Brain drain: Italia is a ‘net exporter’ of AI talent. From the US to Spain, the favourite destinations for skilled professionals
For Italia, the picture is mixed. Of the total number of people entering the labour market, new entrants fell by 9.8 per cent – less than the European average – whilst retention improved: the number of people leaving the labour market fell more rapidly than the number entering, by 12.7 per cent compared with 9.8 per cent
Key points
In 2025, as the global race for artificial intelligence talent intensified, Italia came out of it with a net loss: 6,300 AI professionals left the country, compared with 6,102 who arrived, resulting in a net loss of around 200 people. This is one of the findings from the new Top Talent Tracker by the Boston Consulting Group (BCG), which analysed the mobility patterns of 221 million professionals across more than 200 destinations worldwide.
Transfers are slowing down across the board
The overall picture shows an unprecedented slowdown: the number of skilled professionals moving abroad has fallen from 3.7 to 3.3 million, a drop of 11.6 per cent following years of growth. To be honest, the slowdown is affecting the segments with the highest added value: -19 per cent for researchers with a PhD, -13 per cent for STEM professionals, and -12 per cent for artificial intelligence.
The situation in Italy
For Italia, the picture is mixed. Of the total number of qualified workers, inflows have fallen by 9.8 per cent – less than the European average – whilst retention has improved: outflows are falling more rapidly than inflows, by 12.7 per cent compared with 9.8 per cent. This indicates that fewer skilled Italians left the country in 2025 compared with the previous year, rather than the country attracting more talent from abroad. In the field of artificial intelligence, however, the balance remains negative: arrivals do not offset departures.
The United States remains the favourite destination
Looking at the overall figure for qualified Italian professionals leaving the country – a figure that the report does not break down specifically for the AI category – the main destinations remain the United States (11,136), followed by Spain (6,625), France (4,610), Germany (4,092), Switzerland (3,862) and the United Kingdom (3,653).
Other countries
Globally, the geography of talent is being reshaped: France and Spain are gaining ground in Europe, whilst Germany (-13.7 per cent), the Netherlands (-15.2 per cent) and Portugal (-21.3 per cent) are losing ground. The United Arab Emirates, having attracted nearly 194,000 professionals, is challenging the United Kingdom for second place globally, whilst Canada has slipped from the podium to seventh place.
