The final Roll Cloud challenge at RomeCup 2026. An interview with Federico Aguggini
The collaborative event Hack4SocialAI, scheduled for RomeCup 2026, is part of Roll Cloud. Working in the Cloud, which stems from the collaboration with Opening Future, a joint project by Google Cloud, Intesa Sanpaolo and TIM Enterprise. Roll Cloud has trained 2,200 secondary school pupils and 200 university students from Piedmont, Lombardy and Lazio, with tailored programmes based on school level, featuring activities with experts, creative challenges and hackathons to introduce students to the cloud and artificial intelligence, developing digital skills and a spirit of collaboration for the common good.
On 28 April, from 2 pm to 6 pm, the teams selected during the regional rounds, comprising university and secondary school students from Northern and Central Italy, will present their projects: AI applications are possible across four key themes of this year’s edition of the project: health, inclusion, educational poverty and sustainability.
In an interview with Federico Aguggini, Head of AI Transformation at Intesa Sanpaolo, we discover this year’s challenge.
Why did you decide to take part in RomeCup again this year, and what contribution will Opening Future make to the theme of nurturing young talent, to support their active involvement in the governance of new technologies?
Once again this year, Opening Future is taking part in RomeCup, an event we feel very close to because it reflects the core values of our project: education as a driver of growth, the centrality of the individual in technological innovation, and meaningful dialogue between schools, businesses and institutions. The theme of the 19th edition, “Intelligence and talent in dialogue. Converging technologies and shared governance”, is perfectly in line with our vision. We believe, in fact, that young people should not be mere users of technology, but informed protagonists, capable of understanding it and actively contributing to the choices that guide its development. Intesa Sanpaolo has long been committed to these issues through concrete actions. Opening Future, launched in 2021 in partnership with Google Cloud and TIM Enterprise, has already involved over 23,500 people, offering more than 3,300 hours of free training and supporting nearly 5,000 fintech companies and start-ups. For us, this means investing in the future, helping young people to develop not only technical skills, but also a critical mindset and a sense of responsibility.
What has it meant for Intesa Sanpaolo to participate in Roll Cloud?
For Intesa Sanpaolo, participation in the Roll Cloud programme – the training course devised by Fondazione Mondo Digitale on the theme of ‘Working in the Cloud’ – is an example of what it truly means to put digital skills into the hands of young people. It is a project that involves over 4,200 students and teachers every year and which, more than the numbers, impresses us with its impact: the young people are not mere participants, but become active protagonists of their own future. This year, moreover, Roll Cloud is enhanced by Hack4SocialAI: four regional hackathons, each dedicated to a different social area.
The best projects will then compete at RomeCup 2026. In this context, the young people get involved by tackling real-world cases, collaborating to devise solutions in which artificial intelligence is not merely a tool for enhancing production or operational efficiency, but can make a tangible contribution to addressing social challenges.
How can we envisage AI for the common good?
Artificial intelligence can only truly contribute to the common good if those who use it and those who guide its development understand how it works, its risks and its implications. In this sense, training is not a secondary issue compared to innovation; it is the condition that makes it sustainable. With Opening Future and Hack4SocialAI, we are working precisely in this direction. It is not just about imparting technical skills, but about helping young people reflect on the social impact of AI, engage with real-world problems and devise concrete solutions that can truly make a difference for communities. It is an approach that also reflects the way Intesa Sanpaolo uses AI internally, with responsibility, transparency and human oversight. Indeed, collective well-being does not stem solely from technology alone, but also from how we design it, who governs it, and how prepared people are to use it in an informed and responsible manner.
