Altograno® focuses on generative AI together with Microsoft and Hevolus: with the avatar the flour revolution begins on the shelves

Milan, 8 May 2025 – Altograno® di Casillo officially presents Federico Altograno®, known as Chicco, the human avatar developed starting from Microsoft's generative AI technology and through the collaboration with the partner Hevolus. The innovative essence of the Altograno® brand – which thanks to the patented Lavorazione Circolare® method, recovers the most precious parts of the wheat grain, enhancing nutrition and sustainability – is also reflected in the marketing strategy of the new range of products. The revolution continues at the point of sale thanks to the use of generative artificial intelligence: from now on the consumer will be able to approach the shelf and activate a virtual assistant based on conversational AI. The journey from the grain to the table begins like this, with a real and immediate vocal dialogue. The user will be able to ask questions and delve into curiosities, and will receive precise answers, in real time, in their own language. Altograno® thus inaugurates an immersive experience: the benefits of a “talking” product on the shelf, a flour with nutritional values much higher than average, explained in a simple and fluid way through an interactive exchange, interpreting the needs and levels of expertise of the interlocutors. Focusing on 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 accompanying the consumer in a conscious choice in the bakery sector, flour for pasta, pizza, desserts, snacks, taralli.

Chicco was developed starting from the solution for the creation of customized XR Copilot agents by Hevolus , which leverages the cloud and AI services of the Microsoft Azure platform, including important content safety features to guarantee the compliance of the information conveyed, and the new Text-to-Speech Avatar service that enables speech synthesis, facial animation and video rendering in real time. Thanks to this human avatar capable of interacting in 40 languages, Altograno® becomes an experience to be lived: the voice of wheat that offers real-time knowledge to every interlocutor, the technology that shortens the distances between innovation and people. Casillo, with XRCopilot and Microsoft's Gen AI technology, is not only revolutionizing the world of wheat flours, but the way of communicating, presenting, selling and training. Traditional tools, such as brochures to browse, are thus overcome and interaction becomes unique: each context is transformed into an intelligent connection space. One of the simplest ingredients, a flour, can 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.

An innovation not only designed for a consumer landing, but also functional in business-to-business contexts, such as trade fairs or international presentations, where the human avatar can enter the scene to engage the target audience in a more impactful way. The new realistic and interactive figure can, in fact, become a spokesperson for the brand, describing unprecedented nutrition: up to + 50% protein; + 40% fiber, -30% gluten; -25% carbohydrates compared to wholemeal flours and semolina, recovering the most precious parts of the grain with the innovative Lavorazione Circolare® method. Buyers, distributors, chefs, trainers, nutritionists, doctors, athletes or stakeholders can now interact with an interface capable of responding with technical language, modulating the level of detail, and integrating videos, 3D models, product sheets or training documentation. The presentation is no longer static, but becomes a strategic dialogue, tailored to the individual interlocutor. Altograno®, born from a centuries-old tradition, excellence of Made in Italy, therefore traces a new frontier of the professional relationship and rides the trend of AI agents in business processes.

With XR Copilot and Microsoft's Generative AI technology, the relationship between the company and its target audiences - both consumers and businesses - changes radically. Information is no longer transmitted passively: it is a living, immersive, personalized experience. The avatar does not limit itself to providing data: it accompanies, explains, involves, building interactions that generate knowledge, an added value to describe a product recommended by AINut., the Italian Nutritionists Association, and an impact on sustainability publicly available in EPD.

At the heart of this transformation and Chicco's development is an intuitive platform, powered with simplicity through drag & drop of content. Documents become living matter: processed, summarized, adapted in real time by artificial intelligence, which recognizes the user profile and calibrates the language, style and level of detail, breaking down linguistic, cultural and operational barriers and offering constant and multi-channel support. A technological development that in the past required months, if not years, has now been achieved in a few weeks. Hevolus' XR Copilot and Microsoft's enabling technology have accelerated go-to-market, optimized processes and reduced the costs of technological innovation. But above all, they transform the relationship with the product into a real, intelligent, 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 maintains the authentic flavor of the wheat intact. 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 in these days, on the occasion of Tutto Food 2025, Pastificio Garofalo, Molino Casillo, Balconi, Ciemme and Alimenta Produzioni have launched the first products obtained with Altograno® on the national and international markets", said Graziano Stasi, Head of Altograno®. "The strategic collaboration with Microsoft Italia and Hevolus has allowed us to develop 'Federico', known as 'Chicco', a virtual assistant in record time and with very little technical effort. based on generative AI that effectively communicates the distinctive features of our product, automatically adapting language, tone and level of technicality to the interlocutor. This allows us and our partners to have an accurate and scalable tool to correctly disseminate Altograno® to chefs, artisans, food technologists, nutritionists, doctors, athletes and consumers attentive to a healthy lifestyle, all over the world.”

"We are proud to collaborate, in synergy with our partner Hevolus, with an excellence of Made in Italy like Casillo and with its new brand Altograno® to accelerate its growth path at an international level. The launch of Chicco represents a revolutionary project, which demonstrates the value of Generative AI in supporting the growth of local businesses. Thanks to this new virtual assistant, developed starting from the Hevolus Gen AI solution and enabled by Microsoft technology, it is possible to rethink processes and inaugurate a new model of marketing and dialogue of the company with the B2B and B2C reference markets, to be more efficient but above all more effective", declared Giacomo Frizzarin, Director of the Small, Medium and Corporate Division of Microsoft Italy. “Casillo Group's innovation is a cutting-edge transformation experience in line with the most current trends in the world of work: the integration of AI Agents in business processes alongside people to amplify their potential. According to the Microsoft Work Trend Index 2025, 82% of leaders in the world and 79% in Italy plan to integrate AI agents into their strategies to support their workforce 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 to spread knowledge, and freeing up resources to dedicate to the quality and excellence that distinguish us in the world”.

“XR Copilot is transforming the market, and the 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 the launch of the product, creating a multilingual, autonomous and interactive virtual assistant, capable of communicating in 40 languages and providing personalized and correct answers in real time. In the B2B sector, the interactive human avatar has redefined communication, integrating videos, 3D models and technical content. XR Copilot is not 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 changes face, and has the identity of XR Copilot.”