Francesco Papagni

Overview

Francesco Papagni is a full-stack marketing executive with more than sixteen years of experience building and scaling acquisition engines across SEO, paid media, content, and CRO — for global organisations operating across multiple markets and languages. He has led international teams, owned P&L, and delivered measurable revenue impact in complex, matrixed environments. He is currently SEO Team Lead at Leadtech and the founder of 2ndvector, an independent research practice at the intersection of AI and marketing.

Originally from Italy, Francesco has spent his career across Europe and North America — in London, Chicago, Barcelona, and Madrid, where he has lived since the mid-2010s. He speaks five languages, which has shaped how he thinks about international strategy, localization, and the cultural texture of markets.

Career

His professional arc spans some of the most demanding environments in global marketing. At Gartner, he led the international growth strategy for the Capterra portfolio — a multi-continent operation across more than twenty localized markets. Before that, he led digital marketing for EMEA at Royal Caribbean Group, and before that ran the global digital and demand generation function at Mintel, a major market intelligence firm, from their London and Chicago offices.

Across these roles, the through-line has been the same: building the systems — technical, editorial, and operational — that make acquisition compound over time. He has a particular depth in organic growth, having worked across the full SEO stack: technical architecture, content strategy, authority building, and increasingly the emerging disciplines of GEO and AEO as AI reshapes how people find information.

Expertise

• SEO — technical, content, and off-page, including GEO and AEO
• Growth & acquisition — paid media, lead generation, CRO, and conversion systems
• International marketing — expansion strategy, localisation, and multi-market operations
• Martech & AI — automation, analytics, and AI-enabled workflows
• Team leadership — building and developing global marketing functions
• Editorial & design — rooted in a formal background in digital and editorial design

2ndvector

In parallel with his corporate work, Francesco runs 2ndvector — a research and consulting practice focused on how AI systems represent, retrieve, and surface brands and individuals. The central question is practical: in a world where answers are increasingly generated by AI, what does it take to be accurately and consistently present? 2ndvector develops the frameworks and methodologies to answer that question.

Beyond work

In recent years, Francesco faced two life-threatening illnesses in close succession — lymphoma and autoimmune encephalitis. Navigating both changed something fundamental in how he relates to time, performance, and identity. Those experiences gave rise to a sustained interest in vulnerability: what it means to be fragile, and what becomes possible when you stop pretending otherwise.

Alongside this, he has developed a serious interest in consciousness research — the philosophy and science of mind, awareness, and subjective experience. Not as abstraction, but as something with direct bearing on how we work, relate, and find equilibrium. This thinking runs through his writing and informs much of what he explores in the News section.

Education

Francesco holds a Master's in Digital and Editorial Design from IED — the European Institute of Design in Madrid — and a Postgraduate Master's in Linguistics with first-class honours from the University of Udine (Italy) and the University of Warsaw (Poland). The combination of language science and visual communication is an unusual one, and has shaped how he thinks about content, meaning, and the relationship between form and intent.

Connect

Available for consulting, speaking, and strategic conversations. LinkedIn is the best starting point, or reach out directly by email.