Inside the NXP Smart Home Lab: Edge AI in 2025 - Where Are We, Actually? | Edge of Tomorrow: The Edge AI Debate with NXP's Davis Sawyer & Anthony Huereca

Apr 24, 2025

In this engaging discussion, Davis Sawyer, an AI Product Marketing Manager at NXP, and Anthony Huereca, a Senior Embedded Systems Engineer, explore the future of Edge AI in smart homes. They dissect the gap between consumer expectations and current tech implementations by 2025. Key topics include the reality of AI driving true automation versus enhanced assistance and the challenges of standardizing rapidly evolving technologies. They also delve into the potential of continuous on-device learning and the significance of creating models tailored for edge devices.

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INSIGHT

Conversational Edge Intelligence

Conversational interfaces are the next big frontier for smart home devices at the edge.
Davis Sawyer says edge inference preserves privacy, security and real-time interactions.

INSIGHT

Edge And Cloud In Harmony

Edge and cloud should work together as complementary layers, not competitors.
Davis Sawyer describes a staged approach: quick edge checks, then cloud for deeper analysis.

ADVICE

Make AI Invisible And Useful

Design AI to be ambient so users gain value without explicit actions.
Davis Sawyer recommends embedding invisible intelligence for efficiency and privacy.

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We’ve been talking about smarter devices for years - but what does progress actually look like today?

In this episode of our spin-off series Edge of Tomorrow: The Edge AI Debate, created in collaboration with the @edgeaifoundation , Host Tom White heads to NXP Semiconductor's Smart Home Lab to sit down with Davis Sawyer - AI Product Manager and Anthony Huereca - Senior Embedded Systems Engineer.

Together, they explore where Edge AI really stands in 2025 from smaller, more efficient models to the gap between what people want and what’s actually being built.

They dive into the current state of embedded intelligence, real-world applications in the smart home, technical and practical challenges, and what the future might look like, with a focus on what’s actually working today.

Expect thoughts on...

👉 Where smart home tech really stands in 2025

👉 Why “Physical AI” might define the next decade

👉 The reality of running large AI models on embedded devices

👉 The ongoing push for standardisation (and why it’s more complex than it looks)

Chapters...

03:20 Getting to know Davis & Anthony and what NXP is all about
04:50 Where we’re at with smart homes and if they’ve lived up to the hype
07:15 What people really want from AI vs. what we think they want
08:30 Whether AI is actually helping drive real automation
11:11 Finding the balance between the cloud and edge computing
12:30 Are we actually using the tech we’re building — and is it worth it?
15:30 Are we getting on the same page with Edge AI standards?
18:00 Why taking smart risks matters in innovation
18:33 Dreaming big — what we’d love to see in Edge AI
21:30 Everyone has a different take on what a “small model” is
23:00 The rise of AI models being built directly at the edge
24:30 NXP’s perspective on where Edge AI is going
27:40 Quick-fire questions with the guests
33:00 A tour of NXP’s smart home lab and solutions

The episode is live on all major listening platforms now! Listen here: https://linktr.ee/theiotpodcast

What’s your take? Where do you see us heading? Drop your thoughts in the comments after you’ve had a listen.

Connect with our guests... Davis Sawyer - AI Product Marketing Manager: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davis-sawyer/ Anthony Huereca - Senior Embedded Systems Engineer: https://www.linkedin.com/in/huereca/

About Edge of Tomorrow: The Edge AI Debate

Edge of Tomorrow: The Edge AI Debate is a special spin-off series from The IoT Podcast, bringing together some of the brightest minds in Edge AI and beyond for high-stakes discussions on the challenges, opportunities, and trends shaping the future of intelligence at the edge. From the ethics of machine learning to the complexity of standardisation, no topic is off-limits.

Our goal is to give you real conversations — not just forecasts — by bringing together voices from across the field to explore how we can build AI that’s practical, responsible, and future-ready.