By Debbie Weinstein
Publication Date: 2026-03-16 00:00:00
Maria Teresa Pellegrino knows the value of innovation. The 61-year-old from Andria, Italy, has worked in olive oil production for most of her life. As the owner of Pellegrino 1890 srl, she enrolled in an AI Essentials training course through Italian nonprofit Fondazione Mondo Digitale and the Google.org AI Opportunity Fund. By integrating AI tools into her century-old family business, Maria Teresa now organizes corporate events in minutes and crafts marketing materials that resonate with her company’s historic values.
There’s a lot of conversation right now about what AI means for the future of work, and rightfully so. Maria’s experience demonstrates two important points: first, AI’s real benefits lie not in automating what we’ve always done—but expanding what we can do. Second, a successful transition to an economy that includes AI must include support for workers that expands opportunity and enables them to build new skills and apply them with confidence, ensuring people…
