Angelini Academy and UCL join forces to redesign management training in the age of artificial intelligence

London/Rome, 7 October 2026 – Angelini Academy, part of Angelini Industries – a multinational industrial group with 5,600 employees, active in 21 countries in the health, industrial technology and consumer goods sectors – and University College London (UCL) have launched a three-year partnership. The goal is to investigate the cognitive processes and factors that shape what managers learn and how effectively they apply that knowledge in the workplace, with a view to understanding how corporate learning must evolve as artificial intelligence assumes an increasingly prominent role in cognitive and decision-making processes.

Corporate academies have traditionally acted as a bridge between companies and universities, commissioning and funding training programmes developed by universities for their managers. As part of the organisational, strategic and scientific transformation Angelini Industries has undertaken in recent years, Angelini Academy is moving beyond this traditional model, integrating training into the Group's innovation infrastructure and working with universities to rethink how training itself is designed and developed. In this context, while artificial intelligence is often portrayed as a source of disruption and concern for the future of work, Angelini Academy is taking a different perspective: understanding how AI can become a tool that expands knowledge and strengthens people's critical thinking, judgement and decision-making. This is why AI is already integrated into the Academy's executive programmes, its co-creation initiatives with younger generations and its research activities, with the aim of developing new learning models for the work of the future.

The PhD will follow several groups of managers through Angelini Academy's training programmes and into the subsequent phases in which they apply the skills they have acquired at work. Using cognitive tests, physiological measurements and, where possible, neuroimaging techniques, the research will analyse how working memory, stress and sleep influence what managers learn and are then able to apply in their work; the research focuses on the interplay between individual cognitive processes, organisational environments and emerging technological dynamics.

The study will also examine the impact of artificial intelligence to understand whether it can strengthen these learning processes orallow people to bypass some of the cognitive effort on which learning depends.

The findings could help design training systems capable of supporting people throughout their working lives and meeting the growing need for continuous upskilling.

The research project comes at a time when the use of artificial intelligence at work is growing faster than our ability to understand its effects on learning.

According to a recent Deloitte study, in Italy, 82% of companies plan to increase their investment in AI over the next 12 months, while 92% expect productivity gains from adopting these technologies. At the same time, according to the Cegos International Barometer, Italian HR managers predict that one in four jobs could be affected by skills obsolescence within the next three years, identifying AI as the main cause. Much less is known, however, about how artificial intelligence is changing the way adults learn at work.

The study's findings will feed directly into Angelini Academy's programmes, while the programmes themselves will provide real-world settings in which to trial and test new approaches to training. It is the first project in a three-year research programme in which Angelini Academy will invest a total of around €2 million.

Further research projects, developed in collaboration with leading academic partners, will explore some of the key challenges linked to the changing nature of work and skills. These include the mismatch between available and required skills in the life sciences and robotics sectors, and the evolution of training models for people who increasingly work closely alongside artificial intelligence.

"Our collaboration with leading universities such as UCL is part of our Group's evolution, which aims to combine international growth in our core sectors – pharmaceuticals, industrial technology and consumer goods – with a specific, in-depth commitment to skills development and to the transformation of work in light of the impact of artificial intelligence. Our investment in the PhD programme reflects the Group's desire to understand, and help guide, the change brought about by new technologies," said Sergio Marullo di Condojanni, CEO of Angelini Industries.

"The research programme funded by Angelini Academy is a concrete example of engaged research, or collaborative research: an approach in which a real question from the business world is turned into a scientific project co-designed with a university. Knowledge takes shape through continuous dialogue between the researcher and the organisation, bringing together academic rigour and practical relevance. Angelini Academy's programmes become both the subject of study and a laboratory in which to experiment with new approaches to learning. By combining scientific method with a company's real-world experience, the research helps to rethink education, management training and the future of work,” said Andrea Prencipe, Presidente di Angelini Academy.

"Learning always requires a degree of difficulty and effort, and we do not yet know how far artificial intelligence can reduce that effort before understanding gives way to simply accessing answers. Much of what we know comes from studies with students and from laboratory experiments. Few organisations are willing to open up their training programmes to this kind of analysis, which is why we are particularly pleased that Angelini Academy has chosen to do so," said Joe Devlin, Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience at UCL.

The partnership is part of the ongoing development of Angelini Academy's training offer, which since 2018 has built a broad portfolio of programmes for the Group's people. In 2025, more than 500 Angelini Industries employees took part in the Academy's training programmes, amounting to around 10,000 hours of training. In 2026, the Academy also began opening up to external participants through Angelini Academy Gateway, a €1 million initiative awarding 10 scholarships for IE Business School's International MBA, each combined with an internship at one of the Group's operating companies.

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Angelini Academy is the corporate academy of Angelini Industries. Established in 2020 as a platform dedicated to talent and leadership development, it has progressively evolved into a learning ecosystem designed to build bridges between businesses, universities, research centres, and innovative partners. Its key areas of focus include new educational models—including those enabled by artificial intelligence—the neuroscience of learning, the mismatch between skills demand and supply, and interdisciplinary approaches to education and professional development. With an international outlook, Angelini Academy contributes to the transformation of corporate learning by supporting individuals and organisations in developing the capabilities required to thrive in a rapidly evolving global environment.

Contacts for media

Angelini Industries

Isabella Falautano – Group Chief Sustainability and Communication Officer

isabella.falautano@angeliniholding.com – press@angeliniindustries.com

SEC Newgate Italia

Daniele Pinosa – daniele.pinosa@secnewgate.it – tel. +39 3357233872;

Fausta Tagliarini – fausta.tagliarini@secnewgate.it – tel. +39 3476474513;

Daniele Murgia – daniele.murgia@secnewgate.it – tel. +39 3384330031;

Giulia Cominotti – giulia.cominotti@secnewgate.it – tel. +39 3391499949

Tancredi Group

angelini@tancredigroup.com

Benedetta Negri da Oleggio - benedetta@tancredigroup.com – tel. +44 7838 029970