Artificial intelligence is revolutionizing the business world and has established itself as a stable presence in the business of enterprises. More than three-quarters (77 %) of Italian respondents to our research say they have direct experience with the new technology.

Most of them use AI predominantly in their private lives (43 %), or in the work context (12 %), while 20 % employ it in both areas. Thus, there is evidence of substantial optimism toward these technologies.

This is what emerges from the first edition of the “EY Italy AI Barometer”, which involved more than 4700 managers from 9 European countries, including 528 professionals from Italian companies in different sectors, investigating future expectations and challenges in the next 12 months, as well as the current use being made of artificial intelligence in business.

Artificial intelligence is emerging as a top priority and Italy is among the top three countries that have introduced it (77 %), preceded only by Spain (84 %) and Switzerland (82 %). Investing in artificial intelligence today allows companies to position themselves as leaders in a constantly evolving and increasingly competitive market environment. One in three companies, in fact, is preparing to invest in its potential in the coming year, and the sectors we anticipate will be at the front end of this movement include financial services, real estate, and retail and consumer products.

The analysis shows, then, that Italy is ahead of the European average (19 %) in implementing AI in work contexts, with nearly a quarter of respondents (24 %) saying that AI is already impacting their work and 46 %instead expecting the impact of AI applications in business to increase over the next three years. In addition, 24 % of respondents believe AI can replace parts of tasks on a large scale, and 76 % expect it to lead to a reduction in the number of employees as its use consolidates.

The issue of training is confirmed as crucial in this field, and it is highlighted that companies can do more to support their workers in the implementation of AI by taking an active role in training and retraining their people: 37 % of respondents, in fact, think their company should provide more training and 32 % believe they do not have enough help in this regard. Only 16 % of respondents consider themselves satisfied with the training they receive in the workplace; in addition, 55 % of respondents engage in self-training, either privately (22 %) or professionally (20 %), both 13 %, mostly preferring live training and workshops and online courses.

The transformations resulting from the new technologies that are increasingly pervading enterprise business are not viewed negatively by most respondents, with 52 % of them believing that their company has sufficient knowledge to implement AI in the right way. Looking at sectors, this trend is particularly evident in the energy, financial services, and media and telecommunications sectors. In contrast, 67 % of respondents from the public sector think they do not have enough knowledge.

Despite the many challenges, the benefits of AI adoption are already evident, especially in terms of cost savings: in Italy, more than half of managers (58 %) say that using AI has enabled them to save costs, increase profits or both. In contrast, 16 % found no savings. These technologies in Italy impact 69 % of those in managerial roles the most, as opposed to those in non-managerial roles (49 %).

Currently, according to respondents, artificial intelligence is implemented within companies in Italy mainly in marketing, cybersecurity and data protection, and employee assistance functions.