TUGNOLO A&C srl was established within the Tugnolo family’s group of companies as a tool for managing the family’s financial and real estate interests. The company reflects decades of entrepreneurial evolution shaped by vision, discipline, and adaptability.

The story begins with its founder, Annibale Tugnolo, whose early career was alongside prominent entrepreneurs in the Chieri area. Immersed in construction, infrastructure, and later environmental and facility services, he developed both technical expertise and a sharp business instinct. By 1980, he expanded his operations by integrating skilled people and resources, ultimately building one of the most significant companies in the Turin area, serving both public authorities and private enterprises.

In the 1990s, his daughter Letizia joined the business. Her strategic oversight helped refine investment decisions and strengthen financial outcomes, anchoring the company’s long-term stability. A pivotal shift came in 2021, when Letizia, alongside trusted consultant Riccardo Palmerini, acquired majority ownership and initiated a new phase focused on real estate and financial development.

Prioritizing on opportunities created by building and energy redevelopment incentives, the company positioned itself as a qualified, end-to-end operator. Today, it oversees the entire supply chain, from design and construction to certification, compliance, and technological innovation, including AI-driven solutions. Supported by its own Data Center and strategic entities like Tugnolo Solutions srl, the group continues to evolve while staying grounded in its founding principles.

In this exclusive interview with Business Fortune, Riccardo Palmerini discusses Tugnolo’s integrated approach to construction and property solutions, strategic expansion through subsidiaries and how sustainability, advanced technologies are shaping the company’s future growth.

Interview Highlights

Tugnolo A&C operates at the intersection of general contracting and integrated property solutions. How would you define your core value proposition in today’s evolving real estate and construction landscape?

NordEst Project srl was acquired as a strategic addition to strengthen the group’s engineering capabilities. Bringing together architects, engineers, and safety professionals, the company now serves as the technical core of the group. Equipped with advanced tools such as laser scanners, drones, and BIM technologies, NordEst Project enables precise surveying and seamless design integration across all Tugnolo projects.

Urbanix, established with a 51% stake held by Tugnolo, operates as the group’s dedicated subcontractor. It was created to bring greater control over on-site execution, reduce reliance on external contractors, and maintain consistent quality across construction and plant engineering activities. Its partners include an experienced building contractor and a plant engineering firm with a strong history of collaboration.

Wattover, an innovative startup launched in 2024, focuses on AI-driven design and predictive analysis for renewable energy systems. With Tugnolo retaining an 80% stake, Wattover is developing a platform that automates system sizing, financial modeling, and sustainability assessments for photovoltaic installations. Its roadmap is aligned with the UN’s 2030 Agenda and broader ESG frameworks.

How is Tugnolo leveraging sustainability incentives while navigating recent industry challenges?

Tugnolo has a strong understanding of all 17 goals of the UN Agenda for Sustainability and operates in alignment with the criteria defined within it. By continuously studying market trends and innovations, the company has positioned itself ahead of the market in some strategic sectors. The organization and compactness of the team allow us to be very effective, combining the certifications and capabilities of large organizations with the flexibility and responsiveness typical of medium-sized companies. The adoption of “lateral thinking” principles further strengthens Tugnolo’s position as a qualified and competitive player in its market segment.

Tugnolo sees itself first and foremost as a company in the broadest sense, not just as a sector-specific operator. This means its managers are not bound by traditional market rules but instead take a more flexible and strategic approach. Its industrial team includes experienced managers who have also worked as consultants, alongside highly qualified technicians. Combination of experience with the resourcefulness of younger people allows us to be a different operator than the competitors themselves and this has allowed us to make alliances even with companies that normally would be considered adversaries.

Tugnolo emphasizes a full-spectrum approach, from technical and financial planning to execution and asset management. How does this integrated model create a competitive advantage for your clients?

Tugnolo operates across the entire supply chain with pragmatism and creativity. It brings together “Italian” innovation and design capabilities while observing and learning from global practices, offering a Made in Italy approach with an international perspective. Our Design is born in concepts, which are oriented towards the well-being of people, both those we work for and those who work and collaborate with us.

Guided by the principles of the 2030 Agenda considered all together, Tugnolo defines and carries out its activities in a way that leads it to invest and operate, directly and indirectly, across diverse and sometimes unconventional sectors, but in an integrated manner.

The group structure allows Tugnolo to maintain SME-level agility while operating with the depth and resilience of a large enterprise. This hybrid identity has become a strategic asset in a sector increasingly shaped by regulatory complexity, technological advancement, and evolving financial models. Tugnolo’s ability to combine operational flexibility with institutional-grade governance positions the group to respond quickly and effectively to changing market demands.

How is Tugnolo A&C leveraging new technologies, financial models, or partnerships to improve project value, and how does this support your future growth and sustainability goals?

Tugnolo has a clear development plan and you will have to follow us a little longer to see its realization. What can already be shared is that the company is expanding its presence across the supply chain and developing new digital solutions. We have also defined strategic, exclusive partnership agreements, all aimed at strengthening its positioning without altering the core characteristics that have driven Tugnolo’s success so far. The guiding principle is clear: change to evolve and consolidate.

Wattover, one of Tugnolo’s subsidiaries, is an innovative start-up that has developed a strategic platform in the renewable energy sector. Through geolocation, we are able to produce complete executive projects for the construction of photovoltaic systems, including large-scale installations. The solution analyzes weather patterns and energy cost time series, integrating financial evaluation and profitability insights directly into the project. This AI-based approach makes the company highly effective in a rapidly growing market.

To strengthen its positioning, Tugnolo has invested significantly in proprietary technology and digital infrastructure, developing a suite of tools designed to improve efficiency, compliance, and client experience across its operations. Central to this ecosystem is FIDIA (the Framework for Innovation and Design in AI), an expert system that automates the design and sizing of photovoltaic systems. Using deductive algorithms and a knowledge base trained on hundreds of real-world projects, FIDIA generates complete executive proposals, including technical documentation, performance forecasts, and regulatory compliance data.

"Our Design is born in concepts, which are oriented towards the well-being of people, both those we work for and those who work and collaborate with us."