Purpose and Innovation: how to build a digital future closer to people

In an era of unprecedented technological acceleration, businesses face complex challenges but also extraordinary opportunities. Digital transformation, driven by the advent of artificial intelligence, is redesigning business models, modes of operation, and work dynamics. But in this changing scenario, a crucial question arises: what is the ultimate purpose of this innovation? Is it still enough to pursue efficiency, profit, and scalability? Or is it time to redefine priorities, focusing on an authentic purpose, which is capable of directing economic and organisational action towards broader and more sustainable goals?

To explore the relationship between purpose, innovation, artificial intelligence and the skills of the future, we interviewed Luca Manelli, Assistant Professor of Strategy and Enterprising Family at POLIMI Graduate School of Management, where he is also the scientific co-director of the Family Office Observatory and the Purpose in Action Observatory.

Professor Manelli: what is the relationship between purpose and innovation? How can and should purpose drive the digital transformation of companies in virtuous terms, not just in terms of business and profit?

The relationship between purpose and innovation is much deeper than you might think. First, digital transformation is increasingly intertwined with sustainable transition: we are talking about twin transitions, two twin processes that require a radical rethinking of the business model, organisational culture, mindset, and internal capabilities. And that's why they're so complex to implement – transformations of this magnitude involve significant cost, endurance, and effort in both conception and implementation.

In this scenario, what emerges clearly from our Purpose in Action Observatory’s research is that purpose-driven enterprises – those driven by a genuine and shared purpose – are also the most innovative. It is not just a correlation between purpose and financial performance (which does exist), but above all, between purpose and innovation performance. These companies produce more patents, generate greater intangible capital, and build knowledge more effectively than those that limit themselves to a declared but little-felt purpose.

Purpose acts as an enabler because it breaks down the mental barriers that managers, stakeholders and employees may have with regard to technological change. A prime example is LEGO: if it were just to think in terms of “what I do today”, it would see in virtual reality an existential threat. But if it reconnects to its aspiration – to inspire the builders of tomorrow – then radically different technologies can be integrated with less resistance. This allows organisations to tackle innovation in a less costly way, not so much in economic terms as in terms of cultural and psychological obstacles.

Purpose can therefore profoundly change the way innovation is perceived: not as an end in itself, but as a means of achieving a broader vision. This applies strategically, but also at an operational level. In R&D or product design teams, focus on the ‘why’ of a product can activate unprecedented creative dynamics. This is what we call the ‘innovation of meaning’, as Roberto Verganti also suggests: not purely technological innovation, but the construction of meaning. Understanding what a product represents to the consumer is essential to creating value innovation. Here, too, purpose proves to be a fundamental key to understanding and acting.

In a scenario in which AI is increasingly playing a central role in businesses and work, how can we ensure that it is put to the service of a genuine purpose? Is it necessary to encourage reflection right now on the responsible use of AI, aligned with broader purposes, and not merely process-related ones in organisations?

This is an urgent and complex issue. I don’t have a definitive answer because there is no such thing as a ‘crystal ball’. But I firmly believe that in the coming years, genuine attention being placed on the meaningful aspects of work – by leaders and managers – will be increasingly decisive. Human-machine interaction has existed for millennia, but today it is taking on completely new forms with artificial intelligence, especially generative intelligence. Work will be increasingly transformed, perhaps revolutionised.

The risk is that the human element of work will be lost. Traditionally, the human being has also found a source of meaning in work: not only in their role or title, but in the ‘doing’ itself, in building competence, in doing things well. To be experienced, to succeed in something with care, precision, and professionalism: all this is part of our identity. If AI replaces the most creative and individual aspects as well, we may see a gradual loss of meaning. AGI (Artificial General Intelligence) could further amplify this scenario.

In this context, purpose can be an antidote. Rediscovering why organisations exist, the deep sense of economic and collective action, can help to avoid a drift towards anomie – that is, a loss of reference, meaning, and motivation. This is especially true for the new generations, who are looking for consistency between personal values and corporate values. Young people do not want to work ‘for something’, but ‘in something’ that is aligned with their own aspirations. Companies that are able to enhance purpose will also be the most attractive for talents.

We must now galvanise the responsible use of AI, which is not only process- or efficiency-oriented, but which is in tune with broader human purposes. If we don’t, we risk all becoming a bit robot-like – or worse, being replaced by robots – and losing the ability to build identities through work.

In this context, what skills do you consider essential today? How do you train managers and leaders who can combine purpose, digital innovation and responsible use of AI in an ethical and future-oriented way? What is POLIMI Graduate School of Management’s approach to this?

I believe that POLIMI Graduate School of Management represents a reference point in education precisely because it has always held two souls together: on the one hand, a strong focus on technology, engineering, and applied innovation; on the other, a deep sensitivity to the human aspect of work. And by ‘human’, I don’t mean anything rhetorical or aspirational: I’m talking about relationships, emotions, psychology, mindset. These are all hard to engineer.

To train managers and leaders of the future, three kinds of skills are needed. The first set is hard skills: knowledge of the business and an understanding of economic and technological models. The second is transversal skills, which help to read the complexity and uncertainty of the world: the ability to analyse, have vision, and understand global social, political and economic phenomena. We live in a world where a leader’s decisions – such as the introduction of tariffs or the adoption of a new technology – can have systemic effects. Knowing how to read the context is vital.

Finally, there are the soft skills, and in particular those related to authentic leadership. Motivating, supporting, building organisational wellbeing: all this will be increasingly in demand. Furthermore, I think we'll also have to rediscover the connection between who we are and what we do. Artificial intelligence distances us from this bond. At one time, a violin-maker, a craftsman, knew in depth every gesture of their trade. Today, we risk losing this capability. And if we lose it, we also risk future decision-makers no longer having taken the experiential path that makes them truly competent. This is the paradox of the ‘novice in command’. To avoid this happening, we must cultivate education that not only teaches us how to use AI, but also not to delegate everything to it, in order to maintain the meaningful connection between the individual and their work.

The close connection between purpose and innovation will also be discussed at Purpose Day 2025, the only event in Italy entirely dedicated to the theme of Purpose, scheduled for Thursday 16 October 2025, at 9.30 am, at the illustrious Teatro Lirico Giorgio Gaber in Milan.

Thanks to the prestigious collaboration with the HEC Paris Business School, and in particular its Purpose Center, directed by Prof. Rodolphe Durand, the 2025 edition of Purpose Day aims to establish itself as a European-level event and will see the participation of speakers prominent both nationally and internationally. These included Paul Polman, former CEO of Unilever, Francesco Starace, former CEO of ENEL, and Gary Lubner, former CEO of Belron.