Milan, May 8, 2025 – Altograno® di Casillo officially presents Federico Altograno®, known as Chicco, the human avatar developed using Microsoft's generative AI technology and in collaboration with its partner Hevolus. The innovative essence of the Altograno® brand—which, thanks to the patented Lavorazione Circolare® method, recovers the most valuable parts of the wheat grain, enhancing nutrition and sustainability—is also reflected in the marketing strategy for the new product range. The revolution continues at the point of sale thanks to the use of generative artificial intelligence: from now on, consumers will be able to approach the shelf and activate a virtual assistant based on conversational AI. The journey from grain to table thus begins, with a real and immediate voice dialogue. Users will be able to ask questions and explore their curiosities, and will receive precise, real-time answers in their own language. Altograno® thus inaugurates an immersive experience: the benefits of a "talking" product on the shelf, a flour product with far above-average nutritional values, explained simply and fluidly through an interactive exchange, interpreting the needs and skill levels of the interlocutors. By leveraging Generative AI together with Microsoft and Hevolus, Altograno® embodies its values ​​of tradition and innovation and allows the new generation of high-performance flours to tell their story, with the aim of improving the customer experience and guiding consumers in making informed choices in the bakery sector, flour for pasta, pizza, desserts, snacks, and taralli.

Chicco was developed starting from the solution for the creation of custom agents XR Copilot by Hevolus, which leverages the cloud and AI services of the Microsoft Azure platform, including important content safety features to ensure the compliance of the information conveyed, and the new Text-to-Speech Avatar service that enables speech synthesis, facial animation, and real-time video rendering. Thanks to this human avatar capable of interacting in 40 languages, Altograno® becomes an experience to be lived: the voice of wheat offering real-time knowledge to every interlocutor, the technology bridging the gap between innovation and people. Casillo, with XRCopilot and Microsoft's Gen AI technology, is revolutionizing not only the world of wheat flour, but also the way we communicate, present, sell, and train. Traditional tools, such as flipping through brochures, are thus transcended, and interaction becomes unique: every context is transformed into a space for intelligent connection. One of the simplest ingredients, flour, can thus also make its debut on social media with the interactive avatar Federico, known as Chicco, already active and accessible via QR code in bakeries, pizzerias and shops.

This innovation is not exclusively designed for consumer use, but also functional in business-to-business contexts, such as trade shows or international presentations, where the human avatar can enter the scene to engage target audiences more effectively. The new realistic and interactive figure can act as a brand spokesperson, describing unprecedented nutrition: up to 50% more protein; 40% more fiber; 30% less gluten; and 25% less carbohydrates than whole-grain flours and semolina, recovering the most valuable parts of the grain with the innovative Lavorazione Circolare® method. Buyers, distributors, chefs, trainers, nutritionists, doctors, athletes, and stakeholders can now engage with an interface capable of responding in technical language, adjusting the level of detail, and integrating videos, 3D models, product sheets, or training documentation. The presentation is no longer static, but rather becomes a strategic dialogue, tailored to each individual interlocutor. Altograno®, born from a centuries-old tradition and a symbol of Made in Italy excellence, is thus marking a new frontier in professional relationships and riding the trend of AI agents in business processes.

With XR Copilot and Microsoft's Generative AI technology, the relationship between companies and their target audiences—both consumers and businesses—is radically changing. Information is no longer transmitted passively: it's a living, immersive, personalized experience. The avatar doesn't just provide data: it accompanies, explains, and engages, building interactions that generate knowledge, adding value to the description of a product recommended by AINut., the Italian Nutritionists Association, and with a publicly available sustainability impact in the EPD.

At the heart of this transformation and Chicco's development is an intuitive platform, powered by simple drag-and-drop content. Documents become living matter: processed, summarized, and adapted in real time by artificial intelligence, which recognizes the user's profile and calibrates language, style, and level of detail, breaking down linguistic, cultural, and operational barriers and offering ongoing, multi-channel support. A technological development that once took months, if not years, has now been accomplished in just a few weeks. XR Copilot by Hevolus and Microsoft's enabling technology have accelerated go-to-market, streamlined processes, and reduced the costs of technological innovation. Most importantly, they transform the relationship with the product into a real, intelligent, and memorable experience.

"Altograno® represents a new product category in the wheat flour sector. With our innovative, patented Circular Processing®, we selectively recover high-quality proteins and naturally more digestible fibers from the precious wheat germ, obtaining a flour with exceptional nutritional properties that preserves the authentic flavor of the grain. Our goal is to make Altograno® the distinctive and recognizable ingredient of wheat-based products, just as 'Intel Inside' has become synonymous with quality for processors. Just recently, at Tutto Food 2025, Pastificio Garofalo, Molino Casillo, Balconi, Ciemme, and Alimenta Produzioni launched the first products made with Altograno® on national and international markets," said Graziano Stasi, Head of Altograno®. The strategic collaboration with Microsoft Italy and Hevolus has allowed us to develop 'Federico,' aka 'Chicco,' in record time and with minimal technical effort. This virtual assistant, powered by generative AI, effectively communicates the distinctive features of our product, automatically adapting language, tone, and technical level to the interlocutor. This gives us and our partners an accurate and scalable tool to effectively promote Altograno® to chefs, artisans, food technologists, nutritionists, doctors, athletes, and healthy-living consumers around the world."

""We are proud to collaborate, in synergy with our partner Hevolus, with a Made in Italy excellence like Casillo and its new Altograno® brand to accelerate its international growth. The launch of Chicco represents a revolutionary project, demonstrating the value of Generative AI in supporting the growth of local businesses. Thanks to this new virtual assistant, developed from Hevolus' Gen AI solution and enabled by Microsoft technology, it is possible to rethink processes and inaugurate a new model for marketing and engaging with the company's B2B and B2C target markets, to be more efficient and, above all, more effective," said Giacomo Frizzarin, Director of the Small, Medium and Corporate Division at Microsoft Italy. "Casillo Group's innovation is a cutting-edge transformation experience in line with the latest trends in the business world: the integration of AI agents into business processes alongside people to amplify their potential. According to the Microsoft Work Trend Index 2025, 82% of leaders globally and 79% in Italy plan to integrate AI agents into their workforce support strategies in the next 12-18 months. Technology and people together can address the challenges of Made in Italy, bridging the shortage of qualified personnel, democratizing skills, helping spread knowledge, and freeing up resources to dedicate to the quality and excellence that distinguish us worldwide.".

"XR Copilot is transforming the market, and our collaboration with the Casillo Group, of which we are particularly proud, is concrete proof: innovation and tradition meet, bringing the excellence of Made in Italy into the future of the global customer experience,” added Antonio Squeo, CEO of Hevolus. “Thanks to XR Copilot, Altograno has revolutionized its product launch, creating a multilingual, autonomous, and interactive virtual assistant capable of communicating in 40 languages ​​and providing personalized, accurate responses in real time. In the B2B sector, the interactive human avatar has redefined communication, integrating videos, 3D models, and technical content. XR Copilot is more than just a platform, it is a paradigm shift: intuitive, powerful, and versatile, it accelerates go-to-market, optimizes processes, and reduces costs. From today, go-to-market is changing, and it has the identity of XR Copilot."