According to OECD data, the proportion of companies with at least ten employees adopting artificial intelligence has risen from 6% in 2020 to 20% in 2025. In five years, it has more than tripled. Some might interpret this figure as an encouraging sign of technological adoption. Those familiar with the manufacturing sector know that the real question is not how many companies are adopting AI, but how many are using it to generate real value.
Because this is where the gap lies. An Accenture study reveals that, although 86% of companies invest in AI, only 18% manage to generate tangible value from it. The reasons? Primarily the lack of training among the workforce, the lack of adequate IT infrastructure and — we might add — the tendency to use AI as a communication tool rather than an operational one. Siemens, Volkswagen, BMW and Michelin are already implementing AI to optimise production, logistics and quality control. And the expectations are concrete: for the United States, a 2.7% increase in manufacturing productivity is forecast for 2025, thanks precisely to AI.
From this perspective, Italy starts at a significant disadvantage: 83.6% of companies with at least ten employees do not adopt AI technologies, according to ISTAT data from December 2025. This is a telling figure in a country that remains a manufacturing powerhouse but struggles to bridge the skills gap, navigate regulatory uncertainty and bear the costs of adoption. France, by way of comparison, has already funded an AI data centre for Mistral with $830 million through a banking consortium.
AI AND FOOTWEAR
Footwear, a sector where craftsmanship is a genuine asset, as is technological innovation. The global footwear market reached a value of approximately $417.5 billion in 2023, with estimates projecting it to reach $642.16 billion by 2032. A leading industrial sector, therefore, with global competitive dynamics. And AI, in this context, is no longer an option to be explored at conferences, but a strategic necessity for the sector’s competitiveness and sustainability in the coming years.
Applications throughout the supply chain are already concrete and documented. On the design front, generative AI tools allow a sketch to be transformed into an image in a matter of seconds, exploring infinite stylistic variations based on parameters defined by the designer. Whilst AI can generate designs, it always requires the designer’s vision and clear instructions to do so: human intelligence remains at the centre, but is amplified, not replaced.
In terms of personalisation, the level of sophistication achieved is remarkable. Companies such as Volumental use advanced technologies like computer vision and AI to provide personalised recommendations on size and style: 3D scans of feet capture ten crucial data points, and the recommendations are trained on over 45 million scans combined with millions of past purchases. A system that reduces returns and improves customer satisfaction, two objectives that represent tangible financial items for any brand.
In production, the impact is equally tangible. Robots equipped with AI systems based on deep learning models are now capable of performing complex operations with high precision and speed, from cutting to sewing, from assembling components to organising insoles, replacing repetitive manual labour with consistent performance, reduced costs and shorter production times.
In the supply chain, the gains are measurable: predictive models based on machine learning have already demonstrated accuracy rates of up to 97% in forecasts for individual products and 85% by category, enabling more precise and agile decision-making.
CON IL PROGETTO FAIST L’AI ARRIVA IN FABBRICA
WITH THE FAIST PROJECT, AI COMES TO THE FACTORY
The best way to understand whether a technology really works is to see what happens when it is put into practice, not in a laboratory but in a factory that has to meet deadlines, manage suppliers and balance the books.
The FAIST project (Agile, Intelligent, Sustainable and Technological Factory) is a national consortium designed to modernise the Portuguese footwear and leather goods industry through applied innovation. It brings together over forty partners — manufacturers, technology suppliers and research institutions — and runs from June 2022 to June 2026 with a total investment of around €50 million.
Three concrete cases illustrate the journey from intention to result.
The first is Olifel, a company founded in 1988 in Felgueiras that develops management software for sole manufacturers. Within FAIST, Olifel has developed Visualgest, a planning and scheduling engine that takes into account deadlines, customer priorities, material availability, machine capacity, moulds, colours and cycle times to generate optimised scenarios in a matter of minutes. The stated objectives are specific: reduction of the planning cycle time from eight hours to one; schedule adherence increased from 50% to 98.5%; utilisation of critical resources (e.g. sole production lines) increased from 60% to 84%; work-in-process reduced from 10 to 2 units; non-conformities reduced from 10 to 4 units. These are not percentages plucked from a brochure: they are measurable KPIs, linked to real factory data.
The second case is ISI, a Portuguese manufacturer specialising in injected soles with around 130 employees. Sustainability is a cornerstone of ISI’s business model: the company holds ISO 14001 and RCS (Recycled Claim Standard) certification, and its focus on ‘zero waste’ involves the recovery and micronisation of production waste, including materials such as discarded tennis balls. Within FAIST, ISI is implementing tools to monitor the CO₂ emitted for each pair produced, as well as linking production planning to real-time monitoring of factory performance. The expected result? ISI anticipates a 90% reduction in planning cycle time thanks to the use of AI.
The third case is MIND, a developer of industrial CAD/CAM solutions founded in 1997, with around 30% of its revenue linked to footwear. In modelling, MIND reports instances where sample development time has fallen by around three quarters, dropping from eight weeks to around two to obtain design approval. The efficiency of material cutting layout is projected to improve by up to three percentage points, translating into equivalent savings in raw materials and fewer defective parts.
EXPORTS AND AI: COMPETITIVENESS DEPENDS ON DATA
There is a further area where artificial intelligence is changing the game for Italian-made businesses, including footwear: internationalisation.
Italian exports in 2025 reached €640 billion, with over 120,000 exporting companies. But growth is uneven: whilst pharmaceuticals and transport are advancing, textiles and clothing are down by -2.2% for the second consecutive year. In this scenario of highly selective markets, the ability to quickly analyse where and how to sell becomes a decisive factor.
Giorgio Spina, CEO of Execus, gets straight to the point: generative AI, in this context, is a strategic asset. The McKinsey report ‘The economic potential of generative AI’ estimates that generative AI could boost productivity in knowledge-intensive activities by between 30% and 45%. And data from the AI 4 Italy study, conducted by TEHA Group with Microsoft Italy, confirms that 47% of companies using AI report revenue growth of over 5%.
When applied to exports, AI enables the optimisation of international logistics routes, the automation of customs documentation, the management of commercial content in multiple languages, and the analysis of performance by market, channel and product line in near real time. This is not technological bureaucracy: it is the reduction of the information asymmetry that currently puts SMEs at a disadvantage compared to large global players.
The common thread linking these scenarios — from the Portuguese sole factory to the small Italian manufacturer looking to expand its exports — is a single one: AI creates value when it starts from a specific objective, works on available data and is measured against concrete indicators such as planning times, adherence to schedules, wastage, on-time deliveries and conversions in foreign markets. Those who wait for the perfect moment, the perfect data or the perfect system risk finding themselves chasing competitors who have already learnt to run.
Digital and technological innovation, including AI, can tangibly transform the industrial landscape of footwear production and business. Expo Riva Schuh and Gardabags have understood this for some time; indeed, for many years they have hosted the Innovation Village Retail, selecting and giving a voice to interesting Startups of international calibre. This focus will be confirmed once again during the next edition (13–16 June 2026), which will also host the presentation of the results of the FAIST project, which we mentioned earlier.
Riva del Garda, therefore, is not only a key hub for the international footwear and handbag business, but also a unique opportunity to learn how to innovate across the fashion supply chain.
