responsible leadership, and the ability to navigate constantly evolving economic and organisational landscapes. A Full Professor of Management at USI, Prof. Gonçalves earned his PhD in Management Science from the MIT Sloan School of Management. He has been teaching at USI for over fifteen years, focusing his research on system dynamics simulation, behavioural experiments, and econometrics, while also collaborating on numerous international humanitarian projects dedicated to strategic emergency and resource management.

A particularly meaningful highlight of the evening featured addresses by two USI EMBA Alumni—now established professionals in their respective fields—who shared their managerial and personal insights with the graduates.

Samantha Caccamo, Founder & CEO of Social Business Earth and an EMBA8 Alumna, spoke about her international career in social entrepreneurship and sustainable development. In her speech, she emphasised the importance of authentic leadership driven not only by economic value creation but also by social and environmental impact. Drawing from her own professional journey, she invited the graduates to leverage the managerial skills developed during the Executive MBA to champion sustainable and responsible business models.

Next, Matthias Anderegg, Market Area Manager for UBS Switzerland AG in Corporate Banking and an EMBA12 Alumnus, shared his reflections on resilience within the banking and financial sector. Drawing on his extensive background in corporate banking, Matthias Anderegg highlighted how the EMBA programme helped shape his decision-making, managerial, and interpersonal skills within increasingly complex and dynamic professional environments.

During the ceremony, participants from the EMBA 2024–2026 class, representing diverse professional and cultural backgrounds, were officially awarded their diplomas. The cohort brings together professionals active across finance, insurance, energy, manufacturing, infrastructure, healthcare, education, research, law, and technology, underscoring the interdisciplinary and international character of the programme.

The graduates, along with their nationalities and corporate base locations, are listed below:

• Daniel Andjelkovic, Switzerland, Switzerland
• Fabio Amicarelli, Italy, Switzerland
• Brian Bottanelli, Italy, Italy
• Stefano Briguglio, Italy, Switzerland
• Matteo Calzascia, Switzerland, Switzerland
• Elisa Cordì, Italy, Switzerland
• Alessandro D’Amario, Switzerland, Switzerland
• Ilaria Eccetto, Italy, Switzerland
• Carlo Ercole, Italy, Switzerland
• Andrea Foglia, Switzerland, Switzerland
• Stefano Giacomelli, Italy, Switzerland
• Simona Lorenzi, Italy, Switzerland
• Devis Meroni, Switzerland, Switzerland
• Denise Peretti, Italy, Italy
• Aramis Sardi, Switzerland, Switzerland

The audience particularly enjoyed the final presentation by the EMBA13 participants. In an engaging and lively speech, they looked back at their eighteen months in the programme, recalling the intensive weekends, group work, assignments, international study tours, and personal growth. The speech highlighted key themes, including collaboration, team spirit, adaptability, leadership, and the invaluable support from families and colleagues along the way.

Following the presentation of diplomas, participants and guests gathered for a standing drinks reception—a perfect opportunity to strengthen professional networks and celebrate the milestone together.

The USI Executive Master in Business Administration continues to champion development and innovation, offering experienced professionals an advanced, weekend-format management education designed to balance academic growth with ongoing professional careers.

Event Details

📅 Monday, 8 June 2026
🕕 18:00
📍 USI Executive Center, Lugano

To enroll, please write to: emba@usi.ch

In periods of uncertainty and rapid transformation, maintaining the status quo is no longer enough. Organizations today need leaders capable of rethinking traditional models, navigating complexity, and transforming disruption into opportunity.

USI Executive MBA is pleased to invite professionals, entrepreneurs, executives, and alumni to an exclusive evening discussion exploring how visionary leaders become true “game changers” in times of crisis — driving innovation, resilience, and sustainable impact across industries.

The session will bring together speakers with international experience in leadership, organizational transformation, human capital, and industrial management, offering practical insights into how organizations and individuals can cultivate adaptability, strategic thinking, and transformative leadership in uncertain environments.

A unique conversation on leadership, transformation, and the courage to rethink business in times of disruption.

Speakers

Christian Burkhalter

Global Head of HR / Digital HR Transformation / Lean & Agile Approach at Casale SA. With more than 20 years of international experience in human resources, organizational transformation, digital HR, and AI-driven change management, Christian has led strategic initiatives in talent development, leadership culture, continuous improvement, and diversity & inclusion across multinational organizations.

Judith Eberl

Senior Coach and Facilitator. Judith is the Managing Director of YouEvolve GmbH and has over 20 years of experience in organizational development across multinational organizations in the insurance, financial, and retail sectors throughout Europe and the Asia Pacific region. She specializes in leadership development, coaching, transformation, and sustainable business performance, helping leaders and teams prepare for future challenges and opportunities.

Michele Matis

CEO of Plastifil SA and senior executive with over 30 years of operational leadership experience in manufacturing, supply chain, food, and medtech industries across Switzerland, Italy, Germany, and France. He has developed an extensive commercial network among industrial SMEs and C-suite decision-makers across the DACH region, France, Italy, and Switzerland. Michele is also President of the Ticino section of the Swiss Shippers Council, active member of Swiss Medtech Ticino, member of the Advisory Board of AIFt, and Executive MBA alumnus of Università della Svizzera Italiana (USI).

Moderator

Prof. Paulo Gonçalves

Professor of System Dynamics and Management at USI and Director of the Executive MBA at USI. Research Fellow at the University of Cambridge Judge Business School and former Research Affiliate at MIT Sloan School of Management. His research combines System Dynamics Simulation, Behavioral Experiments, and Econometrics to understand managerial decision-making in complex and humanitarian settings. He holds a Ph.D. and M.Sc. from MIT Sloan and has received several international awards for his research in supply chain management and operations.

EMBA Talks | 12 May 2026 | 12:30 PM (Online)
Registration

To enroll, please write to: emba@usi.ch to receive the Zoom link.

We envision EMBA Talks as a series of events that combine academic expertise with open dialogue, focusing on relevant and timely topics in management, finance, marketing, society, and leadership.
Each session centers on a key theme and features an EMBA professor or EMBA alumni, who introduce the topic through a short presentation followed by an interactive discussion with participants. The goal is to create a space where ideas can be shared, challenged, and explored together.

Daredevil Negotiator – Overcoming Blindspots in a Negotiation

Daredevil – is a blind superhero from the Marvel universe. However, in reality every negotiator has to be a Daredevil, while being blind about information and interests of the other side, the negotiator is expected to achive superhero-like results. In every negotiation, what derails outcomes isn’t just the other side—it’s the unseen biases shaping your own decisions. This interactive session challenges participants to become “Daredevil Negotiators,”  by sharpening awareness beyond the obvious and navigating what cannot be easily seen. The session equips negotiators with practical techniques to detect, disrupt, and outmaneuver these mental blind spots, transforming instinct into insight and reaction into strategy. Because the most dangerous thing in a negotiation isn’t what you don’t know—it’s what you don’t realize is controlling you.

Speaker

EMBA Workshop | 8 May 2026 | 17:30 – 19:30
Registration

To enroll, please write to: emba@usi.ch attaching your CV.

EMBA Talks | 14 April 2026 | 12:30 PM (Online)
Registration

To enroll, please write to: emba@usi.ch to receive the Zoom link.

We envision EMBA Talks as a series of events that combine academic expertise with open dialogue, focusing on relevant and timely topics in management, finance, marketing, society, and leadership.
Each session centers on a key theme and features an EMBA professor or EMBA alumni, who introduce the topic through a short presentation followed by an interactive discussion with participants. The goal is to create a space where ideas can be shared, challenged, and explored together.

Why Leaders Starve the Capabilities They Need Most?

Organizations often remain stuck in cycles of firefighting and short-term fixes, underinvesting in the capabilities that drive long-term performance. Research on capability traps shows how this pattern emerges from everyday resource allocation decisions.
This study identifies a framework that determines whether capability investments succeed or fail. The framework provides executives with a practical lens to prioritize capability building, allocate resources more effectively, and design strategies that avoid persistent underperformance while enabling sustainable growth.

Speaker

Paulo Gonçalves is Professor of System Dynamics and Management at USI and Director of the Executive MBA. He is a Research Fellow at the University of Cambridge Judge Business School (CJBS) and a former Research Affiliate at the MIT Sloan School of Management.

His research combines System Dynamics Simulation, Behavioral Experiments, and Econometrics to understand how managers make decisions in humanitarian settings. Currently, he has been developing supply chain experiments to understand and improve managerial decisions in humanitarian operations.

He holds a Ph.D. in System Dynamics and Management Science from MIT Sloan and a M.Sc. from MIT. Prior to USI, prof. Gonçalves held appointments at the MIT Sloan School of Management and the University of Miami Graduate School of Business.

While at Sloan, Paulo worked with Intel’s Strategic Capacity group as an Intel scholar. For his work, he has received the Intel Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Award (2003-2004). For his dissertation, he has won the 2004 Doctoral dissertation award given annually by the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP).