Today, Alfonso Molina is speaking at the Master’s in AI & Entrepreneurship at the Polimi Graduate School of Management and the Albert School
What transforms a good technological idea into an innovation capable of generating value for society as well? And what does it mean to run a business that focuses not only on economic sustainability, but also on the ability to tackle complex problems and bring about lasting change?
These are some of the questions at the heart of the session scheduled for today, Wednesday 16 September, from 3 pm to 5 pm, in Milan, as part of the Master’s in AI & Entrepreneurship, jointly organised by Polimi Graduate School of Management and Albert School. The session will feature Alfonso Molina, co-founder and scientific director of the Fondazione Mondo Digitale, alongside Arianna De Mario, director of Ashoka Italia.
The 24-month Master’s programme, taught entirely in English, combines technological skills, entrepreneurial strategy and the development of new business models. The programme places particular emphasis on the practical application of knowledge, featuring workshops, real-world challenges, meetings with professionals and methodologies such as design thinking, lean start-up and agile development. The aim is to prepare young professionals capable of using artificial intelligence not merely as a technology, but as a lever for designing new products, organisations and entrepreneurial initiatives.
The session on 16 September broadens this perspective to encompass the realm ofinnovation and social entrepreneurship. Arianna De Mario introduces Ashoka’s approach and the Italian landscape, whilst Alfonso Molina brings the experience of the Fondazione Mondo Digitale into the classroom as a case study, outlining its model of social innovation and the work carried out over twenty-five years at the intersection of education, technology, inclusion and community development.
This discussion is particularly significant within a course dedicated to artificial intelligence. Whilst AI multiplies the possibilities for innovating products, processes and services, the quality of innovation also depends on the ability to recognise which needs to address, with whom to build solutions and what value to generate over time. This is the terrain where technological innovation meets social innovation.
Alfonso Molina is part of the network of Ashoka Fellows, social entrepreneurs selected for their ability to develop innovative solutions aimed at systemic change. Ashoka, which has been active in Italy since 2015, works specifically to support and connect people and organisations capable of tackling the root causes of social problems and transforming established models.
The session concludes with a Q&A and discussion with students, to link the Master’s programme’s entrepreneurial approach with concrete examples of innovation with social impact.
The event
16 September 2026, 3.00–5.00 pm
POLIMI Graduate School of Management, Milan
Session in English
