milan- Salesforce is investing in Brunello Cucinelli’s AI platform.
Cucinelli launched Solomei AI, which operates the brand’s Callimacus platform, in 2024, and on Monday, Salesforce and the Italian designer announced an agreement that will allow Callimacus to expand its engineering and AI research capabilities and accelerate commercial growth across Europe and North America.
“It is with a certain sense of pride and deep satisfaction that I can announce a project that will open up extraordinary possibilities for technology in the years to come,” said Cucinelli, Chairman of Solomei AI. “Three years ago, Marc Benioff and I started working with mathematicians, philosophers, humanists, and engineers, and from there Callimacus was born. Our idea was to create a simple, intuitive product that could speak human language, a kind of new web that had no pages, categories, or predetermined paths and could follow the intent of individual navigators. We are excited and excited about the path we will pursue with Callimacus, and we are honored to invite our clients to discover the freedom to learn, choose and act in our digital lives.”
In January, Cucinelli announced the brand’s new e-commerce platform powered by AI. This is an evolution of the site launched in 2024 and developed by Solomei AI, a small research center established at Cucinelli’s headquarters to explore creative, scientific and technological applications of AI.
Callimacus’ concept is that traditional pages do not exist through a system that understands and follows the user’s intent for a personalized experience. At the time, Cucinelli promoted the potential of Callimachus, named after the Greek scholar and poet, and was also praised by the entrepreneur and designer Callimachus for his role in cataloging and protecting the vast collections of the great Library of Alexandria.
Callimacus uses an orchestra of AI agents to understand each visitor’s intent, build personalized experiences in real-time, and integrate traditional digital and e-commerce systems. The company has patented the technology behind real-time experience generation.
“Brunello has always believed that technology should enhance humanity, and that belief is at the heart of Callimacus,” said Benioff, chairman and chief executive officer of Salesforce. “The team has developed an innovative platform that reimagines AI-powered experiences, bringing together conversational AI, enterprise context, and real-time personalization to create an entirely new way for businesses to engage with their customers. We’re proud to partner with Brunello and the Solomei AI team as they pioneer a new generation of AI-powered experiences.”
Brunello Cucinelli and Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff at Dreamforce 2017.
adriana lee
Salesforce joins founder and seed shareholders including Foro delle Arti SpA, the Cucinelli family’s holding company.
Cucinelli not only built a business selling high-end collections to Silicon Valley leaders, but he also built a network of personal relationships, cultivated over several years, centered around a shared goal, along with Benioff and Jeff Bezos, to “humanize technology, share questions about eternity, and leave a mark on the planet.”
It all started back in 2016, when Benioff and Instagram co-founder Kevin Systrom invited Cucinelli to dinner in San Francisco and asked him to talk about his humanistic vision. Over the next two years, Benioff asked Cucinelli to attend Dreamforce, Salesforce’s annual technology conference in San Francisco, as a guest. This also led to a Universal Symposium on Soul and Economy, which Cucinelli hosted in his restored Italian village of Solomeo, which brought together Benioff, LinkedIn’s Reid Hoffman, Chief Kevin Scott and others to discuss humanistic values and digital ethics. technology Microsoft executives, etc.
The deal falls within Italy’s “golden power” regulations, which apply to technology assets deemed to be of national strategic importance. Completion of the transaction is subject to approval by the Chairman of the Council of Ministers (Ministry of Administrative Coordination) and other closing conditions.
