Luca Colombo

Country Director, Meta

Luca Colombo, born in 1970, is Country Director for Italy at Meta, the company that owns the platforms Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, WhatsApp, and Reality Labs. He guides activities for the Italian market in line with the company mission to give people the power to build community and bring the world closer together. He also pursues the new vision aimed at creating the metaverse, that is, the evolution of social connection: a 3D virtual space where immersive experiences can be shared with other people, even when they cannot be together in person. Heading a dynamic team undergoing constant growth and dedicated to supporting area companies and users, Luca is responsible for strengthening the Meta brand in Italy, highlighting the opportunities it offers to companies as a business tool for direct communication and engaging consumers and users. These solutions lend added value, particularly for SMEs, the backbone of the Italian economy, so they can open themselves to a more international market. In fact, through Meta platforms, a good 3.6 billion people around the world can share ideas, offer support, and make a difference. Luca’s career has always been guided by a passion for innovation. He has been head of Meta in Italy since November 2010, when he joined the company after many years of experience at Microsoft holding key positions in digital marketing. In 2000 he joined the company founded by Bill Gates to deal with the business development of MSN, later becoming Sales Director of the Consumer & Online division with the important task of launching and guiding the strategy of Microsoft Advertising, the advertising authority for Microsoft Italia. His strong interest in technology and new media led him to become Marketing Director of the Consumer & Online division in 2006, supporting the growth of products such as Messenger and Hotmail. In the following years, he held positions of growing responsibility, until being named Consumer & Online Marketing Officer of the Windows and Windows Phone business in 2008, with the goal of developing their adoption and expanding the use of online services, a task he performed before joining Meta. His professional career began at Mondadori in 1995 as Business Development Manager in the Mondadori Informatica Education division. Luca is currently a member of the administrative board at Treedom, the first website that allows people to plant trees around the world and follow their story. He is also a member of the American Chamber of Commerce in Italy. Luca graduated from the Politecnico di Milano with a degree in electronic engineering. He is married and has two children.