From 92 countries to study AI without giving up their jobs: Opit launches its fourth academic year in Turin

Over 650 students and 150 graduates from 92 countries, with an average age of 30 and, in most cases, already in employment. This is the profile of the international community at OPIT (Open Institute of Technology), an academic institution accredited at European level which launched its fourth academic year, 2026/2027, at the National Automobile Museum in Turin, in the presence of its founder Riccardo Ocleppo, the rector and former minister Francesco Profumo, and international guests.

The ceremony, which brought together around 300 people – including students and partners attending in person and online – featured speeches by Barbara Cominelli (one of Europe’s top 50 women in tech, now a partner at Cysero AI), the British contributor Chris Stokel-Walker (a journalist and writer for The Times, The Economist, the BBC, Bloomberg and Wired) and Hamilton Mann (President of the Artificial Integrity Institute and winner, amongst others, of the Thinkers50 Digital Thinking Award), who spoke respectively on AI & Business, AI & Education and AI & Integrity. Three OPIT alumni then took the floor, each delivering a talk linked to the topics covered by the previous speakers, but from a student’s perspective.

The event also provided a backdrop for discussions on the future of higher education, set against the backdrop of the artificial intelligence revolution and the need for educational models that are increasingly tailored to the needs of those who study and work at the same time. This theme was confirmed by the data collected and analysed by OPIT during the event. According to the OECD report *Trends in Adult Learning*, 40 per cent of adults in OECD countries take part in training programmes each year, but one in four people face significant obstacles, mainly due to a lack of time linked to work or family commitments, costs, and timetables that are difficult to reconcile with everyday life. According to Eurostat, in 2024, 25.4 per cent of young Europeans aged between 15 and 29 were in work whilst pursuing formal education. Italia, with just 6.7 per cent, ranks 22nd out of the 27 EU countries, well below the European average.

Artificial intelligence is radically transforming the world of work and education. “Today, universities face an unprecedented challenge: preparing students for professions we do not yet know and for solving problems we are not even able to foresee today,” said Francesco Profumo, Rector of OPIT, in his address to students at the opening of the event. “In this context, the greatest risk is to think that artificial intelligence can replace our ability to reason. The more machines produce answers, the more we must learn to ask the right questions. The more powerful algorithms become, the more indispensable critical thinking, sound judgement and a sense of responsibility become. A seemingly convincing answer may be wrong, and a technologically efficient decision may be unjust. This is why universities must teach young people to use AI without relinquishing their own intelligence, by questioning its results and understanding the consequences of the decisions they make.”

The importance of flexibility is also highlighted by the First National Survey on Online University Students, carried out amongst 15,000 students at Italian online universities accredited by the MIUR. For 84.5 per cent of respondents, the ability to balance study, work and private life was a decisive factor in choosing an online programme, whilst 75.5 per cent cited the flexibility of timetables and locations. 70 per cent consider online learning to be the only viable option for continuing their studies, and 20.8 per cent state that, without this option, they would have dropped out of university.