<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This article explores how artificial intelligence and supercomputing<\/strong> are redefining the competitive possibilities for Italian and European companies. Francesco Ubertini, head of CINECA and the Leonardo supercomputer, outlines a clear roadmap: AI is not a passing fad, but a\u2019cognitive infrastructure<\/strong> destined to become the nervous system of modern organizations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The real obstacle is not technological, but cultural<\/strong> \u2014 especially in SMEs, where there's still a lack of awareness about where value is generated and where to start. Europe's challenge is to stop being a mere consumer of others' technologies and become a protagonist: to move from technology adopter<\/em> a Technology manufacturer<\/em>, building collaborative ecosystems modeled after Emilia-Romagna, where universities, businesses, and institutions cooperate before competing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In this scenario, supercomputing isn't a tool for the few; it's a democratic lever to simulate scenarios, manage uncertainty, and make more robust decisions. And young people\u2014with their innate digital skills\u2014are the most valuable capital to drive this transition, provided they learn to ask the right questions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Key takeaways:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n This text is from chapter 8, \u201cTechnologies and Industry 5.0. Artificial intelligence and tools for the future\u201d<\/strong>, from the book 25 years of Lean Thinking the Italian way<\/em> by Michele Bonfiglioli<\/a>. Francesco Ubertini, president of CINECA and former rector of the University of Bologna, offers a concrete vision on Artificial intelligence<\/strong>, supercomputing<\/strong> e technological sovereignty<\/strong> for Italian businesses. In the chapter, your voice fits into a broader path dedicated to solid processes, digitalization, and innovation applied to business competitiveness. In the heart of Emilia-Romagna, in Bologna, the future has already begun to compute. It's called Leonardo, like the Renaissance genius, and it's currently the most powerful supercomputer in Europe for artificial intelligence. It's a machine capable of 250 quadrillion operations per second, but above all, it's a strategic platform available to universities, research centers, and businesses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Guiding 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 the most pressing challenges for Europe: digital sovereignty, technological leadership, and the impact of artificial intelligence on production systems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Leonardo is not a symbol. It's a tool. One hour of work on this supercomputer is equivalent to 900 years of calculation on a normal PC. But its true strength isn't just in its power: it's in the democratization of access. Businesses and institutions can now simulate, optimize, and predict. It's not just speed. It's decision-making capability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Leonardo is the Europe's most powerful supercomputer for artificial intelligence<\/strong>and developed and managed by CINECA in Bologna. With a computing power of 250 petaflops (equivalent to 900 years of work from a normal PC in one hour), it is ranked among the top 10 supercomputers in the world according to the TOP500 list. It is accessible to universities, research centers, and businesses for advanced simulations, process optimizations, and predictive analyses. For Italian manufacturing, it represents a concrete strategic lever: not a distant future, but an operational tool already available.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Artificial intelligence is often portrayed as the latest trend, but for Ubertini, it's much more than that. The question isn't whether to adopt it, but when. And the time to wait is over.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The priority is to bring digital technologies into industrial processes, making them concrete levers for value and competitiveness. For Europe, the challenge is still open: 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n According to 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For this to happen, it needs to be understood, managed, and directed. Otherwise, businesses risk remaining simple 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 company structure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Here emerges a crucial passage: to move from technology adopter<\/strong> a Technology manufacturer<\/strong>. Only this way can industrial sovereignty be defended and Europe's role in the new global balance be consolidated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It's not just about acquiring advanced technologies, but about developing skills, vision, and the ability to influence the models with which technology is designed and applied. It's a strategic issue, even before it's a technological one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n According to Francesco Ubertini, why do many companies struggle to adopt AI? \u201cThe problem isn't a lack of technology. The bottleneck is cultural.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n In Italian SMEs, often There is a lack of awareness of where value is generated<\/strong>. We start with the data, but not with the problems. This makes it difficult to understand where to begin. A change in mindset is needed: start with the bottlenecks, ask ourselves where we can improve today, and don't multiply KPIs if the goal to be achieved is unclear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is a very concrete lesson: technology works when it addresses a real need, not when it's adopted as a generic response to complexity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In a world dominated by complexity, supercomputing becomes a tool for governing uncertainty. It doesn't say what will happen, but it helps simulate scenarios, evaluate impacts, and choose with greater clarity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For Italian manufacturing, this is a strategic lever. It means moving from a reactive to a predictive logic, where decisions are not based solely on intuition, but on solid data and dynamic models. It is a shift in posture that strengthens companies' ability to face unstable markets and increasingly complex processes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ubertini also looks at the new generations with great clarity. Young people are the most precious capital because they have skills that were difficult to even imagine at their age. But they live in a hyper-stimulated world and tend to stay superficial.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The educational challenge, therefore, is not just to transmit knowledge, but to teach how to ask the right questions, to delve deeper, to connect, and to reflect. Only then does intelligence, even artificial intelligence, become a tool at the service of human intelligence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Innovation is never born in solitude. Strong ecosystems are needed, says Ubertini. Emilia-Romagna is an emblematic case: universities, businesses, research, and institutions that collaborate before competing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It's the logic of pre-competitive cooperation: building the foundation together, and then competing on the final stretch. A vision that strengthens the territory and can help Europe not just be a consumer of technologies, but a protagonist of the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The full interview with Francesco Ubertini is inside the podcast FUTURE. Common Sense Conversations<\/strong>.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Watch the interview on You Tu<\/strong><\/a>b<\/a><\/strong>e<\/strong><\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n Leonardo is the most powerful supercomputer in Europe for artificial intelligence. It is located in Bologna, managed by CINECA \u2014 the Interuniversity Consortium for Automatic Calculation \u2014 and boasts a computing capacity of 250 petaflops. In practical terms, one hour of Leonardo\u2019s work is equivalent to 900 years of calculation on a normal PC. It is ranked among the top 10 supercomputers in the world according to the TOP500 list and is accessible to Italian and European universities, research centers, and businesses for complex simulations, optimization of production processes, and development of artificial intelligence models.<\/p>\n\n\n\n According to Francesco Ubertini, president of CINECA, the main obstacle is not the lack of available technology, but a deep cultural gap: many SMEs are not yet clear about 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 concrete bottlenecks, clearly define the objective to be achieved, and only then choose the most suitable technological tool. AI produces measurable results only when it addresses a real need.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It means ceasing to be passive buyers of technologies designed and developed elsewhere, and becoming active players in the technological value chain: capable of designing, adapting, and managing solutions based on their own industrial and cultural needs. For Europe, this transition is strategic: with the first digital revolution\u2014that of the big platforms\u2014the continent lost ground compared to the USA and China. With artificial intelligence and supercomputing, there is still an open window to regain a leading role, provided that investment is made in skills, research, and its own infrastructure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 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 predictive waste elimination, simulating improvement scenarios before implementation, and making decisions based on real data rather than intuition. It's the natural evolution of continuous improvement in the digital age: same principles, exponentially more powerful tools. Ubertini's vision aligns perfectly with Michele Bonfiglioli's approach: technology and methodology are not alternatives, but complementary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Francesco Ubertini is the president of CINECA, the leading Italian supercomputing center, and was formerly the rector of the University of Bologna. His relevance to businesses lies in his ability to translate technological complexity into concrete strategic vision. He doesn't discuss AI in abstract terms, but rather focuses on how companies can utilize it to compete, make better decisions, and defend their industrial sovereignty. His perspective, as captured in the book 25 years of Lean Thinking the Italian way<\/em> by Michele Bonfiglioli, it is a benchmark for those who want to understand where European industry is headed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To read the full chapter and delve into the other entries in the book, discover 25 years of Lean Thinking the Italian way<\/em> by Michele Bonfiglioli.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":null,"protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":74033,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[117],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-74000","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-digital-transformation"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n\n
\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\nSupercomputing is an industrial reality.<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
What is the Leonardo supercomputer and what is it used for?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
It's not a question of \u201cif,\u201d but of \u201cwhen.\u201d<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
AI as the nervous system of businesses<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
From technology taker to technology maker<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
The real gap? It's cultural<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Governing uncertainty with supercomputing<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
The youth: the most important capital<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Ecosystems, not lone heroes<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
The podcast interview<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Listen to the interview on Spotify<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\nFrequently Asked Questions about Artificial Intelligence, Supercomputing, and SMEs<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
What is the Leonardo supercomputer and where is it located?
<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nWhy do Italian SMEs struggle to adopt artificial intelligence?
<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nWhat does it mean to go from a technology taker to a technology maker?
<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nWhat is the link between supercomputing, Lean Thinking, and Industry 5.0?
<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nWho is Francesco Ubertini and why is his vision relevant for businesses?
<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nDeepen the book<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
By Bonfiglioli Consulting Editorial Staff<\/strong>
Every publication is born from industry studies, field research, and analysis of global trends, integrated with the knowledge and expertise gained from transformation projects, with the goal of promoting a business culture.<\/em>
Published 05\/21\/2026<\/h4>\n\n\n\n