This article explores how artificial intelligence and supercomputing are redefining the competitive capabilities of Italian and European companies. Francesco Ubertini, at the helm of CINECA and the Leonardo supercomputer, outlines a clear roadmap: AI is not a passing fad, but a cognitive infrastructure destined to become the nervous system of modern organizations.
The real obstacle is not technological, but cultural — especially in SMEs, where there is still a lack of awareness of where value is generated and where to start. The challenge for Europe is to stop being a simple consumer of other people’s technologies and become a protagonist: to move from being a technology taker to a technology maker, building collaborative ecosystems on the model of Emilia-Romagna, where universities, businesses, and institutions cooperate before competing.
Supercomputing, in this scenario, is not a tool for the few: it is a democratic lever to simulate scenarios, govern uncertainty, and make more solid decisions. And young people — with their native digital skills — are the most valuable asset for leading this transition, provided they learn to ask the right questions.
The key points:
This text is taken from Chapter 8, "Technologies and Industry 5.0. Artificial Intelligence and Tools for the Future,“ of the book 25 Years of Lean Thinking in the Italian Way by Michele Bonfiglioli. Francesco Ubertini, president of CINECA and former rector of the University of Bologna, offers a concrete vision on artificial intelligence, supercomputing, and technological sovereignty for Italian companies. In the chapter, his voice is inserted into a broader framework dedicated to solid processes, digitalization, and innovation applied to the competitiveness of companies.
In the heart of Emilia-Romagna, in Bologna, the future has already begun to take shape. Its name is Leonardo, after the Renaissance genius, and today it is the most powerful supercomputer in Europe for artificial intelligence. It is a machine capable of 250 billion trillion operations per second, but above all it is a strategic platform available to universities, research centers and companies.
Francesco Ubertini, president of CINECA and former rector of the University of Bologna, is leading the development of this project. His approach is direct, pragmatic, and based on data. He takes the reader inside some of the most urgent challenges facing Europe: 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 with this supercomputer equals 900 years of calculation on a normal PC. But its true strength lies not only in its power: it is in democratizing access. Companies and institutions can now simulate, optimize, and predict. It’s not just speed. It’s decision-making ability.
Leonardo is the most powerful supercomputer in Europe for artificial intelligence and, developed and managed by CINECA in Bologna. With a computing capacity of 250 petaflops (equivalent to 900 years of work by a normal PC in one hour), it ranks among the top 10 supercomputers in the world according to the TOP500 ranking. It is accessible to universities, research centers and companies for advanced simulations, process optimizations and predictive analytics. For the Italian manufacturing sector it represents a concrete strategic leverage: not a distant future, but an operational tool already available.
Artificial intelligence is often described as the latest trend, but for Ubertini it is much more than that. The question is not whether to adopt it, but when. And the time to wait 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 open: with the first digital revolution, the platform revolution, we have lost ground. With AI and supercomputing, however, we are still in 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 in order for this to happen, it must be understood, governed, and directed. Otherwise, companies risk remaining mere buyers of solutions produced elsewhere. The point, therefore, is not just using AI; it is building the capacity to make it become part of the corporate structure.
Here emerges a crucial passage: the transition from being a technology taker to becoming a technology maker. Only in this way can industrial sovereignty be defended and Europe’s role in the new global balances be consolidated.
It is not just a matter of acquiring advanced technologies; it is also a question of developing skills, vision, and the ability to influence the models in which technology is designed and applied. It is a strategic issue, before it is even a technological one.
Why do many companies struggle to adopt AI? According to Francesco Ubertini: "The problem is not a lack of technology. The blockage is cultural.“
In Italian SMEs, there is often a lack of awareness of where value is generated. Data is used as a starting point, but not the problems. This makes it difficult to understand where to start. A change of mindset is needed: starting from the bottlenecks, asking where we can improve today and not multiplying KPIs unless the goal to be achieved is clear.
This is a very concrete lesson: technology works when it is adapted to 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 helps simulate scenarios, assess impacts, and choose with greater clarity.
For the Italian manufacturing sector, this is a strategic lever. It means moving from a reactive logic to a predictive one, where decisions are not based solely on intuition but on solid data and dynamic models. It is a change in attitude that strengthens companies" ability to cope with unstable markets and increasingly complex processes.
Ubertini also looks at the new generations with great clarity. The young are the most valuable asset, because they have skills that at their age it was even difficult to imagine. But they live in an hyperstimulated world and tend to stay on the surface.
The educational challenge, therefore, is not just about transmitting knowledge; it is also about teaching how to ask the right questions, deepen them, connect them, and reflect on them. Only then can intelligence, even 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 case in point: universities, businesses, research institutions and institutions that collaborate before competing.
It is the logic of pre-competitive cooperation: building the foundation together, then competing on the final leg. A vision that strengthens the territory and can help Europe not be just a consumer of technologies, but a protagonist of the future.
The full interview with Francesco Ubertini can be found in the FUTURO. Conversazioni di Buonsenso podcast.
Watch the interview on You Tu b
Listen to the interview on Spotify
Leonardo is the most powerful supercomputer in Europe for artificial intelligence. It is located in Bologna, is managed by CINECA — the Interuniversity Consortium for Automatic Computing — and boasts a computing capacity of 250 petaflops. In practical terms, an hour of work by Leonardo is equivalent to 900 years of computing by a normal PC. It is ranked among the top 10 supercomputers in the world according to the TOP500 ranking and is accessible to universities, research centers, and Italian and European companies for complex simulations, optimization of production processes, and the development of models of artificial intelligence.
According to Francesco Ubertini, president of CINECA, the main obstacle is not a lack of available technology, but a deep cultural gap: many SMEs still do not know where value is generated in their processes and therefore do not know where to start. The most common mistake is to start with data instead of real problems. The key is to reverse the approach: first identify the concrete bottlenecks, clearly define the goal to be achieved and only then choose the most suitable technological tool. AI produces measurable results only when it is integrated into a real need.
It means stopping being passive buyers of technologies designed and developed elsewhere, and becoming active participants in the technological value chain: capable of designing, adapting, and governing solutions based on their industrial and cultural needs. For Europe, this transition is strategic: with the first digital revolution — that of the big platforms — the continent has lost ground to the USA and China. With artificial intelligence and supercomputing, there is still an open window to regain a leading role, provided that we invest in our own skills, research, and infrastructure.
Supercomputing and AI do not replace solid processes; they enhance them. In the context of Lean Thinking and Industry 5.0, these technologies become tools for eliminating waste in a predictive way, simulating improvement scenarios before implementing them, and making decisions based on real data rather than intuition. This is the natural evolution of continuous improvement in the digital age: the same principles, exponentially more powerful tools. Ubertini’s vision aligns perfectly with Michele Bonfiglioli’s approach: technology and method are not alternatives, but complementary.
Francesco Ubertini is the president of CINECA, the main Italian supercomputing center, and he was rector of the University of Bologna. His relevance to businesses lies in his ability to translate technological complexity into concrete strategic vision: he does not talk about AI in abstract terms, but about how businesses can use it to compete, make better decisions, and defend their industrial sovereignty. His perspective, collected in the book 25 Years of Lean Thinking in the Italian Style by Michele Bonfiglioli, is a point of reference for anyone who wants to understand where European industry is headed.
To read the full chapter and learn more about the other sections of the book, discover 25 years of Lean Thinking in the Italian style by Michele Bonfiglioli.
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