Nearly Half of Italian Wineries Still Do Not Use Artificial Intelligence

A new industry report in Italy is pointing to a weak pace of digital adoption in one of the world’s most important wine-producing countries, with nearly half of Italian wineries still not using artificial intelligence.

According to TEHA’s Vision Vino 2026 report, cited by Gambero Rosso, 49% of Italian wineries do not use AI. The same report found that only 15.1% of wineries identify digitalization and process innovation as priorities for their next round of investments.

The figures suggest that much of the sector is moving slowly on technologies that are becoming more common across manufacturing and consumer goods, including agriculture-linked businesses. In wine, digital tools can affect several parts of the business, from vineyard management and production planning to logistics, sales analysis and customer relations. A low level of adoption does not in itself show poor performance, but it does indicate that a large share of producers may be delaying changes that competitors in other markets are already testing or expanding.

Italy is one of the largest and most influential wine producers in the world, so the data matters beyond the country’s domestic market. For the beverage industry, the gap points to a possible competitiveness issue in a major wine economy. If wineries invest less in digital systems and AI than rivals elsewhere, the effect could be felt over time in productivity, cost control, responsiveness to demand and the ability to compete in export markets.

The report’s findings also show that AI remains far from standard practice across the sector. With 49% of wineries not using it at all, adoption appears uneven and likely concentrated among a smaller group of producers that have more capital, stronger technical support or clearer digital strategies. That leaves a broad middle and lower tier of the market still relying mainly on traditional operating models.

The investment data reinforces that picture. When only 15.1% of wineries say digitalization and process innovation are among their upcoming priorities, it suggests that most producers are still putting planned spending elsewhere. The report summary cited by Gambero Rosso does not indicate where the majority of that capital is expected to go, but the number shows that technology is not yet at the center of decision-making for most Italian wineries.

That hesitation comes at a time when wine producers face pressure on multiple fronts, including costs, distribution shifts and changing consumer behavior. In that environment, digital systems are often presented as tools that can help businesses improve forecasting, reduce waste, manage inventories more efficiently and support commercial decisions with better data. AI, while still unevenly used across food and beverage businesses, is also being tested for tasks such as demand analysis, quality monitoring and more targeted marketing.

The TEHA findings do not say that wineries are rejecting innovation altogether. They do, however, show a clear distance between the public discussion around AI and the level of actual adoption in the cellar and across business operations. That gap is notable in a sector that combines agriculture, manufacturing, branding and international trade, all areas where better data systems can influence results.

For producers, the issue is not only whether AI becomes a trend, but whether digital investment turns into a basic requirement for operating efficiently in a more competitive market. For importers, distributors and retailers that depend on Italian wine, slower modernization in such a large supply base could eventually shape service levels, planning capacity and the speed with which producers adapt to market changes.

Gambero Rosso presented the TEHA report as evidence of a structural weakness in the sector’s approach to innovation. Based on the figures cited, the concern is less about a short-term technological fashion than about the longer-term readiness of Italian wineries to modernize their operations while global competition in wine remains intense.