With the publication of UNI 11621-8, Italy takes a concrete step towards a structured management of Artificial Intelligence. Clear competences, defined roles and verifiable responsibilities now become a key factor for companies, public administration and the labour market.
30 April saw the publication of UNI 11621-8, the standard that introduces Artificial Intelligence professional role profiles within the UNI 11621 series. It is a standard that brings order to a field characterised by rapid technological evolution and great organisational uncertainty.
At a time when AI is permanently entering production and decision-making processes, the real issue is no longer the availability of technologies, but the ability to govern them through recognisable skills and clearly assigned responsibilities.
From technology to roles
In recent years, Artificial Intelligence has established itself as a cross-cutting enabling technology. However, the growth of solutions has not been accompanied by an equal consolidation of professional roles.
Non-homogeneous titles, skills that are difficult to compare and untraceable responsibilities make it complex:
– build effective IA teams,
– evaluate suppliers and partners,
– ensure regulatory compliance,
– structuring credible training and growth paths.
Technical standardisation intervenes precisely on this point, providing a common language and objective criteria to define professional role profiles.
The continuity of the UNI 11621 series
The UNI 11621 family of standards was created with the aim of qualifying ICT professional role profiles through a structured and coherent model based on activities, knowledge, skills, autonomy and responsibility.
UNI 11621-1 defines the methodology for the construction of professional role profiles, providing the conceptual and operational framework to describe measurable and comparable competences, consistent with the European e-Competence Framework (e-CF) model.
On this basis, UNI 11621-2 introduces first and second level ICT professional profiles, i.e. transversal and consolidated figures representing the backbone of digital information systems and organisations (ICT governance, management, development and security roles). These are ‘horizontal’ profiles, applicable to different contexts and sectors, which constitute the common reference for demand and supply of digital skills.
Starting from this framework, the UNI 11621 series evolved towards the definition of third-level profiles, more specialised and vertical, dedicated to specific technological and organisational domains. Over time, the scope of the model has been extended to domains such as web professions, information security, ICT metrics and digital transition, up to the definition of Artificial Intelligence professional role profiles. The evolutionary path of the series continues towards new strategic domains, including digital sustainability, confirming the willingness to continue to oversee the integration of technological innovation, skills and responsibility.
UNI 11621-8 extends this model to IA, maintaining full methodological coherence with the European e-CF and offering a systemic view of the professions involved along the entire IA chain.
The result is a set of 12 professional profiles covering governance, design, development, security, risk management and the ethical dimension of AI systems.
A bridge between rules and operations
The publication of UNI 11621-8 is set in a European and national context that emphasises requirements such as transparency, risk management, human oversight, data quality, robustness and security of IA systems.
In this scenario, the standard plays an essential function: it enables a shift from ‘what the rules require’ to ‘who should do what’ within organisations. Clear professional profiles make this possible:
– assigning roles in a documentable manner,
– design coherent processes,
– make the competences of those who govern AI verifiable.
Compliance thus does not remain an abstract fulfilment, but becomes organisational architecture.
What changes for companies
The value of UNI 11621-8 is immediate. Companies can already use it today as:
– framework for mapping internal competencies,
– basis for job descriptions and operational responsibilities,
– reference for upskilling and reskilling paths,
– common language for dialogue with partners and suppliers.
This makes it possible to overcome the current market fragmentation and build teams based on measurable tasks, responsibilities and KPIs, rather than generic labels.
An Asset for Public Administration
The rule is also particularly relevant for the public administration, which is called upon to combine innovation, protection of rights and public accountability.
Standardised professional role profiles allow:
– setting transparent and comparable criteria for invitations to tender and competitions,
– evaluate competencies and suppliers objectively,
– designing public services based on reliable and ethically sustainable AI,
– support structured retraining paths for civil servants.
In this sense, UNI 11621-8 becomes an enabler of administrative as well as technological capacity.
Human capital as AI infrastructure
UNI 11621-8 is not just for specialists. It is a governance tool that also speaks to corporate management, HR, legal functions and public decision-makers.
The underlying message is clear: Artificial Intelligence is only truly governable if the skills of those who implement it are governable. Defining professional profiles means building the basis for reliable, responsible and sustainable innovation.
For the Country System, UNI 11621-8 represents a strategic lever to strengthen competitiveness, quality of public services and credibility of the AI market. Not a point of arrival, but a solid base on which to build the future of digital skills.
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The 12 Artificial Intelligence job profiles defined by UNI 11621-8
The UNI 11621-8 standard defines twelve professional role profiles covering the entire Artificial Intelligence supply chain, from strategic governance to design, from development to security and research, according to the methodology of the UNI 11621 series and consistent with the European e-Competence Framework. [Source: https://innovazione.gov.it/notizie/articoli/intelligenza-artificiale-pubblicata-la-norma-uni-11621-8/#dodici-profili-di-ruolo-professionale-per-l-ecosistema-ai-italiano]
1. Chief AI Officer
2. AI Consultant
3. AI Product Manager
4. AI Prompt Engineer
5. AI Algorithm Engineer
6. AI Deep Learning Engineer
7. AI Data Engineer
8. AI Data Scientist
9. AI Security Specialist
10. AI Machine Learning Engineer
11. AI Natural Language Processing Engineer
12. AI Research Scientist