Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on December 15, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 20, 2026
Add as preferred source on GoogleAI adoption in Italian firms has doubled to 16.4% in a year, with larger companies leading. Challenges include skill gaps and high costs.
ROME, Dec 15 (Reuters) - The number of Italian firms using artificial intelligence has doubled over the past year, a report showed on Monday, but the diffusion of the technology remains extremely low in an economy dominated by small and medium-sized businesses.
This year 16.4% of firms with at least 10 employees have used some form of AI technology, the report by national statistics bureau ISTAT said, up from 8.2% in 2024 and 5.0% in 2023.
The 83.6% of companies making no use of AI cited issues such as a lack of skills (58.6%), unclear regulation (47.3%), data protection concerns (43.2%) and high costs (43.0%).
About 14.8% said AI was of no use to them, slightly higher than 14.3% in 2023, ISTAT said. It did not give a figure for 2024.
Larger companies saw the sharpest increase in AI use.
Among firms with at least 250 employees the number who used AI over the last 12 months increased to 53.1%, from 32.5% in 2024. Among smaller firms usage increased to 15.7% from 7.7%.
Uptake was highest in IT services (53%), video production (49.5%) and telecoms (37.3%).
The most common uses of AI were for text data extraction (70.8%), generative AI for language and images (59.1%) and speech-to-text technologies (41.3%).
(Reporting by Valentina Consiglio, editing by Gavin Jones)
Artificial intelligence (AI) refers to the simulation of human intelligence in machines that are programmed to think and learn. It encompasses various technologies, including machine learning and natural language processing.
Small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) are enterprises that maintain revenues, assets, or a number of employees below a certain threshold. They play a crucial role in the economy by creating jobs and fostering innovation.
Data protection involves safeguarding personal data from misuse, loss, or unauthorized access. It is essential for maintaining privacy and security in various sectors, including finance and technology.
Generative AI refers to algorithms that can create new content, such as text, images, or music, based on training data. It is increasingly used in applications like art generation and content creation.
Text data extraction is the process of retrieving specific information from unstructured text sources. It is commonly used in data analysis and business intelligence to convert text into usable data.
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