This time in the spotlight: the story of Fabio Ferrara and Alchemyx
- Mar 7
- 4 min read
Updated: 6 days ago
Fabio Ferrara spent 15 years watching really watching how small and medium-sized businesses get left behind in the advertising revolution. He saw them abandon radio, TV, and outdoor media not because those channels stopped working, but because the only platforms offering self-service autonomy were Google and Meta. The gap was obvious. Nobody was filling it. So he decided to be the one who would.
From Spectator to Founder
Ferrara's career reads like a front-row seat to every major tech disruption of the last two decades. He watched brick phones give way to smartphones. Saw Blockbuster collapse under Netflix's weight. Witnessed ISDN die so broadband could thrive. He was there when YouTube changed video forever, when Spotify killed the CD, when AI went from academic curiosity to household name.
Every single time, from the sidelines.
For 15 years, his work was media planning the unsexy backbone of advertising. Briefings with SME clients. Excel spreadsheets. Phone calls. Proposals. Days of grinding to build a plan that would get presented, maybe implemented. When digital advertising exploded, he noticed something strange: SMEs loved Google and Meta, not because the channels were better, but because they could do it themselves. No agency needed. No massive proposals. Just login, set a budget, watch results roll in.
The Gap No One Wanted to Solve
But here's what he couldn't resign himself to: radio still works. TV still works. Cinema still holds attention. Outdoor advertising still reaches people. The channels never stopped being effective they just stopped being accessible on the same self-service, autonomous terms that Google offers.
How could you compete with self-service? Yet these channels still work beautifully. I just couldn't accept that the only way to access them was through the old model proposals, slow timelines, massive minimums.
The market problem was staring him in the face. Large agencies don't care about SMEs the tickets are too small. Media buying groups only touch national media. Big Tech has zero incentive to help SMEs buy offline. No player benefits from solving this. Which meant nobody would. Which meant it stayed broken.
Then AI Agents Showed Up
Ferrara has always been a tech enthusiast. He downloaded the first chatbots, played with voice interfaces, fell down the AI rabbit hole. What struck him wasn't just the chatbot it was what came next. Agents. Systems that could reason, plan, and execute multi-step workflows autonomously. That could break down complex processes into coordinated actions.
And then it clicked.
I've watched every technological revolution from the outside. Mobile, the internet, streaming, AI. But this time, I'm sitting on a real market problem one I've understood for 15 years and I can see the path to solve it. What if, for the first time, I step inside instead of watching from the gallery?
The vision was clear: automate the expert media planner's workflow. Take everything Ferrara knew how to analyze a brief, select the right mix of channels, manage placements, optimize creatives, track results and embed it into AI Agents that could orchestrate the entire process across digital and traditional media, end-to-end, without human bottlenecks.
In 2025, Ferrara founded Alchemyst LAB Srl in Milan as an Innovative Startup. Davide Catalano, a CTO with deep technical depth, joined as co-founder to translate vision into architecture. Together, they built Alchemyx.
Traction Is Building
The industry is watching. FMedia, where Ferrara cut his teeth in media planning, has committed to piloting. SDWWG, an omnichannel shop with 40+ years in the game, is in. Other agencies are ready to test. Six SMEs are already whitelisted and waiting for the MVP. VCs are circling, waiting to see the product work with real clients.
Timeline: MVP launch July 2026. Pilot phase September 2026. Market launch Q1 2027. The platform has already landed coverage in Engage, Youmark, Daily Online, and Media Key.
The Bottom Line
SMEs didn't abandon traditional media because the channels stopped working they abandoned them because self-service didn't exist. Alchemyx is betting that gap is an opportunity, and that AI Agents can democratize multichannel advertising the way Google Ads democratized search. If Ferrara is right, we're looking at a genuine market restructuring. And for the first time in his career, he's not watching from the sidelines.
FAQ
Who is Fabio Ferrara?
Fabio Ferrara is the CEO and founder of Alchemyst LAB Srl, the company behind Alchemyx. He brings 15+ years of media planning expertise, having worked with SMEs across traditional and digital channels. His career gave him insider visibility into the market gap he's now solving.
What is Alchemyst LAB Srl?
Alchemyst LAB Srl is an Innovative Startup registered in Milan, founded in 2025 by Fabio Ferrara, Davide Catalano and Carmen Greco. The company develops Alchemyx, an AI-powered platform that automates multichannel advertising planning and execution for SMEs, covering both digital and traditional media channels.
Why did Fabio Ferrara start Alchemyx?
After 15 years in media planning, Ferrara observed a consistent pattern: SMEs loved self-service advertising platforms like Google and Meta because they offered autonomy and simplicity. Yet traditional media radio, TV, cinema, outdoor remained locked behind expensive agency services and high minimums, despite still being highly effective. No major player had incentive to solve this gap. When AI Agents emerged, he saw the path forward: automate expert media planning and make multichannel advertising accessible to SMEs on their own terms.
What press coverage has Alchemyx received?
Alchemyx has been covered by leading Italian advertising and media publications including Engage, Youmark, Daily Online, and Media Key.
When will Alchemyx launch?
MVP completion is scheduled for July 2026. A closed pilot phase with select SMEs and agencies will run in September 2026. Full market launch is targeted for Q1 2027.
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