KPMG RealTalk - Physical AI

Physical AI combines artificial intelligence with robotics to create systems that can perceive their environment, learn from it and act autonomously – yet there remains a significant gap between spectacular demonstrations and productive real-world applications.

This session will highlight what distinguishes Physical AI from generative AI and traditional automation, which applications are already working today, and where the technological or economic limitations lie. It will also focus on business-related issues surrounding entry into the field of Physical AI, use cases and scaling.

With Physical AI, the global AI race is shifting to factories, logistics centres and industrial value creation. The US is investing heavily, China is scaling up rapidly, whilst Europe brings a strong industrial base, engineering expertise and in-depth process knowledge to the table.

This session assesses just how robust Europe’s starting position actually is, what role platforms and ecosystems play, and to what extent new dependencies may arise. It will also focus on how guest speaker David Reger, CEO of Neura Robotics, views the future of a universal Physical AI operating model.

Whether Physical AI creates added value is not decided in the laboratory, but in real-world work and production processes. It is there that the technology interacts with existing systems, established workflows and the practical knowledge of staff.

Using an industrial real-world laboratory as an example, this session demonstrates how humans and machines can work together in the future and what hurdles need to be overcome. It focuses on concrete experiences from production and research, as well as the organisational prerequisites for robust, cost-effective and widely accepted applications.