Leonardo Appoints Lorenzo Mariani as CEO After Government Ends Cingolani’s Mandate

ROME — The Italian government decided not to give Roberto Cingolani a second three-year mandate as CEO of Leonardo, leading to the appointment of Lorenzo Mariani as the new chief executive. Roberto Cingolani, who was appointed CEO in 2023, held an online press briefing on Wednesday to say goodbye to journalists. He had been released from the role last month.

Cingolani, 64, oversaw rapid expansion at the state-controlled company. Leonardo added 20,000 staff during his tenure. The firm's share price grew from 10 to 64 euros over the same period. On Wednesday, Leonardo reported a 33% year-on-year rise in first-quarter core earnings.

Cingolani said the firm’s industrial plan was rolling and that the strategy is built, capitalized and contracted. He warned that deviation from the plan could be detrimental to the success of Leonardo in the future. As an example of new product development, Cingolani cited the Michelangelo Dome, an air-defense system designed with open architecture to allow partner countries to link existing assets and make them interoperable.

The Michelangelo Dome system will be tested in Ukraine against drone attacks in November. Cingolani defended his bullets and bytes strategy which focused on turning Leonardo from a defense company to a global security company specializing in cyber, energy and infrastructure security. He said Leonardo now has one terabyte of memory per employee.

“We were a non-digital company. Now we have one terrabyte of memory per employee,” he said. The outgoing CEO created alliances with Germany’s Rheinmetall and Turkish drone maker Baykar during his mandate.

He said he believes you cannot consider a defense company to be 100 percent independent of the state. A state stake in a defense company is justified in ensuring the firm behaves according to the alliances the state approves of, Cingolani added. Cingolani said he believed five-year rather than three-year mandates would be better at the top of Leonardo.

“Three years is too short because this is a mid-term or long-term strategy industry. It is not beneficial for the company. It could be beneficial to extend the mandate,” he said. Lorenzo Mariani previously served as co-general manager at Leonardo.

He moved a year ago to run MBDA’s Italian operation. Defense News reported that the appointment surprised industry experts. Roberto Cingolani was the CEO of Leonardo until last month. Defense News reported that Cingolani took pride in digitalizing operations at the firm even as some experts suggested his focus on cyber and infrastructure may have contributed to the government’s decision not to renew his mandate.

He created the alliances with Rheinmetall and Baykar with help from personal relationships built on shared knowledge, vision and strategy. Those alliances, he said, are now embedded in the industrial plan approved by the board. Cingolani stated that governance avoids a personalization of the company.

He added that sometimes good results are not enough when the state makes decisions about leadership at a firm central to national defense.