Davide Riboni
CEO · Board Member · Investor
I help build the investment thesis and turn it into an operating reality. Then I stay to deliver it.
Consulting-trained strategist turned CEO. BCG and Kearney sharpened the thinking. Running Lavazza Americas — $0.5B P&L, eight acquisitions, five countries — proved I could deliver. Today, as Group CEO of Tapal Group, I bring both to building a pan-MENA beverage platform from Dubai.
How I Work
See
Walk into the business. Understand the P&L, the org, the market, the culture. Find where the value creation sits — and what's blocking it.
Design
Build the roadmap and the action plan to execute it. Restructure the org, reposition brands, sharpen innovation, operations, redesign go-to-market. Clear milestones, clear owners.
Deliver
Take the chair. Lead execution day to day. Hire, launch, acquire, integrate. Stay until the numbers prove the plan worked.
Strategy without execution is a presentation. I stay for the hard part.
Current Roles
Where I Create Value
Business Transformation
Taking underperforming or founder-led businesses through professionalisation, restructuring, and repositioning — from diagnosis to measurable result.
M&A & Post-Merger Integration
Eight acquisitions end-to-end. Target identification, due diligence, Day 1 planning, cultural integration. The hard work happens after the signature.
P&L Turnaround & Growth
Full accountability at the $1B scale — not just managing a P&L, but rebuilding the org, the plan, and the culture required to move it.
Cross-Border Leadership
Italian. Based in Dubai. Led teams across the Americas, Europe, and the Middle East. Comfortable operating across languages, cultures, and regulatory environments.
Brand & Commercial Strategy
Repositioning brands, redesigning go-to-market, rationalising portfolios — always anchored to a commercial thesis and a P&L outcome.
Investor & Board Advisory
Working alongside PE, sovereign wealth, and family owners to pressure-test strategy, challenge management, and govern with operational depth.
By the Numbers
Career
Education