Programme time: 13-Oct | 14:00 | 75 min
Room: Porto Room
Moderator: Cécile Huet, EU AI Office, DG CNECT, AI/Robotics Excellence
Speakers:
- Néstor García Hidalgo (Eurecat / GRAIL)
- Sergio Gusmeroli (EuroFMX)
- Koen van Os (Signify)
- Mustafa Omer Mohammed Elamin Elshaigi (Comau)
- Bruno Arias (Michelin Plant in Aranda de Duero, Spain)
Full description and objectives
Generative AI and foundation models are creating new opportunities for robotics and manufacturing, with the potential to make robotic and automation systems more flexible, adaptable and easier to deploy across industrial environments. The key question is increasingly how these technological advances can be translated into industrial value and trustworthy adoption at scale in Europe.
This 75-minute session will bring together different parts of the European ecosystem to address this question, structured around two complementary angles: the technology needs for trustworthy, general-purpose robot intelligence and AI-enabled manufacturing, and the deployment enabling conditions that determine adoption at industrial scale.
GRAIL, the flagship project on Generative AI for Robotics, and EuroFMX, the flagship project on Generative AI for Manufacturing, will open the technology needs discussion — including how to close data gaps, combine learning-based autonomy with safety and human oversight, enable generalisation and adaptation across robots, manufacturing processes and industrial environments, and integrate AI agents, digital twins and automation systems.
On the deployment side, these perspectives will be complemented by strategic input from companies developing and supplying robotics and automation technologies, as well as from industrial companies using and deploying these technologies, on the conditions needed to move from demonstration to scale: certification and standardisation, interoperability and cybersecurity, integration into existing production systems, reliability and business value, and the resilience of European supply chains for robotics and automation components.
The discussion will examine where generative AI can create the greatest value in robotics and manufacturing, what technology providers see as the most promising developments and market opportunities, what industrial users need for trustworthy adoption at scale, and which technological, supply-chain and deployment barriers still need to be addressed.
Particular attention will be given to connecting these perspectives to Apply AI in robotics and manufacturing, and to understanding how European R&I, technology providers, integrators and industrial users can work together to accelerate deployment and bridge the gap between research and industrial uptake. The session aims to identify key opportunities and conditions for trustworthy industrial adoption, while highlighting how generative AI for robotics and manufacturing can contribute to European competitiveness, strategic autonomy and technological capabilities.
Why you want to join?
The session addresses the convergence of AI, robotics and manufacturing and its potential to accelerate the uptake of advanced AI in European industry. Generative AI and foundation models are opening new possibilities for more capable, adaptable and easier-to-deploy robotic and automation systems. By bringing together European R&I flagships, technology developers and suppliers, and industrial users, the session will connect technological advances with concrete industrial requirements and deployment needs and explore how they can contribute to Apply AI in robotics and manufacturing.
Trustworthiness is a cross-cutting requirement for this convergence, covering safety, human oversight, explainability and validation, alongside interoperability, integration into existing industrial environments, resilient supply chains and the capabilities needed to deploy these systems at scale. The session directly relates to ADRForum 2026 themes around ADR convergence, technology transfer and adoption, trustworthy AI, skills and supply chain resilience, high-impact value creation, innovation and European industrial competitiveness.
Running agenda
| Time | Running agenda |
|---|---|
| 14:00–14:15 | Opening and strategic framing |
| 14:15–14:30 | Technology needs for trustworthy Generative AI for robotics and manufacturing - Moderated Discussion |
| 14:30–15:05 | Industrial deployment and scaling - Moderated Discussion |
| 15:05–15:15 | Audience discussion and Conclusions |
Contact: Cem Gulec (DG CNECT - Unit A1)