Giacomo advises governments, businesses, and large institutions on harnessing technology and innovation to create thriving economies and cities.

 

His expertise spans ecosystem development, tech product deployment and iteration, policy and strategy advisory, impact analysis, and public-private partnerships across industries like robotics, artificial intelligence, fintech, mobility, semiconductors, and digital services. Highlights include:

• • Securing a $63 million U.S. Economic Development Administration grant to position Southwestern Pennsylvania as a global leader in robotics and autonomy.
  • Leading user testing and iteration for a financial technology solution that improved gig workers’ access to unemployment benefits.
  • Developing data-sharing strategies for mobility companies, enabling collaboration among public, private, and nonprofit partners.
  • Preparing innovation strategies and impact analyses for startup accelerators like URBAN-X in New York City and institutions like Cornell Tech and Carnegie Mellon University.

Additionally, Giacomo supports economic growth through workforce development initiatives, public bank business planning, and real estate advisory. Key projects include:

• • Managing a leading research university’s successful due diligence, negotiations, and long-term lease for a block-size campus in Manhattan.
  • Crafting business, financial, and governance models for public banking initiatives like California’s proposed CalAccount and San Francisco’s municipal bank, which aim to increase financial inclusion and capital access for affordable housing, small businesses, and climate infrastructure.
  • Advising the New York Blood Center, Centre Pompidou Jersey City Museum, and New York, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island state governments on a variety of real estate development, workforce, and digital equity projects.

Before joining HR&A, Giacomo spearheaded technology strategies at the Massachusetts Executive Office of Technology Services and Security, helping to scale the Digital Service team, launch the new state website, Mass.gov, and reimagine the Commonwealth’s delivery of unemployment and workforce services. Giacomo also previously served as an Urban Fellow in the New York City government.

Giacomo has a Bachelor of Arts in Government from Harvard University and a dual Master of Public Administration and Public Policy from the London School of Economics (U.K.) and the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy (Singapore). His work has been published in TechCrunch, Gizmodo, NextCity, Foreign Policy, and in academic journals.

Member, Urban Land Institute, Real Estate Technology & Innovation Council, 2024-Present

Alumnus, Manfred Wörner Seminar (annual program hosted by the German government to convene U.S. and European leaders to discuss international affairs and security), 2024

Member, Harvard Kennedy School Emerging Technology Policy Network, 2019