Corporate Digitalisation in 2025 Towards the 2030 Digital Decade

The year 2025 marked a crucial milestone in the digital transformation journey of European businesses. At the halfway point of the 2030 Digital Decade, the European Union entered a phase of concrete results assessment: no longer merely strategies, programmes and announcements, but measurable indicators capable of providing a reliable picture of the production system’s progress towards the targets set. Among these, one of the most significant concerns the spread of digital skills and technologies within companies, with the objective that at least 90% of businesses achieve a basic level of digitalisation by 2030, as outlined in the Digital Decade Policy Programme.

Viewed today, the 2025 data depict a business landscape that has indeed accelerated, also thanks to investments under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP) and European programmes, yet continues to move at two different speeds. On the one hand, a growing number of companies have strengthened their adoption of core digital technologies; on the other, structural gaps persist, risking a slowdown in convergence towards European targets.

Revisiting 2025 from this perspective therefore makes it possible to understand how far progress has advanced along the path to 2030, which technologies have had the greatest impact on the evolution of production models, and which critical issues remain unresolved. This represents a fundamental step in assessing whether the acceleration recorded in recent years will be sufficient to ensure, even in the medium term, the competitiveness of the Italian business system within the European context.

BASIC DIGITALISATION: CLEAR ACCELERATION, YET NOT FULLY DECISIVE

Between 2023 and 2025, the digitalisation of Italian businesses recorded significant acceleration. According to ISTAT’s Enterprises and ICT 2025 report, in 2025 the share of enterprises with at least 10 employees that achieved a basic level of digitalisation approached around eight out of ten businesses. This marks substantial progress, particularly when compared with the starting point: in 2023 Italy stood at 61%, already slightly above the EU average, but still far from the 90% target set for 2030.

The growth observed over the subsequent two years signals a tangible shift in pace, consistent with the momentum driven by public incentives and digitalisation support programmes. However, the aggregate figure must be interpreted with caution. Progress has not been uniform and is concentrated primarily among medium and large-sized companies, while a significant portion of the Italian production fabric – largely composed of SMEs – still struggles to exceed the minimum threshold required by the Digital Decade.

According to Eurostat data and the Digital Decade Country Report, Italy is growing more rapidly than the European average but remains behind in Artificial Intelligence, automation, and the maturity of digital-first processes. Across Europe, AI adoption is approaching one in five companies, whereas Italy remains below this threshold, albeit showing signs of catching up in recent years.

Looking ahead to 2030, this represents a strategic challenge. The objective is not only to increase the number of digitalised companies but to make digitalisation structural and widespread throughout the entire production system, preventing the gap between more advanced businesses and less mature ones from becoming entrenched over time.

CORE DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES: CLOUD, DATA AND AI AS A VALUE CHAIN

When referring to core digital technologies, the focus is not on individual tools or vertical solutions, but on a set of cross-cutting technologies that form the backbone of companies’ digital transformation. This perimeter mainly includes Cloud Computing, Data Analytics, process automation and Artificial Intelligence – technologies that structurally enable new operational, decision-making and organisational models.

According to ISTAT, the adoption of these technologies is proceeding in an increasingly integrated manner.

• Cloud as an infrastructure base: enabling scalability and access to advanced services.
• Data Analytics as a decision-making lever: transforming large volumes of data into rapid and predictive operational insights.
• Process automation: reducing repetitive tasks and increasing efficiency.
• AI as the “intelligent layer” of the digital chain: introducing predictive analysis and real-time decision support.

This digital value chain is central to the vision of the 2030 Digital Decade, which measures progress not merely in terms of technological adoption, but in companies’ ability to use core technologies in a coordinated way to generate productivity, resilience and competitiveness.

In the Italian context, however, this integration remains partial. While cloud and data analytics are now widely adopted, AI is often used in a limited or experimental capacity, without full end-to-end integration into business processes. The gap with more mature European economies therefore concerns less access to technologies and more the ability to orchestrate different digital components in a systemic way.

LEADING SECTORS AND DIFFERENTIATED ADOPTION TRAJECTORIES

ISTAT’s sectoral analysis confirms that digitalisation is progressing along different trajectories. In 2025, certain leading sectors stand out, characterised by a greater capacity to integrate core digital technologies, including Artificial Intelligence. ICT and telecommunications lead the way, displaying high levels of cloud, analytics and AI usage already embedded within operational processes.

They are followed by energy and utilities, where the combination of data, automation and AI enables optimisation of networks, maintenance and consumption management. In professional and technical services, AI is used to support knowledge-intensive activities, alongside analytical tools and collaborative platforms.

The positioning of retail and tourism differs: these sectors emerge as the most dynamic on the customer-facing front, yet remain less advanced in the adoption of AI and back-end technologies. This sectoral polarisation represents one of the key critical issues in the journey towards achieving the 2030 objectives.

INSIGHTS FROM THE INTESA SANPAOLO SURVEY: DIGITALISATION AS A STRATEGIC PRIORITY

A further perspective on the state of digitalisation in 2025 emerges from a survey conducted by the Customer Experience team of Intesa Sanpaolo’s IMI Corporate & Investment Banking Division at the end of 2025, involving over 700 medium and large-sized companies participated. The survey provides a complementary view to official statistical data.

It highlights how digitalisation is now perceived by businesses as a top strategic lever: 50% of respondents identify it as the primary factor to focus on over the following twelve months, ahead of cost reduction (45%) and sustainability investments (37%).

This finding is particularly significant when placed within the context of macroeconomic uncertainty and rapid technological acceleration that characterised the period. However, the survey also reveals an evolution in investment approaches: companies are adopting a more selective strategy, concentrating on technologies perceived as delivering high operational returns.

Significant sectoral differences emerge: investment expectations in digitalisation are prioritised in Telecom, Media & Technology and Energy, while Automotive & Industrials and Retail & Luxury show a stronger focus on cost-reduction measures. Meanwhile, IoT (67%), Data Analytics (62%), Robotic Process Automation (56%) and Artificial Intelligence (49%) report substantial growth, whereas solutions now considered mature, such as Cloud and Cybersecurity, are entering a consolidation phase.

The international comparison included in the survey indicates that, for the same technologies, foreign companies are on average more advanced across several dimensions of digital adoption, demonstrating greater speed in integrating more advanced solutions. This dynamic reflects differing levels of data management maturity, directly influencing companies’ ability to leverage Artificial Intelligence within business processes.

In this context, emerging technologies such as Generative AI and Agentic AI are attracting growing interest, yet their diffusion within the Italian production system remains limited. These solutions have been adopted more rapidly abroad and are expected to expand significantly over the next three to five years. They represent the new competitive frontier that will shape future digital sectors.

The picture that emerges is one of an Italian production system aware of the strategic value of digitalisation, yet still cautious in transitioning towards fully digital-first models.

DIGITAL CHANNELS AND CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIPS: THE FRONTEND AS A COMPETITIVE LEVER

Alongside core technologies, 2025 also saw a significant strengthening in the digitalisation of market-facing channels. Social media and e-commerce recorded growing adoption, becoming increasingly integrated into companies’ commercial and marketing strategies.

This reinforcement of the digital frontend marked an important evolution in the company–customer relationship. Businesses invested in omnichannel models, dynamic content and digital touchpoints capable of enhancing user experience, expanding visibility and creating new market opportunities. In many cases, particularly for SMEs, these tools represented the first entry point into digital transformation.

However, this dynamic also highlights a structural limitation: frontend digitalisation is not always accompanied by an equally deep transformation of internal processes. The risk is an unbalanced digitalisation, effective from a commercial perspective but less impactful on overall productivity and organisational efficiency.

KEY LEVERS TO CLOSE THE GAP BY 2030

Despite progress, achieving the 2030 Digital Decade targets is not yet guaranteed. Three main critical issues remain: skills, infrastructure and regulatory governance.

The persistent ICT skills gap, particularly among SMEs, limits the ability to translate digital investments into operational value. Connectivity infrastructure, although improving, still shows territorial disparities. Finally, regulatory uncertainty regarding AI, Cybersecurity and data protection continues to slow more advanced experimentation.

The challenge no longer concerns the availability of technologies, but the ability to integrate them coherently. Cloud, data and Artificial Intelligence now represent a single digital value chain: strengthening their integration will be decisive in transforming the acceleration of 2025 into a lasting competitive advantage for the Italian production system.

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