AI and work: in Italy, school is still too far from businesses

Artificial intelligence is already changing work in Italy. According to Istat, the share of companies with at least ten employees using AI rose from 8.2% in 2024 to 16.4% in 2025: it doubled in a single year. The skills employers need are changing during the same years young people spend earning a qualification.

Little practical experience

The problem, the analysis explains, is the gap between study and work. Among 15-year-old students surveyed by PISA in 2022, only 17.5% in Italy had done an internship, compared with an OECD average of 33.2%. If AI automates the simplest tasks, the ones people usually start with, gaining experience becomes even harder.

A path that works: ITS Academies

ITS Academies, post-diploma programmes designed together with companies, show encouraging results: of the 8,000 graduates in 2023, 84% were working one year later and, among those employed, 93% had a job consistent with what they had studied.

Why it matters to you

Not everyone will need to become a programmer, but everyone will need to learn to work alongside AI. Choosing paths that combine classroom, lab and workplace, such as internships or ITS programmes after the diploma, helps you reach the job market with real experience and not just a qualification.