This InSight Analysis provides a detailed overview of the Italian manufacturing sector, highlighting the key drivers and obstacles to IT investments, the positioning of major vendors, and medium-term investment trends.
In 2024 and early 2025, the Italian manufacturing sector faced a challenging environment shaped by weak domestic demand, global uncertainty, and declining performance. According to national statistics, turnover and industrial output decreased in both value and volume in 2024, with capital goods experiencing the sharpest drop. The first half of 2025 remained stagnant, with a mild rebound in the third quarter, driven by temporary improvements rather than structural recovery. A PAC survey of around 40 companies confirms the sector’s vulnerability and highlights a strong focus on cost reduction, portfolio evolution, and operational efficiency. Firms prioritize workforce productivity, enhanced physical and cybersecurity, and sustainability. These business priorities are closely tied to IT and digital initiatives, which support process optimization and security enhancement.
The survey results reveal increasing investment in data-related technologies, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, cloud computing, and application modernization. Data management and exploitation are central, with companies strengthening data platforms, governance, and architecture while shifting attention to analytics, BI, and machine learning. AI-related strategic maturity is rising, with responsibilities often shared between CIOs and business units. AI use cases span commercial optimization, predictive maintenance, logistics, document automation, and IT operations.
Cybersecurity threats continue to intensify, especially in manufacturing, making software security, staff training, governance improvements, and risk assessment top priorities. Cloud adoption is widespread and strategically important, especially for IaaS and SaaS solutions that support scalability, faster deployment, and centralized security, although cost benefits remain uncertain. IoT adoption is also significant, primarily enabling remote monitoring, operational supervision, worker safety, digital twins, and connected vehicles.
Despite plans supported in part by the national PNRR program, uncertainties surrounding funding for Transition 4.0 and 5.0 represent major constraints. Overall, Italian manufacturing companies pursue digital transformation to bolster their competitiveness, while structural weaknesses and economic pressures continue to hinder sustained growth.
Recommended advisory: PAC Leadership Session – Industrial AI – Status Quo and Growth Areas
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