This text is excerpted from Chapter 8, “Technologies and Industry 5.0: Artificial Intelligence and Tools for the Future,” of Michele Bonfiglioli’s book *25 Years of Lean Thinking, Italian Style*. In this chapter, Francesco Ubertini’s contribution is part of a broader exploration of robust processes, digitalization, and innovation as they relate to business competitiveness.
In the heart of Emilia-Romagna, in Bologna, the future has already begun to compute. It is called Leonardo, after the Renaissance genius, and is today Europe’s most powerful supercomputer for artificial intelligence. It is a machine capable of 250 million billion operations per second, but above all, it is a strategic platform available to universities, research centers, and businesses.
Leading its development is Francesco Ubertini, president of CINECA and former rector of the University of Bologna. His approach is direct, pragmatic, and data-driven, and he guides the reader through some of Europe’s most pressing challenges: digital sovereignty, technological leadership, and the impact of artificial intelligence on production systems.
Leonardo is not a symbol. It is a tool. One hour of work on this supercomputer is equivalent to 900 years of computation on a standard PC. But its true strength lies not only in its power: it lies in the democratization of access. Businesses and institutions can now simulate, optimize, and predict. It is not just about speed. It is about decision-making capability.
Artificial intelligence is often portrayed as the latest fad, but for Ubertini, it is much more than that. The question is not whether to adopt it, but when. And the time for waiting is over.
The priority is to bring digital technologies into industrial processes, making them concrete levers for value and competitiveness. For Europe, the challenge remains: with the first digital revolution—that of platforms—we lost ground. With AI and supercomputing, however, we still have time. We have a second chance.
For Ubertini, artificial intelligence is not a magic wand. It is a cognitive infrastructure that integrates into processes like a nervous system. It will learn, adapt, and guide operational and strategic decisions.
But for this to happen, we must understand it, govern it, and steer it. Otherwise, businesses risk remaining mere buyers of solutions produced elsewhere. The point, therefore, is not just to use AI, but to build the capacity to make it part of the corporate structure.
Here a crucial shift emerges: moving from technology taker to technology maker. Only in this way can industrial sovereignty be defended and Europe’s role in the new global balance of power be consolidated.
It is not merely a matter of purchasing advanced technologies, but of developing the expertise, vision, and ability to influence the models through which technology is designed and applied. It is a strategic issue, even before it is a technological one.
Why do many companies struggle to adopt AI? According to Ubertini, the problem is not a lack of technology. The obstacle is cultural.
Italian SMEs often lack awareness of where value is generated. They start with data, not with problems. This makes it difficult to know where to begin. A shift in mindset is needed: start with the bottlenecks, ask where improvements can be made today, and avoid multiplying KPIs if the goal to be achieved is unclear.
This is a very practical lesson: technology works when it addresses a real need, not when it is adopted as a generic response to complexity.
In a world dominated by complexity, supercomputing becomes a tool for managing uncertainty. It doesn’t predict what will happen, but it helps simulate scenarios, assess impacts, and make more informed decisions.
For Italian manufacturing, this is a strategic lever. It means shifting from a reactive approach to a predictive one, where decisions are based not only on intuition but on solid data and dynamic models. It is a shift in mindset that strengthens companies" ability to navigate unstable markets and increasingly complex processes.
Ubertini also views the younger generations with great clarity. Young people are the most valuable asset, because they possess skills that were hard to even imagine at their age. But they live in a hyperstimulated world and tend to stay on the surface.
The educational challenge, therefore, is not just to impart knowledge, but to teach them to ask the right questions, delve deeper, make connections, and reflect. Only in this way can intelligence—including artificial intelligence—become a tool at the service of human intelligence.
Innovation never arises in isolation. Strong ecosystems are needed, says Ubertini. Emilia-Romagna is a prime example: universities, businesses, research, and institutions that collaborate before competing.
This is the logic of pre-competitive cooperation: building the foundation together, then competing in the final stretch. A vision that strengthens the region and can help Europe become not just a consumer of technologies, but a key player in the future.
The full interview with Francesco Ubertini can be found in the FUTURO. Conversazioni di Buonsenso podcast.
Watch the interview on YouTu
be Listen to the interview on Spotify
To read the full chapter and explore other sections of the book, discover 25 Years of Lean Thinking the Italian Way by Michele Bonfiglioli.
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