Prof. Mummolo at XXXI Summer School ‘F. Turco’: AI Challenges and the Future of Higher Education in IE&M

Prof. Giovanni Mummolo, President of Foundation ESIEM and Professor of Industrial Engineering at the University of Bari ‘Aldo Moro’, delivered a talk at the XXXI Summer School ‘F. Turco’ – Innovating Methods and Connecting Expertise to Address Science and Industry Challenges, held in Lecco.

His presentation, titled “European Trends in Higher Education in Industrial Engineering and Management: The AI Challenges”, explored the growing gap between the knowledge and skills demanded by industry and the current offer of academic and vocational programmes in IE&M across Europe.

Drawing on data from the WEF Future of Jobs Report 2025, the McKinsey Human Advantage report, and ESIEM’s own European Observatory survey, which collected responses from 36 companies, 62 professors and 58 students across 28 competence areas, Prof. Mummolo outlined how the rapid adoption of AI and digital technologies is reshaping workforce requirements.

The analysis revealed that Problem Solving and Decision Making, Team Working and Project Management rank as the top competences required by companies, alongside a fast-growing demand for Machine Learning & AI, Cybersecurity, Applied Prompt Engineering and Corporate Data Governance, areas where the current academic offering still shows a significant gap.

The talk examined three interconnected challenges that higher education institutions must confront in the age of AI: teaching about AI, teaching with AI, and the emerging role of AI as an autonomous teaching agent. Research evidence — including studies from Wharton, MIT and Stanford — points to a nuanced picture: while AI tools can significantly boost performance and bridge competence gaps, their uncritical use risks weakening the very cognitive and brain skills — critical thinking, creativity, memory recall — that industry most demands.

Prof. Mummolo concluded by anchoring the discussion in the European Knowledge Strategy, which positions the synergy between higher education, research, innovation and service to society as the foundation for European competitiveness and social equity. The ESIEM Foundation, through its European Observatory and University–Industry partnership model, is designed precisely to support this agenda, identifying knowledge gaps, co-financing innovative HE projects and disseminating educational products across Europe.

The Summer School ‘F. Turco’, organised by AIDI (Associazione Italiana Docenti Impianti Industriali), is a long-standing reference event for the Italian academic community in industrial engineering.