“Silicon Valley must learn a lot from Italy. We lack the heritage that is inherent in Italian DNA, made of a mix of culture and innovation. This is a critical point in the innovation thinking model”: like this Brian Cheskyco-founder and CEO of Airbnb, in his dialogue at the Italian Tech Week 2023 on the stage of the OGR in Turin with John ElkannCEO of Exor and president of Stellantis and Ferrari, described the skills of the country that was the birthplace of his grandfather, who emigrated to the USA from Catanzaro in the 1920s.
“Italy is history but also present and future” Elkann repliedunderlining that “here there are incredible technical skills and, at the same time, there has always been a great interest in humanistic subjects. We have had characters like Leonardoartist but also technician, who combined technological knowledge and creativity”.
Still: “At the startup level, Italy is doing a lot, we have a remarkable technical background. I returned from abroad to study Engineering in Italy”, said the president of Ferrari, who used the company that is a symbol of Made in Italy in the world to talk about that mix of skills and passion that makes the Italian entrepreneurial ecosystem unique “Ferrari is a company that wants to make faster cars, and this is an element that guides us in our choices. This It largely depends on technical capabilities. But Ferrari has always created attractive cars, giving aesthetic beauty enormous value. In Italy we have a combination of functionality and beauty, a continuous ping pong between engineers and creators that has become a cornerstone of our production capacity. When we arrived in the USA (with FCA, ed.), what we did with Jeep was possible thanks to this particular Italian heritage.”
Italian culture, Chesky further remarked, “can do a lot from this point of view, we don’t want a world of pure technologists. The real world was built by everyone.” Elkann showed that he shares the vision of the father of Airbnb: “This is encouraging for our country. Furthermore, I consider it important complete technology with humanistic aspect. Many companies do not consider this aspect enough, yet they are made above all by people. And the emotional side, especially in Italy, is decisive in everything we do, even with customers. Perhaps in recent years there has been too much discussion about creativity and too little about emotions. Years ago – Elkann said – I received some advice as an entrepreneur: do what you do with the people you love for the people who love what you do. I think this advice is useful today like never before.”