AI, skills and education: Look4ward research explores a new possible balance

The third report by the permanent Look4ward Observatory, promoted by Intesa Sanpaolo in collaboration with Luiss Guido Carli University, involved more than 600 companies, CEOs and HR managers, bringing the total number of participants since the launch of the initiative to over 1,500.

Findings show a clear acceleration in AI adoption:

• 31% of companies have already adopted or are experimenting with artificial intelligence solutions, up from 19% in 2025
• 85% of companies using AI have launched or planned dedicated training initiatives
• only 19% have structured and continuous learning programmes
• 46% of employees have received no specific AI training
• 44% of companies do not plan training investments over the next 12–24 months.

The research highlights that the value of innovation increasingly depends on organisations’ ability to accompany technology adoption with consistent investment in human capital.

The study also included an empirical analysis involving a sample of 800 individuals, mainly students, to explore the impact of artificial intelligence on cognitive processes.

Results indicate that AI contributes differently depending on context:

• in low-complexity tasks, the absence of technological support leads to higher engagement, stronger learning outcomes and greater motivation
• in high-complexity tasks, artificial intelligence helps reduce cognitive load and improve decision quality.

The study therefore moves beyond the idea of technology as an automatically enabling force and introduces a perspective based on the selective and conscious integration of AI into educational and professional processes.

The research introduces the GENIALE EDUNext model (Generative Ecosystems for New Intelligent Augmented Learning Education), which defines the principles for designing educational ecosystems capable of integrating human and artificial intelligence in a balanced way.

The model places cognitive autonomy at the centre and promotes AI use aligned with task complexity. In this framework, technological skills, critical thinking, ethical awareness and pedagogical design become strategic factors.