Driving Change. Inspiring Innovation. Empowering People.
Combining human-centered leadership, strategic transformation, and AI-powered insights to accelerate innovation, high performance, and sustainable growth for organizations, leaders, and teams.
Welcome!
I’m Maria Orlando, a global leader in Business and Digital Transformation with a dual background in IT and Marketing. I’ve worked with Fortune 500 companies — including Nestlé and Inditex Zara — and startups across EMEA, APAC, and the Americas, leading and implementing human-centered strategic initiatives that help organizations and leaders navigate complexity, adapt to change, and thrive in today’s evolving landscape.
Through tailored strategies — including Lean-Agile methodologies, AI-powered insights, design thinking, organizational change management, and leadership development — I align people, processes, and technology to spark innovation, build high-performing teams and leaders, and deliver measurable, sustainable results.
DRIVING TRANSFORMATION ACROSS ORGANIZATIONS, LEADERS, AND TEAMS
Business and Digital Transformation
Unlock the power of business agility and strategic transformation across your organization.
I provide coaching, mentoring, and corporate programs to implement lean-agile methodologies, design thinking, and AI-driven insights, helping teams align with organizational goals, boost performance, and deliver measurable outcomes.
Ready to turn vision into results?
Purposeful Leadership and Executive Coaching
Develop your leadership with purpose, adaptability, and strategic insight.
I help managers and executives align with their vision, inspire innovation, and cultivate a growth-oriented, resilient mindset, while navigating complexity, enhancing decision-making, and leading with clarity to achieve lasting results for their teams and organizations.
Ready to unlock your full leadership potential?
High-Performing and Collaborative Culture
Unleash the full potential of your team, whether in-person or remote.
I build cohesive, motivated, high-performing teams by enhancing communication, fostering trust, and optimizing workflows. Together, we create a dynamic, adaptable, and innovative work environment that strengthens collaboration and engagement.
Ready to elevate your team’s performance?
INDITEX ZARA SUSTAINABILITY PROJECT
Driving Agile and Digital Transformation Across Global Teams and Departments
At Inditex Zara, I led a digital transformation initiative to create a cutting-edge e-commerce application that empowered suppliers to reflect Supply Chain realities accurately. I unified international teams across Ukraine and Spain under a shared vision. By implementing a comprehensive change management plan and transitioning teams from waterfall to Agile, I dismantled silos, aligned stakeholder priorities, and fostered a culture of collaboration, innovation, and sustainable growth.
Some Key Achievements:
Business Agility & Productivity: Boosted productivity by 30% across 34 remote developers and managers through coaching, mentoring, and Agile practices, enabling seamless cross-cultural collaboration and faster milestone delivery.
Leadership Impact: Coached C-level executives and senior leaders to align strategies with organizational goals, increasing strategic initiative success rates by 40%.
Departmental Transformation: Expanded Agile and change management practices to 5 additional projects and departments, improving processes, collaboration, and stakeholder communication.
Stakeholder Alignment: Reduced gaps between stakeholders and teams by implementing OKRs and streamlining feedback loops, cutting project grooming time by 20% and improving clarity across teams.
Employee Well-Being: Introduced mindfulness activities, team-building workshops, and collaborative practices, enhancing engagement, morale, and overall team health.
OTHER PROJECTS
These are just a few of the other projects I’ve led across organizations and markets.
Orchestrated Agile and change management initiatives across two teams of 80+ professionals to develop a global supply chain tool (AOA, Europe, LATAM, North America). Streamlined operations, aligned cross-market processes, and delivered enhanced efficiency for product distribution, leveraging AI-driven insights for faster decision-making.
Transformed workflows for a 20-member marketing team, addressing dependencies across functions to ensure timely delivery of high-impact campaigns. Improved collaboration, restructured processes, and delivered consistent, value-driven marketing results using data-informed strategies.
Managed two teams of developers and marketers, driving effective collaboration and delivery by removing impediments. Developed a global brand through innovative digital marketing strategies, boosting the fan base from 6k to 55k, increasing social engagement by 270%, and achieving 100k sales in two years. Secured the Best Italian Game Award 2018 and recognition at Milan Games Week.
Directed Agile and change initiatives for a leading wholesale distributor, overseeing 1,000+ global brands and aligning with partners in China. Improved team productivity and organizational alignment across 4 departments in just 10 days, creating streamlined e-commerce marketing and communication strategies that elevated performance.
MAIN INDUSTRIES I HAVE WORKED IN
LATEST FROM THE BLOG
Change brings uncertainty. But what if we could lead transformation in a way that inspires rather than intimidates? Let’s explore how a mindful approach, paired with clear examples and expert insights, can make business change less daunting and more engaging. Read more.
TESTIMONIALS
What people say about me
Maria demonstrated great talent and perseverance in facing complex organizational challenges. She always has a very positive attitude and always tries to get the best out of the teams.
Maria showed what a real scrum is, and how to get out of the turbulence in a large team and start performing as one whole. How to correctly understand business priorities and get a win-win situation between the development team and the business. How to educate the team and become more mature than before. If you think that scrum and agile don’t work, you just need Maria on the team. I am very glad that our paths crossed.
It was a pleasure to work together with Maria. Her hands-on approach to leadership and charismatic personality won her the respect of the technical team, which enjoyed working with her. She was essential to the team, and contributed significantly to the success of company’s projects. Maria led by example and many people at our company found her enthusiasm and dedication both inspiring and motivating. Her efforts and her extensive knowledge have produced high quality results time and time again. She was always able to successfully complete any tasks with favorable results despite deadline pressure. Maria has great problem solving and decision making skills. I would recommend her with any project that requires the very best in leadership, digital marketing and communication execution.
My working experience with Maria was one of the best. Working with our team, she faced with the incredible complex task of establishing processes and team communication. Her invaluable contribution, focus and full commitment, were able to positively affect our work, client and team satisfaction. She has extremely deep knowledge of Scrum, understanding how to find an approach to everyone, so that the team works harmoniously, self-organized, confidently and responsibly. I am also impressed by her extraordinary support and understanding, she cared not only about the project, but also about the emotional state of each team member. I can say with confidence that Maria is ready to solve any difficult situation that will appear in her work. She will be a great asset to any team she will teach to be better versions of themselves.
Maria is very professional and experienced person. She is a very knowledgeable coach who knew how to drive meetings to conclusions and action items. Maria has a great deal of understanding and experience with agile development and shows her passion for it through her day-to-day project management work. She drives you to become a better version of yourself both professionally and personally and always support with any problem you face. It was a huge pleasure to work with her.
Maria has effectively bridged the gap between our development team and business stakeholders, showcasing outstanding communication skills to ensure mutual understanding. Her leadership and mediation skills have proven crucial in resolving conflicts, creating an environment conducive to open discussions that resulted in compromises satisfying both technical and business needs. That was a great job!
I had the pleasure of working closely with Maria for the past six months, and I can say with confidence that Maria is an exceptional colleague, and her dedication, professionalism, and positive attitude have significantly contributed to our team’s success. Maria possesses strong communication skills, making her an effective team player. Her ability to collaborate with colleagues fosters a positive work environment. Any team would be incredibly fortunate to have someone like Maria. If you have any issue – just write Maria. She will do everything possible and impossible to resolve it in the shortest term.
I am writing this recommendation to express my appreciation for Maria, who worked as a Scrum Master in my team of 24 people. Maria’s impact was beyond the technical aspects of Agile methodology. She fostered a collaborative and supportive team environment that empowered each member to excel. Her leadership skills were instrumental in keeping us focused, motivated, and delivering high-quality work. Maria’s strong communication and interpersonal skills created a space where open communication and respect thrived. She was always available to offer guidance and support. Her ability to effectively coach and mentor helped me personally to overcome challenges. I am grateful for Maria’s dedication, guidance, and support. I highly recommend her for any future endeavours.
It’s been a privilege to work with Maria over the past year. As our Scrum Master, she has not only excelled in her role but has also been a catalyst for significant improvement within our team. Maria combines exceptional leadership with profound Scrum expertise, fostering a team environment that is collaborative, motivated, and highly efficient. Her proactive approach to problem-solving and continuous improvement has led to tangible boosts in our productivity. Maria’s ability to empathize and connect with team members has not only enhanced our work culture but also propelled our professional growth, making us better versions of ourselves. Maria’s impact extends beyond project success; she’s a beacon of positive change, driving both team and individual development. Any team would be lucky to have her guidance, expertise, and support. Maria is, without a doubt, an invaluable asset to any organization.
I am privileged to know Maria from her Travel Advisory days. She brings the same wonderful qualities to the world of Digital Marketing and Branding. Maria is currently an advisor to my new start-up company and she has shed tremendous light with regards to how my company can be more visible and ahead of my competition. Her great awareness of the various industry markets allows her to advise in the very best way, with the results leading to company growth and great brand recognition. Her talents are always led by uncommon client care, honesty and amazing responsiveness – all which add to a wonderful working environment!
Maria is awe-inspiring. She is very confident in either a corporate or creative agency environment. She will take the lead on a project, bring the right people together, look for solutions and produce a fantastic outcome for the client. Maria has always been supremely professional at clients meetings, putting not only the client at ease, but also myself with her knowledge, skill, judgment and approach. She understands the client almost immediately, empathises with their vision and creates solutions to exceed them. Maria has worked internationally and has dealt with clients from London, the French Riviera and California. I would not hesitate to recommend Maria, it’s not often in business life that you meet someone who you would trust unconditionally to build, create, manage and exceed your expectations.
Maria is a renowned expert, with a high level of artistic sense, for building and strengthening brands through digital channels. The success of her projects lies in the strategic planning that merges purposeful content, community management and media buying into a complete, beautiful digital presence. This, and her consistency in implementation makes her clients a lot more attractive, engaging and profitable compared to other brands.
COLLABORATIONS
Some collaborations and projects I have followed