Michael Ciannilli

What separates organizations that prevent failure from those that repeat it? The ability to recognize warning signs, challenge what has become “normal,” turn hard-earned lessons into action, and ensure critical information reaches the right people when it matters most.

Michael “Mike” Ciannilli gives audiences a rare, firsthand look at how these principles play out when the stakes couldn’t be higher. During 30 years inside the U.S. space program, Mike supported 58 Space Shuttle missions and served as a NASA Test Director for 21 launch countdowns. After helping recover Columbia and her crew following the 2003 disaster, he created and led NASA’s Apollo, Challenger, Columbia Lessons Learned Program to ensure the hard-earned lessons from NASA’s greatest tragedies would be remembered—and put into practice.

 Today, Mike takes audiences inside launch countdowns, mission operations, and the events surrounding some of NASA’s most consequential moments to reveal how even highly capable teams can drift toward preventable failure—and how leaders can interrupt that process. Through compelling storytelling, humor, and his Test Director Mentality, he gives audiences practical ways to recognize risk earlier, challenge assumptions, strengthen communication, and make better decisions under pressure.

 A recipient of NASA’s Silver Snoopy Award, presented by astronauts for outstanding contributions to flight safety and mission success, Mike brings an authority few speakers can match. He speaks from operational responsibility, not hindsight.