AI Expert

AI Advisory · Italy

I work alongside entrepreneurs, CEOs and corporate leadership teams to adopt Artificial Intelligence as a strategic lever. Strategy, training and implementation, with the same rigour as an M&A transaction.

The context

Generative Artificial Intelligence has entered core business processes: from contract drafting to due diligence, from customer care to the production of technical and commercial documents.

In most Italian SMEs, however, the topic is still approached in a fragmented way — individual experiments, no governance, no measurement of impact.

The outcome is predictable: pilot projects with no measurable return, sensitive data exposed on uncontrolled platforms, growing technical debt and a steady loss of competitiveness.

About

I am Saverio Canepa, executive consultant and M&A advisor. I have integrated Artificial Intelligence into my advisory practice — from company valuations to due diligence, from IT audits to strategic and industrial plans — for Italian entrepreneurs and investment funds.

Out of this direct experience, I have written four books dedicated to AI for business:

→Valuing Companies with Artificial Intelligence→Building Value — Executive AI→ChatGPT for Executives→Innovating with ChatGPT

My approach differs from purely technology-focused consultants: every engagement is anchored to concrete KPIs, realistic budgets and measurable payback. The goal is to make AI decisions with the same rigour applied to a due diligence.

Areas of work

Four areas of work, designed to support the company from strategic analysis to operational implementation.

01AI Strategy & AdvisoryRoadmap, governance and use casesAnalysis of the business context, identification of the most impactful processes, pragmatic AI roadmap and governance.Learn more →

02AI for M&A & Due DiligenceDocument analysis and valuationsApplying AI to extraordinary finance: data room, target screening, valuations, executive reporting.Learn more →

03Executive AI TrainingWorkshops, courses and coachingCustom training paths for entrepreneurs, general managers and management teams.Learn more →

04Operational ImplementationAutomations and AI agentsOperational support to implement AI in business workflows: vendor selection, pilot, scale-up.Learn more →

Use cases

The examples below are not theoretical scenarios, but areas in which I have already applied AI in real consulting projects, for Italian SMEs with revenues from €10m to €250m.

▸IT audits — analysis of technical documentation, security policy review and infrastructure assessment.▸Company valuations — processing of financial statements, market benchmarks and valuation models.▸Strategic and industrial plans — drafting of business plans, competitive analyses and industrial roadmaps.▸Document-based due diligence — reading and extraction of key information from extensive data rooms.▸Contract review — analysis of supplier and client contracts to identify critical clauses and risks.▸Knowledge management — organising corporate documentation into an internal assistant.

The method

01AssessmentAnalysis of the current state, processes, available data and business goals.

02Roadmap & Business CaseDefinition of a 12-18 month AI roadmap with budget, KPIs and responsibilities.

03Execution SupportOngoing support during the implementation of the first pilot projects.

04Scale-upExtension of successful solutions to the rest of the organisation.

FAQ

“We are an SME with €20m turnover. Does this make sense for us?”Yes — in fact, it is precisely in the mid-market that AI produces the highest ROI.“We don’t have a structured IT team.”That’s not an obstacle. Most modern AI use cases do not require internal infrastructure.“Our data is sensitive — can we use AI safely?”Yes, if set up properly. AI governance is a central part of my advisory work.“How long before we see the first results?”It depends on the use case. The approach I adopt sets clear goals from the outset and defined time horizons.

If your company is considering how to integrate AI into its processes, let’s talk.