What happens when deep consulting experience, global insight, and a passion for sustainability converge? For Nicola Spadoni, it resulted in the creation of a transformative platform and a purpose-driven business model that is redefining how organizations approach ESG and digital transformation.
From his early days in financial services and SAP implementation to leadership roles at Deloitte and PwC, Nicola’s career has been rooted in innovation and strategic thinking. His bold leap into entrepreneurship led to the founding of InnovaBeyond, a firm grounded in radical collaboration, equity sharing, and practical sustainability. With offices in Dubai and Milan, Nicola and his team are helping professionals and businesses alike navigate the complexities of ESG through their flagship initiative, STEP. His story is not just about business evolution; it's about building a community that empowers shared progress. Read on to discover how Nicola is turning vision into action, STEP by STEP.
From Consultant to Founder
Could you briefly tell us about your background and how it led you to start your business?
I’ve spent most of my professional life as a consultant. After a few early years in the Financial Services industry, I began my consulting career in 1998, initially working on SAP implementations. Over time, I transitioned into more strategic roles, spending the majority of my career at Deloitte and PwC. There, I led various practices at different stages, including Oracle HCM, Workday, and Corporate Innovation.
In 2019, I moved from Italy to the Middle East on a short-term secondment. A few years later, I took a leap and left PwC to found InnovaBeyond, which today brings together 10 professionals across two offices: Dubai (UAE) and Milan (Italy), among whom Vittoria, Asli, Francesca, and Veronica are valued young female partners.
InnovaBeyond is built on three core pillars: the integration of sustainability with people-centered management, a culture of radical collaboration enabled by fair equity sharing, and adaptive flexibility to meet the evolving needs of both collaborators and clients, while also respecting each individual’s life events and personal or family needs. We operate as a collaborative partnership, where every contributor, whether offering time, expertise, capital, or ideas, is treated as a co-owner. Instead of assigning equity arbitrarily, we apply the dynamic and transparent Slicing Pie model, developed by entrepreneur and former University of Chicago Booth School adjunct professor Mike Moyer. This ensures that ownership and rewards are proportionally aligned with each person’s real contribution, creating a system where success is shared by all who help build it.
The Core of STEP
What does your business focus on, and how is it positioned in the market?
Our business today focuses on supporting companies and/or professionals in their sustainability journey and, more broadly, in any transformation, mostly connected to SAP, Oracle, Salesforce, and similar implementations.
At the heart of our sustainability business is STEP, our Sustainability Transformation and Empowerment Platform, an open, inclusive hub designed to make ESG accessible, practical, and collaborative. We offer a mix of free and paid digital downloadable content, webinars, insightful interviews, training modules, 1:1 or group ESG coaching, and much more. STEP stands out by providing not just tools, but a vibrant space where professionals, practitioners, experts, or ESG enthusiasts can connect, share insights, receive practical support, and grow together. Our goal is to turn sustainability from a burden into a shared journey that empowers action and accelerates impact.
Vision for Global Growth
What are your plans for growth or expansion in the near future?
Our long-term vision is to scale STEP globally and make it a go-to destination for anyone navigating the ESG space, regardless of size, sector, or experience. We aim to expand our downloadable templates, content, and training offerings across diverse sustainability topics, continue to launch new content formats, and collaborate with regional experts to localize insights. Our mission is to make sustainability simple and accessible so that anyone, anywhere, can take meaningful action.
This Year’s Turning Point
How has this year impacted your business, and what are your goals moving forward?
This year has been transformative for our business. We’ve seen both in Europe (due to legislative instruments like EU CSRD and Omnibus Simplification Package) and in the Gulf (due to the evolving legislative landscape despite the low ESG maturity) an increased demand for practical and actionable ESG solutions especially from organizations without large sustainability teams or huge budgets. It validated our belief that sustainability needs to be demystified and made more accessible.
In response, we launched STEP, our Sustainable Transformation and Empowerment Platform—with interactive training, coaching and enriched our free content library. Moving forward, our goal is to foster deeper collaborations, grow our community of “STEPPERS,” and co-create more resources relevant for various regions and industries. We're committed to helping organizations not only understand ESG, but actually implement it, STEP by STEP.
Startup Advice That Matters
What advice would you give to startups or entrepreneurs in your industry?
My advice to any aspiring entrepreneur, regardless of their industry, centers on 3 pillars: customer centricity, partnership mindset and adaptability. First and foremost, always strive to solve a genuine problem; your business's longevity is rooted in offering a clear, compelling solution that deeply resonates with a specific market need. This requires a profound customer-centricity, truly understanding and anticipating the evolving demands of your target audience.
Beyond customer-centricity, adopting a true partnership mindset can be a game-changer,especially in sectors like consulting, sustainability, and digital transformation. At InnovaBeyond, we’ve seen firsthand how impactful it is to view collaborators not just as vendors or resources, but as genuine co-creators. This means building relationships based on mutual trust, shared value, and equitable contribution,not transactional gains. My advice here is to design your business architecture around shared success,whether with clients, colleagues, or co-founders. Don’t fear giving up control; instead, design a system where others are incentivized to build with you, not just for you. That’s how you create an ecosystem that scales through collaboration, resilience, and purpose.
Finally, stay adaptable. The most resilient startups are those that don’t cling rigidly to their first ideas. Keep testing, keep listening, and don’t be afraid to pivot when your market or your mission demands it. Fortunately, technology now gives us unprecedented opportunities to do this affordably—from low-code platforms to powerful AI tools. For example, we’re currently experimenting with AI-driven digital twins to shape and tailor our services in real time, based on the behaviors, needs, and feedback of our target markets and personas. This allows us to remain both lean and deeply customer-aligned, even on limited budgets.
Why ESG Needs Collaboration
Any other thoughts that you would like to share with our viewers?
Thank you for this opportunity. My final thoughts would be that journey towards a truly sustainable future, especially within the complex landscape of ESG, is not one any organization needs to navigate alone. It's a collective effort that thrives on shared knowledge, practical solutions, and mutual empowerment. We're building a community at STEP focused precisely on this, providing a platform where learning and practical application go hand-in-hand. If this resonates with you, we'd be delighted for you to explore what the STEP community offers and consider joining our collaborative effort.
Conclusion: Purpose in Action
Nicola Spadoni’s journey is a compelling reminder that meaningful change begins with bold decisions, and a clear purpose. By stepping away from the traditional consulting path and founding InnovaBeyond, he not only redefined his own trajectory but also built a platform that invites others to co-create solutions for a more sustainable future. His emphasis on shared ownership, adaptability, and empowerment sets a powerful example for today’s entrepreneurs and change-makers.
In a world where ESG often feels like a complex obligation, Nicola’s vision with STEP transforms it into an accessible, collaborative movement. Through education, coaching, and digital resources, he and his team are demystifying sustainability and making it practical for organizations of every size and stage.
As the global demand for ESG clarity grows, leaders like Nicola are paving the way for purpose-driven innovation. His work proves that when values and vision align, the result is not only progress, but impact. The journey of InnovaBeyond is still unfolding, and its ripple effects are already being felt across industries. For those ready to take action, STEP offers more than a platform, it offers a path forward.
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