This CEO round table unites top-notch robotics industry leaders sharing their vision of AI – from shop floor to society. Where do the market leaders stand today in AI uptake, what is in their product pipeline and how do they see the future? Will robots be cognitive and what does that mean? What new domains are AI-enabled robots ready to conquer? Which new business models are on the horizon?
“AI - Transformative Power for Industrial Robotics”: This is the title of the high-profile panel discussion on Wednesday, June 23, from 1:00 to 2:00 p.m., which will conclude the munich_i Hightech-Summit. International executives from the robotics industry will discuss with Prof. Sami Haddadin, munich_i Director, the findings of science presented at the Summit the day before and qualify them from the perspective of the robotics industry. Here, the decision-makers in international robotics look to the future and provide an inspiring outlook from an industry point of view.
CEO
KUKA Robotics
Since August 2018 Klaus König is serving as CEO of KUKA Robotics worldwide.
He joined KUKA AG as Chief Operating Officer in July 2017. In his current function Klaus König reports to the CEO of KUKA AG, Peter Mohnen.
In March 2020 Klaus König of KUKA Robotics has been appointed as the Vice President of International Federation of Robotics (IFR).
From 1997 to 2017 Klaus König held various leadership and technical positions in Operations at Kautex.
Klaus König studied Mechanical Engineering and Plastics Processing at the University of Aachen, Germany (owner of Engineering Degree). He is married and has two children.
“Robots are becoming increasingly capable of learning. Artificial intelligence helps to adapt robotic systems also to unstructured environments and gives robots even more flexibility. Until now, robots have been repetitive, always working with the same precision. The requirements of the future are different. Our customers demand a flexible, yet individual production in changing settings. Artificial intelligence will help to speed up processes and to make complicated programming easier. But there is no substitute for human experience and human creativity.”
President Robotics
YASKAWA Europe
Marcus Mead is an executive leader with 30 years of engineering and management experience across the Aerospace, Automotive and Automation industries. He was educated in the UK and holds a degree in Aerospace Engineering and a Masters in the Management of Design. In 2018 he became President of Yaskawa Robotics Europe, a role in which he has lead significant diversification of Yaskawa’s commercial business portfolio and has developed Yaskawa’s European wide manufacturing capabilities to a level where Yaskawa is now positioned as a highly capable European manufacturer of robots, peripherals and complex automation systems for Automotive and General Industries. Most recently in 2020, he was elected as Vice Chair of the IFR Robot Supplier Committee, and previous to Yaskawa, he was Managing Director and General Manager of a large European Division of Parker Hannifin Corporation which specialized in providing automation components and solutions to a wide range of industries.
"Advances in robotic, AI and IoT technology are together enabling significant steps forward in machine intelligence, as a result, sustainable improvements in adaptive and collaborative automation are now being realised."
CEO
Universal Robots
Kim Povlsen joined Universal Robots March 1, 2021. Kim is an entrepreneurial executive with a dedicated focus on end customers. Kim brings new perspectives to the table and believes in designing the future through a clear vision. He has a thorough understanding of mixing business, innovation, and transformation. Kim is a Danish native and grew up in Odense, where Universal Robots is headquartered, as well as he holds a Master in Computer Science, Embedded Engineering & AI from the University of Southern Denmark also in Odense. The Danish quality design thinking is essential to Kim as well as an international outlook. Having worked in France and the U.S. before joining Universal Robots, Kim thinks globally and scale ideas accordingly. In addition, he has several leadership certificates, among others from INSEAD in France.
“AI is already an integral part of the UR ecosystem and will play an increasing role moving forward. Producers are facing demands for more agile production paradigms. AI-powered solutions will play an essential role and support learning, adaptability and innovation. But human creativity is still essential, and UR believe in collaboration between humans and AI-powered cobots as the key enabler of sustainable growth. The first AI tools are already here for SMEs to reach their full potential.”
Managing Director
FANUC Deutschland GmbH
“Intelligent industrial robots can make productions faster and more efficient. AI can help to make Intelligent industrial robots easier and more flexible to use. AI and intelligent industrial robots enable new automated product processes and are helping people for better working environment and life quality.”
Director of Munich School of Robotics and Machine Intelligence (MSRM) at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) and Director of munich_i
Prof. Sami Haddadin is the Director of Munich School of Robotics and Machine Intelligence (MSRM) at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) and holder of the Chair for Robotics and System Intelligence. His research interests include intelligent robot design, robot learning, collective intelligence, human-robot interaction, non-linear control, real-time planning, optimal control, human neuromechanics, and robot safety.
From 2014 to 2018, Prof. Haddadin held the chair of the Institute of Automatic Control at Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz University of Hannover. He holds degrees in electrical engineering, computer science and technology management from the Technical University of Munich and the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich. He received his doctorate, summa cum laude, from RWTH Aachen and has published more than 130 scientific articles in international journals and at conferences. In 2016, he also founded Franka Emika GmbH in Munich.
