CXOTalk Robots and Physical AI: Strategy and Technology 2026 | CXOTalk #905
An AI chatbot that hallucinates is annoying. A robot or physical AI that hallucinates can cause injury or death. Burkhard Boeckem, CTO of Hexagon, explains why the bar for physical AI is fundamentally higher than digital AI, and what it takes to deploy robots that actually work in the real world. All this in CXOTalk episode 905.\
In this conversation, we cover:
→ What physical AI actually means (and why it's different from the AI you use every day)
→ Why digital twins are the foundation for training robots safely
→ The gap between impressive YouTube demos and robots that create economic value
→ Functional safety: the "big theme" coming in 2026
→ Cloud vs. edge computing for autonomous systems
→ Where robotics deployments fail (hint: it's not the technology)
→ What boards get wrong about robotics investments
→ Timeline: when will we see real autonomy?
Key insight: "Many boards overestimate the speed and underestimate the system work. It's not a software rollout—it's a complex engineering system."
Burkhard's prediction: Autonomy in constrained environments is 1-3 years away. The "butler humanoid" that does everything? Still a ways off.
⏱️ CHAPTERS
00:00 Introduction: What is Physical AI?
02:06 Digital Twins as the Foundation
03:23 Understanding Ground Truth
06:42 Digital AI vs. Physical AI: Safety and Reliability
08:47 Real-World Business Applications
10:48 Security and Functional Safety
14:57 CES Announcements and Industry State
20:01 Cloud vs. Edge Computing in Robotics
22:32 Regulations for Physical AI
25:10 Addressing Bias in Physical AI
27:51 Timeline to Autonomy
31:46 Creating Economic Value Beyond Demos
33:26 Where Robotics Deployments Fail
35:59 The Future of Humanoid Form Factors
38:38 The Humanoid as User Interface
40:06 Digital Twins for Robotics
42:36 Fleet Collaboration and Swarm Intelligence
43:46 What Boards Get Wrong About Robotics
45:18 The Future of Work
46:32 Responsible Deployment
47:15 Manager AIs for Worker AIs?
48:16 Looking Ahead: Next 2-3 Years
49:37 Core Technical Challenges
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🔷 Full episode, show notes and resources: https://www.cxotalk.com/episode/google-clouds-cto-inside-the-ai-strategy
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About the Guest:
Burkhard Boeckem is Chief Technology Officer at Hexagon, a global leader in digital reality solutions combining sensor, software, and autonomous technologies.
About CXOTalk:
CXOTalk features direct, unfiltered conversations with the world's top business and technology leaders. No fluff, no PR speak—just honest discussion about what's actually working (and what isn't).
#PhysicalAI #Robotics #Humanoids #DigitalTwin #AI #AutonomousSystems #CXOTalk #EnterpriseAI #Manufacturing #FutureOfWork