About me
Dr. Silvia Console Battilana is the Co-Founder and CEO of Auctionomics, where she designs complex market mechanisms and high-stakes auctions for governments and global organizations.
An Emmy Award-winning innovator and angel investor, Dr. Console Battilana also serves as a Finance Fellow at the Aspen Institute, where she contributes thought leadership on global finance and policy innovation. Her work bridges theory and practice across sectors, with a proven track record in marketing strategy, public relations, and building strategic partnerships.
Beyond technology, Dr. Console Battilana has a deep drive to use the principles of market design to help women be strategic in how they design the systems that govern their lives and come closer to “having it all.”
A Ph.D. economist trained at Stanford, she brings deep expertise in bargaining theory, lobbying models, and strategic market design. She has been an invited speaker at leading institutions including Harvard, Caltech, MIT, Berkeley, and Stanford.
Expertise
Market design is about creating systems and incentives that help markets function more effectively. It’s not just about setting prices or rules, but about shaping the playing field so that everyone involved can express what they truly want.
At Auctionomics, Dr.Console Battilana has served as Project Manager on several high-stakes auctions around the world, including the United States, Canada, Australia, Africa, Latin America and numerous European countries.
One example is the U.S. FCC Incentive Auction, which enabled the government to repurpose broadcast spectrum for emerging uses such as 5G and streaming television. The auction generated over $19 billion in revenue and earned Dr. Console Battilana and her team a Technology & Engineering Emmy Award from the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.
Market Design & Gender Parity
Dr. Console Battilana has woven the principles of fostering a positive family culture and supporting work/life balance into the foundation of Auctionomics. She helps her team apply market design principles to everyday decisions, empowering them to move closer to “having it all.”
Market design is rooted in thinking strategically about constraints and possibilities. This mindset is especially important for women in tech, or any field, given the many limitations society and family expectations can impose.
Having devoted her career to market design, Dr. Console Battilana believes that women can move significantly closer to “have it all” by being intentional about how they design the systems that shape their lives. It’s about identifying what matters most and then creating the conditions that support their priorities.
Positive family culture
Dr. Console Battilana has embedded the principles of fostering a positive family culture and work/life balance into the core of Auctionomics, including:
- Support for all new parents of a certain seniority with a night nanny, regardless of how long they have been at the company or their gender.
- Covers the cost of nannies and in-home meals for partners when strategists are traveling for work.
- Fully remote work to promote flexibility and support presence with family and children.
- Books apartments instead of hotel rooms for offsite auctions, so families can join.
LinkedIn Posts
Networking
Networking
From Coffee to Co-Founders
From Coffee to Co-Founders
For 30 years, Dr. Console Battilana has prioritized networking and building meaningful relationships. From having a coffee with Nobel Laureate Paul Milgrom to cofounding Auctionomics together, to regularly hosting networking events, she has not stopped connecting with people and growing a deep network in the tech industry.
From Coffee to Co-Founders
From Coffee to Co-Founders
From Coffee to Co-Founders
While studying for her PhD at Stanford, Dr. Console Battilana was asked by Professor Paul Milgrom for help with PhD student recruitment at the Economics department. Together they built up the program to eventually get top students, competing with Harvard and MIT. Shortly after, the mortgage crisis of 2008 hit and the U.S. Treasury had approached Professor Milgrom to design a solution as he had a patent that fit the job.
In his search for a co-founder to answer the call, Professor Milgrom reached out to Dr. Console Battilana for a coffee and a chat. He needed someone with technical expertise, networking skills and strong business acumen and he took a bet on Dr. Console Battilana, a young, promising PhD graduate. (Yahoo Finance)
The Power of Mentorship
Dr. Battilana’s male and female mentors have been her key advisors, helping her navigate both technical and strategic challenges.Her first mentor was Professor Guido Tabellini, later rector of Bocconi University. He directed her towards a PhD.
Future Plans
Dr. Console Battilana is working to create a small invite-only community, already receiving widespread support from industry leaders:
LinkedIn Posts