Our passion drives our projects.
Digital humanists, researchers, entrepreneurs, dreamers, and proud Southerners.
We are a team formed over ten years ago with an ambitious mission: to prove that global technological excellence can be born and stay in Sicily. We combine humanistic expertise and scientific rigor to solve the most complex technological challenges of the AI era.
Discover our story
Why "digital humanists"?
In a world racing toward automation, we believe technology should be guided by a deep understanding of humanity. With 4 PhDs in History, Economics, Law, and Biology, our leadership team doesn't just write software: we understand the context, ethics, and economic impact of every line of code.
A decade of experience
We've been working together since 2014. Our stability is the guarantee of your projects.
Returning talents
We chose Sicily to reverse the brain drain, creating quality jobs in our homeland to serve the world.
Leadership and founders
The faces driving the vision of Futura.
Antonio Rotolo, PhD
CEO & Co-founder
Archaeologist with a PhD in History. He led research projects at MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), the University of Granada, and the University of Konstanz where he was a Marie Curie Fellow. He applies quantitative methods to explain qualitative phenomena.
Focus
Strategy, Innovation, AI, Computational Linguistics, and NLP. He is the soul of Ludwig.guru.
Roberta Pellegrino, PhD
Chief of Business Development & Co-founder
PhD in Economics and Management, winner of the prestigious WomenTech EU Grant. She brought Ludwig and Futura to stages around the world, winning numerous international awards.
Focus
Growth strategy, Branding, Digital Marketing (Google & Meta), and university teaching at LUMSA.
Federico Papa, PhD
COO & Co-founder
Lawyer specialized in IP/IT Law and Management. Harvard-certified in Cybersecurity and data protection. Under his leadership, we received the Ministry of Economic Development award for the management of the Smart & Start project.
Focus
Operations, Legal management, GDPR, Finance, and Grant management (EU/National).
The core team
Multidisciplinary experts driving technological and creative innovation with the same rigor and passion.
Francesco Giacalone
Innovation Lead
A designer by training, a developer by vocation. He combines research and integration of new technologies with technical leadership across all projects. He turns our ideas into amazing products.
Focus
WEB Development, ReactJS, UX Design, and Cloudflare Workers.
Salvatore Monello
Infrastructural Architect
Computer engineer with a decade of experience, he has been responsible since day one for the design and implementation of robust, scalable backend architectures. He manages the entire technical infrastructure of all our global products with a focus on scalability and security.
Focus
Distributed systems, high-availability DevOps, and Cloud architectures.
Francesco Aronica
Senior Backend
Computer engineer with a decade of experience, he develops the integration logic between vector databases and LLM models, turning artificial intelligence into a concrete tool for businesses.
Focus
Vector DB, Machine Learning, and complex API architectures.
Silvia Lechtaller, PhD
Mid Frontend
Researcher (with a PhD in Biology) and developer. She brings the methodological rigor of academic research to modern web development, ensuring code quality and analytical precision.
Focus
Frontend Development, Data Science, and Git Flow.
Bora Sipal
Senior Designer
The creative touch that defines the identity of all our products. He transforms technological concepts into visual narratives, videos, and impactful graphics that communicate value and emotion.
Focus
Visual Identity, Motion Graphics, and Product Design.
Isabella De Biasi
Content Writer
The narrative voice of our projects. She manages strategic communication and advertising campaigns, integrating SEO and storytelling to give global resonance to our vision.
Focus
Strategic Copywriting, Advertising, and Brand Storytelling.
Beyond the numbers, the impact.
Women on the team
Compared to the 16% national Tech average. We leverage diversity to innovate better.
Made in the South
We are based in Sicily and believe it is our duty to prove that sustainable business can be built in Southern Italy.
European perspective
Our business vision is rooted in European values and ethical recruitment.
Want to work with a team that thinks outside the box?
We are always looking for talents who love the challenges at the intersection of technology and humanism, or partners who want to build the future with us.