Panetta calls for patient capital to drive artificial intelligence
Bank of Italy Governor Fabio Panetta urged financial institutions to provide risk capital and patient finance to support artificial intelligence adoption. Speaking at a conference in Rome on July 2, 2026, he emphasized that AI diffusion is crucial for reviving productivity.
Reviving productivity through agentic models
Speaking at a joint conference organized with the European Investment Bank, Panetta highlighted how artificial intelligence is moving rapidly into production processes, research, and daily services.
Recent developments in agentic AI models capable of autonomous execution, along with powerful portable hardware, significantly lower adoption costs for firms.
Panetta noted that timely AI diffusion offers a major opportunity to revive Italian productivity, particularly in manufacturing, where AI can prevent equipment failures, cut energy waste, and optimize design.
The broader societal impact will span medicine, work organization, and education, requiring proactive management to support vulnerable workers and prevent concentrated gains across sectors.
Unlocking patient capital for intangible assets
Panetta stressed that technological transformation requires substantial intangible investments in software, skills, research, and organizational updates.
Because these investments carry high risk and uncertain long-term returns, standard credit financing is insufficient.
The Governor emphasized that deeper capital markets, patient finance, and risk capital are essential to convert innovation into growth.
Although Europe holds vast savings and technical expertise, financial systems must mobilize capital at scale to support ambitious projects.
Rhetoric without regulatory teeth
Panetta correctly identifies funding bottlenecks as the main barrier to European AI adoption.
Yet calling for deeper capital markets is a familiar central bank refrain that lacks actionable regulatory tools.
Without real structural reforms across the EU, appeals for patient risk finance will remain wishful rhetoric.