The 21-year-old was part of a much-improved second-half display at Kingston Park, with the centre relishing the opportunity to test himself against former Scotland and British & Irish Lions midfielder Chris Harris.
"You can see him play for the Lions and defence is one of his main strengths, so, definitely I can look up to him and take a couple of things from that," said the former Scotland U20 skipper.
The Warriors endured a difficult opening 40 minutes, trailing 35-7 at the interval, before responding with a spirited fightback after the break.
"The challenge at half-time was just to try and get back into that game. We felt that there were opportunities for us to still win the game," said Ventisei.
Having signed his first professional contract earlier this year, Ventisei played a prominent role in Glasgow's second-half revival.
He was one of a number of young midfielders to impress, with Kerr Johnston crossing for a try and combining effectively with Kerr Yule during the opening half.
Competition for places will be fierce, with Franco Smith also able to call upon Scotland captain Sione Tuipulotu, Stafford McDowall, Ollie Smith and new recruit Bayley Kuenzle.
For Ventisei, however, the immediate focus is on continuing his development and learning from those around him.
Asked if he had set any targets for the campaign ahead, he replied: "Keep progressing and learning from the guys in front of me like Stafford and Sione, and then hopefully get some more opportunities in the back of that."
Despite the 47-31 defeat, Ventisei believes there was plenty for the youthful Warriors side to take from their first pre-season outing.
"After a couple of weeks of hard work, it's good to get back out there and get a bit of game time," he said.
"Obviously, the result didn't go our way, but I think there's a lot of positives we can take from that game.
"You can see signs of what we're building throughout the weeks there in training, so, there's definitely positives we can take.
"But there's still a lot to work on. We don't want to concede that many points, but we'll work on that. Because of the quality that Newcastle have there, you're learning so much whilst playing. I think it'll definitely teach us a couple of things."