On 26 February 2026, the SDA Bocconi Monitor for Circular Fashion (M4CF) hosted its yearly multistakeholder event ‘Transform to Perform’ to present its research findings, the updated 2025 Circular Fashion Manifesto, and the pledges published on the EU Textiles Ecosystem Platform. The event featured the expert panel ‘Rethinking Circular Fashion with AI,’ which explored the impact of Artificial Intelligence (AI) on Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR), supply chain logistics, and the future of Eco-design.

Based on the findings of the M4CF 2025 Survey, recycling and traceability technologies, Digital Product Passport (DPP), and AI are confirmed to be priority technologies. Among them, DPP and AI have the highest expected growth rate. With regards to AI development, companies are transitioning from isolated applications to an integrated framework linking design, production, logistics, and post-sale processes in a continuous feedback loop.

In her article ‘The Invisible Infrastructure of Circular Fashion’ for Via Sarfatti 25, Francesca Romana Rinaldi, Director of the SDA Bocconi Monitor for Circular Fashion, explained how AI plays a vital role in improving traceability, circular consumption models, and supply chains. As highlighted in the M4CF 2025/2026 Report, AI is combining data analytics and blockchain technologies to automate life-cycle assessments and facilitate EPR compliance. It has also been pivotal for product discovery, streamlining processes, and content personalisation, enhancing online retail platforms’ capabilities to attract and retain consumers.

On the other hand, the report findings identify obstacles to large-scale adoption that the ecosystem’s companies might face. From a technical standpoint, many fashion companies do not have the adequate data systems, data quality, and digital literacy skills to benefit from large AI models. There is also a strong cultural opposition in the sector, as AI is seen as a threat to creativity, artistic identity, and job security. According to the report, for this technology to be implemented sustainably, there must be strong foundational capabilities and governance structures, as organisations must be ready to accept organisational, strategic, and infrastructural change. If implemented responsibly, AI has the clear potential to amplify human capabilities and create long-term, economically viable, and environmentally sustainable value.

Drawing from the insights of the M4CF Report, the yearly event hosted the panel ‘Rethinking Circular Fashion with AI,’ which brought together stakeholders from different parts of the textiles and retail ecosystem. The discussion was moderated by Giovanni Cara, partner at BIP, who mentioned the importance of ensuring multi-level integration of AI in business processes. While executives are usually subject to a top line bias and prioritise projects with high level impact, Giovanni Cara emphasised that the shift occurring with AI is impacting every layer of operations and bringing long-term changes and benefits.

Jalaj Hora, Founder of Synthegrate, Ex-VP of Product Innovation and Consumer Creation Nike, and Technology Innovation Advisor to the Monitor for Circular Fashion, spoke on the value of AI to integrate, rather than to extract resources. He emphasised the potential for AI to reduce structural waste at scale, combining profitability and sustainability while acting on inventories, markdowns, and landfills. He also highlighted the role that generative AI tools may play in simulating garment durability, recyclability, and carbon impact before sampling. In the upcoming years, he foresees AI to become an invisible operator, connecting lifecycle intelligent systems and optimising logistics and product lifetime value.

Francesca Rossi, Co-Founder of Limitless, focused on the accessibility of AI for fashion and luxury brands. She explained how AI does not simply play a role as a technological tool but is rather revolutionising companies’ strategic capabilities. She emphasised that the opportunity and business advantages related to this innovation rely on AI readiness, and therefore process integration, knowledge and training, and infrastructure. Companies are recommended to have a strong foundational readiness and change management capabilities, to prepare for strategic and organisational shifts.

Antonella Capelli, President EMEA at Lectra, illustrated how generative AI tools are augmenting human capabilities and may be leveraged to boost efficiency. Rather than replacing the workforce, this technology may have the potential to reduce repetitive work and allow individuals to focus on value production. Product optimisation will bring amplified benefits along the entire industry supply chain, reducing waste and overproduction through increased traceability. Furthermore, she highlighted the importance of data governance, which is crucial to ensuring secure and industrially intelligent solutions.

Vasilis Dimitropoulos, Co-Founder and General Manager at Intelo.ai, showed the impact that AI can have on generating collaborative processes and improving transparency within the industry. He emphasised the importance of agentic AI to automate decisions, thus optimising retail logistics, planning, pricing, and management, creating a holistic framework for the textile and clothing industry to maximise value production and improve circular business models.

Overall, the event hosted by the M4CF provided clear insights on the crucial role that AI will play in future sustainable business models and showed how this technology may turn enhanced process optimisation and clear EPR into a near reality. Readers are encouraged to read the Monitor for Circular Fashion’s 2025/2026 report here.