Crosetto seeks advice from Fedorov on changing the rules of the game

“Fedorov embodies innovation,” says Defence Minister Guido Crosetto in an interview with La Repubblica. He added, immediately afterwards, that he had contacted his former Ukrainian counterpart to offer him an advisory role in Italy. Immediately after Zelensky’s decision to remove him from office, Mychajlo Fedorov’s phone began ringing off the hook: admirers, colleagues and many tech firms, including Alex Karp’s Palantir, called him – some to encourage him, others to express their support, and still others to offer him a position.

Crosetto is right to identify the young Ukrainian politician as a figure capable of radically changing the rules of the game: Fedorov has built a digital state by interconnecting a new administrative logic (he dealt with digital transformation before taking charge of defence), the technological acceleration of start-ups and Silicon Valley – with which he collaborated step by step whilst under Russian bombardment – and, finally, the language of war. A platform-state in which innovation is not a trinket for photo opportunities, but an existential reality. A cultural paradigm shift, first and foremost. And there is no doubt whatsoever that it is this aspect that most captures Crosetto’s attention. On the one hand, there is a full realisation that technological tools are now an extension of the conflict: there is no longer any possible distinction, in empirical and functional terms, between national security, defence and digital security. There may be a difference within the sterile confines of regulations, perhaps, but as Ukraine has experienced first-hand, battle plans and plans of aggression are now indistinguishable. This aspect calls for a new design, a new system of governance and, inevitably, a new culture of cyber defence. Indeed, there is another absolutely central issue, in which a figure such as Fedorov would be not only a symbolic guiding star but a linchpin in redefining the balance of power: the culture of technology applied at the various levels that make up defence action and decision-making. As early as January 2026, Crosetto had highlighted just how costly, slow and ossified the defence industry was, calling for a radical shift in cultural approach. A call that, thousands of kilometres away, in Ukraine and Silicon Valley, has been transformed into a matter of survival.

Moreover, the concepts expressed by Crosetto can also be found in black and white in the book "Mobilize", by Palantir’s CTO Shyam Sankar, and in various interviews given by Karp. Fedorov was the first to act on these ideas, with a truly revolutionary approach. But Fedorov, of course, is just one person, and individuals, in the absence of an ecosystem in which to nurture the much-called-for paradigm shift, are unlikely to turn the tables. The challenge, therefore, is to shape an ecosystem similar to the one Fedorov has created: to do this, we need to start – in Italy too – by changing our mindset and perceiving ourselves as if we were truly under swarms of drones; this is the only way to accelerate the process of removing obstacles – mental ones first and foremost – that are holding back our defence and our innovation. A breakthrough in this regard could also stem from the financial leverage of American venture capital. It is no secret, in this context, that the Minister for the Economy, Giancarlo Giorgetti, is actively working to bridge the technological gap with other players on the global stage. If Fedorov, amongst many other things, has anything to teach us, it is that every advanced technology – take AI, for example – is inherently dual-use: it is not designed solely to be a weapon or a civilian tool; it is the applications and adaptations that differ. Fedorov knows this well. And that is why Crosetto would like him in Italy.