By Laura Contemori – ROME (Econostream) – European Central Bank Governing Council member Fabio Panetta on Thursday said artificial intelligence had the potential to lift productivity and growth in Italy, but would require greater investment and a financial system capable of supporting innovation.

Panetta, speaking at a conference organized by the Bank of Italy, which he heads, and the European Investment Bank (EIB), said AI was already transforming production, services, research and everyday life, and was advancing at a pace that required businesses, institutions and the financial system to respond quickly.

“AI is no longer a distant prospect,” he said. “It has already made its way into production processes, services, research, and everyday life. And it is advancing at a pace that requires businesses, institutions, and the financial system to act just as quickly.”

Citing the EIB Investment Survey, Director General of the Treasury Riccardo Barbieri said 16.4% of Italian firms use at least one AI technology, twice the share in 2025 but still leaving Italy 18th among the EU’s 27 member states.

Panetta said a broad and timely adoption of AI could make a significant contribution to reviving productivity in Italy, particularly in an economy with strong industrial expertise, production specializations and large amounts of business-generated data.

The benefits could be especially important in manufacturing, where AI could help prevent breakdowns, reduce waste, optimize energy and materials use, accelerate design and improve product quality, he said.

AI would also have effects well beyond manufacturing, including in medicine, where it could make diagnoses faster and more accurate, improve treatment pathways and accelerate research into new drugs and therapies, he said.

Panetta said the transition would require significant investment in areas such as research, software, data, skills and organization, and that these investments were often hard to evaluate from outside because they were risky and had uncertain returns that materialized only over time.

“Without adequate financing, innovation remains just an idea; with patient financing, venture capital, and deeper markets, it can lead to growth, jobs, and competitiveness,” he said.

Italy and Europe have savings, research, companies and skills, but these resources too often fail to combine on the scale needed to support the most ambitious projects, Panetta said.

He said Europe needed to strengthen its ability to mobilize capital toward firms that innovate, grow and turn research into concrete applications.