Assessing the GenAI Readiness of Degree Programs of Italian Universities

Assessing the GenAI Readiness of Degree Programs of Italian Universities | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Assessing the GenAI Readiness of Degree Programs of Italian Universities Dario Russo, Giorgio Alleva, Piero D. Falorsi, Giancarlo Manzi This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-7892375/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract The rise of Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) is reshaping industries and creating new roles, requiring updated cross-sectoral skills. This paper proposes a framework to evaluate the GenAI readiness of university degree programs, aligning academic training with emerging AI careers. It focuses on five professional profiles: GenAI data scientist, prompt engineer, ethical AI specialist, AI product manager, and creative AI specialist. A structured methodology maps required competencies against degree programs in Italian universities, applying a readiness Likert scale score (0–5). ChatGPT 4.0 is used to assess alignment between official degree program descriptions and predefined skill sets, producing both quantitative scores and qualitative feedback. Results show moderate alignment in some programs, with significant gaps for roles such as prompt engineer, ethi- cal and creative AI specialist, together with some association between role pairs, such as between prompt engineer and creative AI specialist which require some similar skills. The framework supports students’ educational choices and guides employers and universities in strengthening GenAI talent pipelines. Generative artificial intelligence Higher education degree program assessment AI workforce readiness Large language models ChatGPT Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-7892375","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":571046334,"identity":"4f8f4e96-f973-41ef-82ca-b9bdb53c583d","order_by":0,"name":"Dario Russo","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"RG3 Digital Consulting","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Dario","middleName":"","lastName":"Russo","suffix":""},{"id":571046337,"identity":"0d951cf0-c467-49d9-be17-d6e959465921","order_by":1,"name":"Giorgio Alleva","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Sapienza University of Rome","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Giorgio","middleName":"","lastName":"Alleva","suffix":""},{"id":571046338,"identity":"e6087c66-eb1c-44e6-814c-ce70f21d7ea0","order_by":2,"name":"Piero D. 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