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 precious capital, 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, Ubertini affirms. 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
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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Leonardo is the most powerful supercomputer in Europe for artificial intelligence, developed and managed by CINECA in Bologna. It has a capacity of 250 petaflops and ranks among the top 10 supercomputers in the world in the TOP500 ranking. Universities, research centers, and companies use it for advanced simulations, process optimization, and predictive analysis.
One hour of Leonardo’s work is equivalent to 900 years of calculation by a normal PC, because the machine performs 250 billion trillion operations per second. However, the value for businesses lies not only in speed: it lies in open access to simulations, optimization, and forecasting, which increases decision-making capabilities.
According to Ubertini, president of CINECA, the problem is not a lack of technology but a cultural block. In Italian SMEs, there is often a lack of awareness of where value is generated: it starts with data and not with problems. It is necessary to start from the bottlenecks, to ask where to improve today and not to multiply KPIs without a clear goal.
It means stopping being a mere buyer of solutions produced elsewhere and developing the skills, vision and ability to influence the models with which technology is designed and applied. For Ubertini, this is the prerequisite for defending industrial sovereignty and strengthening Europe’s role in global balances: a strategic choice before technological ones.
Supercomputing does not predict the future, but allows for simulating scenarios, evaluating impacts, and choosing with greater clarity. For the Italian manufacturing sector, it means transitioning from a reactive logic to a predictive one, with decisions based on solid data and dynamic models rather than solely on intuition, to address unstable markets and increasingly complex processes.
Precompetitive cooperation consists of building the foundation together and then competing only on the final mile. For Ubertini, innovation requires strong ecosystems, not lone heroes. Emilia-Romagna is an example of this: universities, businesses, research, and institutions collaborate before competing, strengthening the territory and helping Europe become a leader in technology, not just a consumer of it.
ai translated