Adnkronos (Adnkronos) – Six major crises in six years: from the pandemic to the war in Ukraine, from inflation to the energy crisis, to tariffs and international geopolitical tensions. Yet, thousands of Italian companies continue to invest, innovate, export, hire, and grow. It is from this contradiction, and above all from the desire to understand how to overcome it, that "Growing Despite" was born, the theme of the 2026 Business Festival, scheduled in Bergamo from Friday, November 6th to Sunday, November 8th.
Promoted by ItalyPost Group together with the co-promoters Municipality of Bergamo, the Bergamo Chamber of Commerce, and Confindustria Bergamo, with Brembo and Intesa Sanpaolo as main partners, with the collaboration of Kilometro Rosso and the contribution of Deloitte as knowledge contributor, the Festival will host approximately 300 participants, including moderators, in over 90 events spread over three days.
A vast laboratory of ideas, experiences, and proposals, where some of the leading figures in industry, economics, institutions, research, and public debate will meet. Guests include Emma Marcegaglia, Vittorio Colao, Elsa Fornero, Francesco Giavazzi, Francesco Profumo, Oscar Farinetti, Frank Furedi, Roberto Battiston, Amalia Ercoli Finzi, Sylvie Goulard, Giorgio Gori, Giuliano Noci, Marco Bentivogli, Tommaso Valletti, Gianmario Verona, and Gregorio De Felice.
The goal is to discuss the future of the Italian economy, starting with businesses: not just their problems, but above all the solutions they are experimenting with to address them. Will Italy remain an industrial country? This is the question that runs through the entire Festival and will become the title of one of the most anticipated events, on Friday, November 6th at 6:00 PM, with Emma Marcegaglia, president of Marcegaglia Holding, and Ferruccio de Bortoli. This question concerns the very future of the Italian development model, and the answer will come not only from major industry players, but above all from the exchange of very different entrepreneurial experiences. The Festival will host entrepreneurs at the helm of large industrial groups, family-run businesses, highly specialized manufacturing firms, and Champion companies, capable of growing and maintaining high levels of profitability even in the most challenging years. Alongside them, hundreds of entrepreneurs and managers will discuss concrete issues of organization, markets, innovation, investments, and people.
The Festival will open on Friday, November 6, from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., at the Bergamo Chamber of Commerce, with institutional greetings and a presentation by Ferdinando Giugliano, Director of ISPI, on the geopolitical challenges facing Italian businesses. During the opening, Matteo Bresciani will also present a study by Deloitte, a knowledge contributor to the Festival. One of the event's key themes will be the relationship between energy, sustainability, and industrial competitiveness. This theme will run through several events focusing on electrification, energy efficiency, energy costs, and the prospects for the industrial system. The Festival will also pay particular attention to technologies capable of transforming the production system, from the aerospace industry to robotics, including humanoid applications destined to gradually enter industrial processes. Another key theme is work and artificial intelligence. AI is already transforming jobs, skills, and organizational models, and the Festival will seek to understand how businesses, workers, and institutions can address a change destined to profoundly impact employment and productivity.
The issue of productivity will be addressed not only from the perspective of economic policies and the labor market, but also through the experience of companies rethinking processes, organizations, and management systems. One of the Festival's distinctive features will be the presence of six major thematic sections dedicated to business management and development. Alongside discussions on major scenarios, entrepreneurs, CEOs, CFOs, operations managers, and managers will discuss the daily decisions that determine corporate competitiveness. From process organization to managerialization, from people management to growth paths, including through acquisitions, from access to financial resources to internationalization, the program will address some of the most concrete issues facing small and medium-sized businesses.
The program will also focus on the industrial supply chains undergoing the most significant transformations. Discussions will explore packaging, manufacturing transformations, and the future of the automotive industry, with particular reference to technological transition and the competitiveness of European supply chains. The Festival will not ignore one of the most sensitive issues to emerge in recent years: corporate responsibility along supply chains. It will also broaden its perspective beyond the economic sphere to address the major transformations of contemporary society. A discussion with Stefano Feltri will focus on Italian politics.
The Festival will also include a meeting dedicated to the 1.000 Best Performing Companies in the province of Bergamo, an annual event that recognizes businesses that stand out for their financial performance, solidity, and growth potential. The event will also host the fifth edition of the Business Literature Award, dedicated to books that showcase the world of business and contribute to the dissemination of a modern entrepreneurial culture. Ten finalists, including fiction and nonfiction, will be featured in meetings with the authors and at the announcement and award ceremony. On Sunday, November 8th, from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., the Festival will conclude at Kilometro Rosso, one of Italy's leading centers for innovation and industrial research. The morning will open with a presentation by Gregorio De Felice, chief economist of Intesa Sanpaolo, on "The Industry That Resists."
"Over the past six years, Italian businesses have faced a succession of crises that, taken individually, would have been enough to undermine entire industrial systems," says Filiberto Zovico, founder of ItalyPost and director of the Festival dell'Impresa. "Yet thousands of entrepreneurs have continued to invest, innovate, and grow. Not all, of course. Many companies are struggling, and some sectors are at risk of dramatic downsizing. But precisely for this reason, we must try to understand what distinguishes the businesses that are able to recover from those that aren't."
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