In an episode of Inspiration Tuesdays, host Kim Schofield, Founder of O2K LTD, spoke with Francesco Rulli, Global CEO of Querlo, about inspiration, philanthropy, and Artificial Intelligence.
Francesco is originally from Florence, Italy and has spent the last 30 years of his life in the United States. Querlo currently offers a chatbot builder for companies to input data. They have a series of templates that are accessible to everyone. A company’s job is to determine how committed they are to developing and personalizing the chatbot.
Along with being CEO of Querlo, he is also the Chief Digital and Cognitive Officer of the Opera del Duomo in Florence. He has been working with a team at the Opera to develop their Michelangelo AI, a chatbot that allows the public to interact with Michelangelo. The chatbot can be accessed here.
Francesco had always been intrigued by the tourists who came to Florence to learn about the culture. His grandmother played a very important role in inspiring him to learn more about the arts and culture of his country. His father was a textile agent; he represented textile companies from different parts of Italy. Growing up, Francesco spent a lot of time assisting in presentations and conferences about Renaissance arts.
When asked to define success, Francesco discussed how it can only start with the ability to accept mistakes. Success is about positioning yourself in a situation where you want to create change and surpass expectations while also being able to continue moving forward if something doesn’t work out the way you want. Querlo had originally been working to build schools in Afghanistan to educate young women. While their mission was successful to a certain extent, the plan didn’t go as they had thought it would. The company then took a pivot and decided that chatbots were a new and different way to reach out to different communities.
As stated by Francesco, AI can improve our lives on a personal, philanthropic, and business level. With the Michelangelo AI, for example, Francesco was able to combine his passion for the Renaissance and his background in technology. AI allows you to gather information from third parties to improve your knowledge base. It can also assist entrepreneurs in reviewing their past failures and successes. While experience is definitely important, sometimes it’s not enough. 2020 has shown us just how unpredictable the world is. The combination of experience and real data will allow many to make more informed decisions.
Looking ahead it’s extremely important to educate future generations to look at data and think about goals. Francesco noted that people should be more focused on the impact something has on society rather than money. Technology has the ability to improve the lives of people all around the world. Be proud of the journey you take to achieve your goal and embrace the mistakes you may make along the way.
