Artificial Intelligence: The Italian Way Passes Through Supply Chains

In the heart of Emilia's Motor Valley district, there's a factory of the future that enables the production of nearly ten million electric vehicles a year. We're in Soliera, a town of fifteen thousand inhabitants north of Modena.

This is where the batteries that power cars, articulated vehicles, and tractors are made. "We do traction electrification. Electric motors and all the power electronics. Development, testing, and approval. We're the only ones in the world to offer an integrated solution. To get started, we needed a connection of over ten megawatts, and here we have a water supply with an aquifer that helps us cool the systems," says Giuseppe Corcione, CEO of Reinova, a company that received the "100 Italian Excellences Award." Corcione is a returning talent: this mechatronics engineer born in Naples worked abroad for twenty years. He then returned to try to rethink engines, starting with electric and hybrid powertrains. The company currently employs around a hundred professionals for a 70% international market, and its clients include major players in the global automotive industry. Revenue is €12 million, with a forecast of over €15 million for this year. The engineers who live in the hi-tech factory surrounded by vineyards are in good company.

Artificial intelligence has always been an ally in their work. From intelligent planning to cybersecurity, including advanced testing and personalized autonomous driving. "AI allows us to connect electrical and software components in an integrated system, perform dynamic testing, and facilitate the integration of hardware, software, and cybersecurity within intelligent vehicles. Each level of the vehicle communicates with the other in a cohesive and intelligent system," Corcione explains. Thus, AI becomes a fast-moving path, fueling a widespread, networked, and pervasive Italian supply chain. It allows companies to improve performance, optimize processes, manage workflows, and internationalize their offerings.

Meanwhile, the technology chain is expanding, with €5 billion already invested in data centers and €10 billion expected in the two-year period from 2025 to 2026. But what's striking is its adoption across various sectors, according to data from the report "Artificial Intelligence for the Italian System," produced at the initiative of the Artificial Intelligence Sounding Board of Confindustria. The document maps over 240 active use cases in more than 70 Italian companies. Italy's path to AI involves strategic alliances with the supply chain that supports established companies. For Italy's industrial districts, this means an operational evolution beyond metropolitan centers toward a horizontal technology capable of penetrating every sector and process, as argued by AI pioneer Andrew Yan-Tak Ng, a computer scientist and professor at Stanford University. The research shows that generative AI remains at 18.3%.

It's as if the communications hype is giving way to other applications. "Italian companies have already been using AI in their production processes for years. The recent wave of generative AI has created new applications, but in reality these are further steps in a process already underway that has seen Italian companies digitize to address today's challenges and remain globally competitive. It's clear that we need to ensure that digitalization isn't the prerogative of just a few entities, but extends to all of Italy: SMEs and large companies, public administration, and citizens," says Alberto Tripi, Special Advisor to Confindustria. Health and life sciences are among the sectors that most adopt AI, followed by manufacturing and transportation. These are less visible solutions because they're more process-based. "AI can't replace the human element, but it can help workers perform their tasks faster and more efficiently, taking on repetitive tasks and contributing—through massive computing power—to effective decisions made by people. The applications used by Italian companies reflect this logic," says Tripi. Meanwhile, operations lead the pack with 37.3%. This includes manufacturing, tourism, and mobility. "This prevalence is due to AI's ability to adapt to the needs of individual sectors. We're therefore talking about applications tailored to the specific needs of industries. And this is precisely where AI can bring the greatest added value," Tripi explains.