AI, Research, and Education: How Are Universities and Skills Changing in the New Technological Landscape?

On the occasion of the We Make Future 2026 in Bologna, Paolo Spagnoletti, President of Cyber 4.0, spoke on the panel “AI, Research, and Education: How Universities and Skills Are Changing in the New Technological Landscape.”

The meeting explored the impact of artificial intelligence on the role of universities, with a particular focus on the evolution of research models, educational programs, and the skills demanded by the market, placing the universities’ contribution to building innovation ecosystems that are increasingly integrated with businesses and institutions at the center of the discussion.

During his remarks, the President of Cyber 4.0 discussed Cyber 4.0’s experience and the Center’s role in connecting universities, the business sector, and the public administration, thereby promoting technology transfer and supporting organizations and professionals in the safe and informed adoption of emerging technologies.

The debate also highlighted how artificial intelligence is giving rise to new categories of risk: on the one hand, epistemic risk, linked to the reliability of the information produced by generative AI systems; on the other, safety risks arising from the use of AI in the control of physical systems, infrastructure, and industrial processes. In this context, the challenge for universities lies not only in updating existing degree programs but also in anticipating the emergence of new professional roles dedicated to the design, verification, security, and governance of artificial intelligence.

Precisely to address this need, initiatives such as Cyber 4.0 and the joint XAI Lab at Luiss demonstrate how new knowledge can emerge in contexts where universities, businesses, and institutions collaborate to tackle concrete problems in the local area and within strategic supply chains, paving the way for the development of solutions that can subsequently be transferred to the production system.

“AI is forcing us to rethink not only our skills,” says Paolo Spagnoletti, “— but also the way in which we generate knowledge. Universities today have a dual responsibility: to train the professionals who will ensure the safety and oversight of artificial intelligence, and to create—together with businesses and institutions—the environments where this knowledge can emerge and translate into innovation for the country ”

Moderated by Antonello Barone, the panel also featured Antonella Polimeni, Rector of Sapienza University of Rome; Daniele Rocchi, Vice Rector for Technology Transfer and Corporate Relations at the Milan Polytechnic; Marco Pironti, Vice Rector for Innovation and Knowledge Valorization at the University of Turin; and Rosa Grimaldi, Professor at theUniversity of Bologna.