S2E leads the initiative together with a group of industry-leading companies, with Prof. Gianfranco Basti as Chairman of the Ethical Board
Milan, October 29, 2024 – S2E, a leading consulting firm in business technology, announces the
launch of Rethic.AI, the first business network in Italy uniting companies committed to promoting the ethical, secure, and responsible adoption of artificial intelligence (AI). This initiative addresses the ethical and regulatory challenges posed by AI, with the aim of ensuring transparency, compliance, and sustainability while prioritizing human capital. Rethic.AI advocates a human-centered approach to artificial intelligence, turning it into a tool to enhance creativity, critical thinking, and organizational efficiency.
The rapid adoption of AI has led many companies to underestimate the hidden costs and ethical impacts of emerging technologies. Implementing AI without a strategic and conscientious approach risks serious reputational and financial consequences, such as non- compliance with regulations or loss of customer trust.
Rethic.AI offers a practical, concrete solution by helping Italian organizations follow best practices, foster synergies, and accelerate the ethical adoption of AI, thus ensuring a sustainable and lasting competitive advantage.
Through its activities, Rethic.AI will also serve as an essential guide in supporting compliance with regulatory frameworks, codes of conduct, and best practices established by EU Regulation 1689/2024 (AI Act) and its progressive implementation at the national level.
Consequently, on the dedicated website (https://rethic.ai/), users can access the “AI Act Risk Navigator” tool, a conversational agent that allows companies to obtain a preliminary assessment of the risk level of their AI solutions, with respect to AI Act compliance requirements, simply by interacting. This serves as a first step toward personalized consulting on the risks of non-compliant adoption.
Andrea Cappelletti, Network Manager and Business Unit Director of Digital Transformation & Hyperautomation at S2E, states: “AI adoption presents an opportunity to increase productivity, but this process can take two directions: it can disadvantage people or empower them. We strongly believe that guiding companies toward the latter path requires following two fundamental principles. First, actively involving people in the AI adoption process, transforming it into a tool that amplifies their abilities and overcomes individual limits. Second, demonstrating that this approach generates long-term benefits and efficiency for companies, surpassing those of a non-human-centered adoption. These principles are at the heart of Rethic.AI: our mission is to unite people and companies who share this vision, to build and strengthen its foundation together.”
A defining element of the initiative is the distinguished presence of Prof. Gianfranco Basti as President of the Ethical Board of Rethic.AI. An Emeritus Professor of Philosophy of Nature and Science at the Pontifical Lateran University, Prof. Basti is a leading figure in the field of Machine Ethics and has worked closely with international scientific organizations. With over 160 scientific and philosophical publications, Prof. Basti plays a central role in Rethic.AI, where his contributions will be instrumental in guiding companies towards AI solutions that meet the highest ethical standards.
“Rethic.AI was also created to demonstrate that the implementation of ethical, legal, and moral principles in AI systems and best practices for their use is one of the most fascinating areas of research and development in contemporary AI, where collaboration between research and industry is crucial,” said Prof. Basti. “Ensuring that Italy, with its rich humanistic tradition, can exercise a leadership role in Europe and globally in this specific field, which represents one of the pivotal challenges for humanity’s development, is at the heart of Rethic.AI’s mission,” he added, underscoring the importance of companies’ concrete commitment to social responsibility and ethical innovation.
The Rethic.AI Manifesto: A Practical Guide for Companies
Through the Rethic.AI Manifesto, members commit to following seven key principles: human- centeredness, sustainability and social responsibility, transparency and compliance (with emerging regulations), fairness and non-discrimination, Made in Italy innovation, skills development, and data security and privacy.
To achieve its goals, Rethic.AI actively supports education, aiming to establish more partnerships with universities and research centers to develop and support courses and master’s programs on AI ethics.
An example is its partnership with the first Master’s in AI Ethics at the University of Salerno, coordinated by Prof. Basti (https://www.master-etica-ia.it/).
S2E invites all companies to become ethical pioneers of Rethic.AI, actively participating in this movement for responsible AI adoption. Pre-enrollment is open until November 29, 2024, with no restrictions on size or geography, provided there is a shared commitment to ethical practices.
The ethical pioneers will gather at a launch event, where they will sign the shared manifesto, already available on the website, formally initiating the project and establishing the network as a benchmark for safe and transparent AI.
For more information and registration: www.rethic.ai
About S2E
S2E | Solutions2Enterprises is a business technology firm, 100% Made in Italy with headquarter in Milan and branches in Rome, Lecce – where S2E recently opened its R&D center – and Tel Aviv (Istrael). To date it can count on 420 people, including 360 operational professionals on IT issues. Making innovation and continuous scouting of new technologies its strength, S2E redesigns, personalizes and develops solutions in artificial intelligence, data solutions, cybersecurity, hyperautomation and robotic process automation, data center, network, enterprise mobility, application maintenance, legacy modernization, cloud computing, consulting and professional services. These are solutions that can help the digital transformation of organizations, particularly those in banking, insurance, retail, energy&oil, telco, utility and fashion, and public administration. S2E is an equal opportunity company. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. The continuous search for the best new technologies and a strong focus on people is the drivers that guide S2E: at S2E, people have always been at the center.
Learn more: https://solutions2enterprises.com/en/
Press contacts
S2E / Emanuela Colò
Tel. 3339648479 – emanuela.colo@s2e-pro.com
Quorum PR / Giovanna Benvenuti
Tel. 3474007536 – giovanna.benvenuti@quorum-pr.com