WSJ hires Marconi as R&D chief and head of editorial lab

Francesco Marconi has been hired by The Wall Street Journal as its chief of research and development and head of its editorial lab.

“Looking forward to working in this newsroom with so many talented colleagues,” said Marconi on LinkedIn.

Marconi has been responsible for strategy and corporate development at the Associated Press, where he is part of the strategic planning team, identifying partnerships opportunities and guiding media strategy, since March 2015.

He is also an innovation fellow at Columbia University’s Tow Center for Digital Journalism.

Marconi studied business and journalism at the University of Missouri and completed his post-graduate work as a Chazen Scholar at Columbia Business School’s Media Program.

In 2014, he joined Harvard University’s Berkman Center for Internet and Society as an affiliate researcher studying the impact of data in journalism.

Marconi started his career at the United Nations researching science and technology solutions for developing countries, resulting in the publishing of his first book and TED talk on reverse innovation.