Beyond SurFACES – Meet Andrea Albertoni
Passion for Colors and Sustainability 

What does it mean to be a Pioneer in the automotive refinish industry?

To me, being a pioneer in the automotive area means exploiting knowledge and passion to grow, not only for a personal ambition, but to transmit these values to all the colleagues of the refinish world, especially to the youngest. The true pioneer discovers and shares for collective growth.

I had an amazing teacher who would not tolerate mistakes. His high standards helped me to be my best, which led to him promoting me. As I gained experience, built on unrelenting efforts, very hard days and a lot of sacrifice, I started to walk on my own two feet. Having built solid skills, I was ready for a new opportunity. I changed jobs and started to interface with the external market at a retailer as a technical salesman, which led me to joining BASF, about two years ago.

What does a routine workday look like for you?

As a technician in the field, there is no real routine, as I intervene in the market with different situations and customers every day. As an example, a day could begin with a car ride to one of our customer’s body shops for a demonstration of our UV curing process. During the demo, we would look at material consumption, film thickness, material waste and processing time. I would then prepare a presentation with the specific shop data and explain to the owner/shopping manager the value our products and processes can deliver for them – with a focus on efficiency and sustainability.

What elements of your role do you find especially ‘cool’ or interesting? What are some of the things you’re doing to advance our scientific strength?

The really attractive part of my job is that I work with the latest products and technologies like the Agilis Pioneer Series. I especially like the opportunity to help our customers grow, with new products, better processes and a common focus on sustainability. Our industry is changing so rapidly, and I find great satisfaction in helping to bring our customers along through today’s product and technology evolution.

As far as our scientific strength is concerned, I try to really understand the true needs of end customers and then collaborate with our internal teams and customers to find simple and effective solutions for them. For example, one of my last proposals was the implementation of an adaptive artificial intelligence tool within the Refinity^® digital platform. The system functionality is able to answer technical questions from a painter in a shop using our Technical Data Sheet (TDS) and material safety data sheet (MSDS) database.

What are some of the biggest challenges you face in your job today?

The biggest challenge today is ensuring that our distributors have the same understanding of high-quality standards and values to grow with our products – like the use of eco-efficient technologies for a sustainable future. Achieving that is only possible with a strong team and by having training sessions tailored for our distributors, both technical and commercially. Gaining alignment on priorities, removing roadblocks and driving shared success comes with a commitment to work together.

We understand you’re a big fan of the influencer Serlap_next_level. Tell us about that.

Absolutely! Sergio Largo Pulido, also known as Serlap_Next_Level, is my all-time favorite influencer. He is very active on social media – YouTube, TikTok, Facebook and Instagram. His content and videos are both entertaining and informative. He really knows the refinish business and has a big following in the industry and with consumers.

When I met Sergio, I immediately recognized his genuine passion for refinishing. It’s the secret to his success – it’s not only just about gaining followers. It’s the deep kind of passion you gain when you have fought hard in your life to achieve something special. I recognize it in him, because I’ve had a similar journey. We connected the first time we met and we continue to chat each other. I hope we will meet again one day. Ironically, I was actually the person who invited him to the International Final R-M Best Painter Contest. He was excited to participate with us and has become a great partner and a top BASF Automotive Refinish Coatings influencer.

What are you passionate about, both at work and outside of work?

I am particularly passionate about colors and testing new products and processes. Consumer color preferences evolve and can be inspired by so many things in the world around us and are all very different. Colors mean different things to different people and can evoke a range of emotions. It’s especially rewarding for me to be able to create an emotion, or reaction – starting with a spectrophotometer.

For me, bridging my passion for colors and our customers, with being a steward of the environment motivates me. I’m able to use innovation and technology to create new products and processes with the goal to “be the best professional, and the best human” because my work is helping to improve efficiency and  working in direction of a more sustainable world.

Outside of work I like to play chess, and I especially enjoy being outside in nature. The world is very busy and evolving at an alarming pace. When you are outside in nature, it’s an opportunity to pause the rest of the world, collect your thoughts and take a deep breath. For me, being outside against a natural backdrop is my “Neverland.”

What do you do to recharge after a long day at work?

It gives me a sort of recharge to take some quiet time to prepare my next big project or plan my workload. It gives me peace of mind to be organized and to be ready for what’s ahead. 

That said, nothing tops a warm smile and a big hug from my son, and just to be with my family.