Italian SMEs Prefer Human Oversight Over AI for Financial Decisions

A Qonto survey of 1,000 Italian small‑and‑medium enterprises and freelancers found that 78% of entrepreneurs would not delegate financial decisions to artificial intelligence, citing lack of trust (36%) and a desire to retain direct control (42.3%). The same share also said a human banking contact is essential. Younger owners (18‑34) are more inclined to use AI tools (69.8%) than older managers, of whom 42.6% would not adopt the technology.

Adoption varies with firm age: companies operating for 6‑10 years show the highest AI uptake (20%) and willingness to let AI handle decisions (33%), while startups under two years are more cautious, with only 19.5% willing to delegate and 43.4% expressing distrust. Neobank usage follows the same pattern, at 27% for the 6‑10‑year firms versus 15% for startups. Overall optimism about the next three years is modest (5.66/10), and 52.4% of respondents view Italy as less competitive than other European nations, with nearly 60% seeing no concrete benefit from the national recovery plan (PNRR).