Founded in Germany and active in Italy since 2019, Auticon is a unique tech consultancy firm: it exclusively employs professionals on the autism spectrum, leveraging their cognitive talents in fields like data analysis, software testing, artificial intelligence, and cybersecurity. We interviewed Alberto Balestrazzi, CEO of Auticon Italy, who told us how the project began in our country, what challenges they faced, and why inclusion—when it’s real—is not just an ethical goal, but a competitive advantage.
Let’s start with a bit of background. I know Auticon was founded in 2011…
It was founded in 2011, and became operational in 2013. It’s not Italian—we shouldn’t take credit for it—but German. From 2013 onward, the first projects started and it became a real company. Until 2016, it remained German, even while expanding. They had six offices, and from 2016 the international expansion began: first the UK, then France, then Italy two years later, followed by Canada, Switzerland. In 2019, Australia, then New Zealand, and in 2023 there was a merger with a smaller, similar company operating in the Nordic countries: Finland, Sweden, Norway, the Netherlands, Poland. That’s how the Auticon Group was created, with a holding company that owns the different branches in each country. We’re now in 15 countries, including Ireland, which is managed from London but has its own office.
Let’s focus on the Italian market. How did the launch go? Were there any particular difficulties, as often happens in this field? What were the main challenges and opportunities?
I launched a startup at 60 years old, and it was fun. I had 30 years of experience in consulting, but none in autism. I had many contacts in large companies and a solid reputation, so I wasn’t worried about finding clients. I had no experience with autism: I only knew the stereotypes from films and TV shows, so I was concerned about how to interact with autistic people. But I trusted the fact that Auticon worked in Germany, the UK, France—so I thought: there’s no reason it shouldn’t work in Italy too.
There were challenges, but practical ones—not conceptual. The client side didn’t scare me, but I knew little about HR. I studied, I got help. And again, it wasn’t a leap in the dark. We started on February 1st, 2019, and by the end of May we had our first project. By the end of the year, we had four clients: Poste Italiane, Credit Suisse, Autogrill, and Air Liquide. Four giants. By the end of 2019, we knew it was working. We broke even in the second year. In our line of work, references are crucial. Once you get your first client, the others follow.
In 2020, like everyone else, we got scared. The lockdown froze everything, but we managed to keep working remotely. That’s how we landed important clients: Johnson & Johnson, Enel… all remotely. Today we average around 15 clients, and they’re among the largest companies in Italy: Banca Intesa, Eni, Snam, Mediolanum, Poste. The real difficulties came with the start of the war in Ukraine: companies slowed down, but it didn’t impact us too much.
In 2023, we felt the need to grow. The arrival of Imma Di Lecce as Chief Commercial Officer helped a lot: she brought her network. Our success is due to the fact that we weren’t unknowns. When we meet with a client, it’s often a “Hi, great to see you again.” That makes a big difference. Our team isn’t made up of young kids. The project managers are experienced professionals. We’re not looking to climb the ladder—we already did that. We joined Auticon by choice, for social impact. The people who work with us truly depend on us. Some had never had a job before. We feel the responsibility.
How does the hiring and onboarding process work at Auticon?
We’re a normal company. People join as employees, not as interns. We sell projects to clients, and then select the most suitable people from our team. We do testing, development, artificial intelligence… We need people with two traits: they must be autistic and have specific cognitive talents. High-functioning autistic individuals often have natural strengths: attention to detail, hyperfocus, logical-mathematical skills.
The selection process includes three non-verbal tests, done online or in person, to assess these skills. If they pass the tests, there’s a four-day workshop at our offices, with individual and group exercises. The goal is twofold: to see if the person can work eight hours a day, and to understand their autistic characteristics so we can support them properly. Our psychologists analyze the results and observe participants during the workshop. The job coach, who will support the person in the workplace, needs to know their strengths and vulnerabilities well.
We don’t hire if we’re not sure. We can’t afford to “give it a try.” Once someone is hired, they stay with us for good. No one has ever resigned. We see about 100 people a year and hire five. The process is selective because we can’t afford mistakes.
Do clients expect a “Rain Man” type of genius or are they prepared?
Clients have the same biases that Imma and I had before joining Auticon. They’re either scared or have unrealistic expectations. But we train them. We don’t sell geniuses, and we don’t sell “difficult” people either. We offer professionals with a different operating system. During the sales phase, we clearly explain what we can and cannot do. We manage expectations upfront.
There’s always some initial hesitation—it’s understandable. But once they realize these are just normal people, they really appreciate it. The real added value we bring to clients is this shift in perspective on diversity. You don’t look for flaws—you highlight talents. We hide our flaws; autistic people don’t. But they have talents we don’t have.
What are the next goals for Auticon Italy? Any new activities, projects, or collaborations on the horizon?
We want to stay a tech company, but the market is changing. At first, we did a lot of testing and reporting. Now we’re doing more data analysis. Everyone wants to work with data. We’re working on complex projects with AI and even investing in that area, because testing will become increasingly automated.
Cybersecurity is one of our obsessions: it’s a fast-growing field, and we know autistic people are naturally suited to it. In Italy, we haven’t fully developed this yet. Other countries already work heavily in it. We’re looking for partnerships and alliances.
At the same time, we want to offer opportunities to those without advanced IT skills. Repetitive tasks like data cleaning, cataloging, and information extraction from documents. For example, we’re working with satellite images for environmental disaster prevention: 60,000 images to analyze. The first 20,000 were analyzed with a 0.1% error rate. That kind of precision can only be achieved by autistic people. When the data is perfect, AI works better. That’s one of our major challenges.
We follow the market and follow talent. We’re also branching out from traditional IT. We want to keep growing, stay profitable, and hire more people. That means having an impact. As someone once said, “We are the message.” We even wrote a book: Changing Perspective. We used the metaphor of a space journey, like Apollo 8, which captured the first image of Earth from space. That change in perspective shocked the astronauts. It’s the same for us: you think you’re headed one way, and instead you discover something about yourself.
The message is: changing perspective improves our lives and the lives of others. Encountering diversity changed us—our view of work, of the company, of hierarchy. I recommend reading the book. Change starts from within. A very philosophical message.