Post by Vanessa Warncke

"It takes a village to raise a child." I think the same is true for robotics. It takes an ecosystem to build a global robotics champion. Last Thursday, we brought together the Swiss robotics ecosystem and welcomed Galaxea from China to discuss what different robotics ecosystems can learn from one another. One thing became very clear: there isn't one blueprint for success. China excels in manufacturing, supply chains and speed. Europe, and especially Switzerland, offers world class research, engineering talent and close collaboration between academia and industry. The US has built an exceptional environment for scaling through capital and commercialization. Rather than asking which ecosystem is best, the more interesting question is: What can we learn from each other? Three thoughts stayed from our panel: 💡 Technology alone isn't enough. As Jiyang Gao (CEO, Galaxea) said, the goal isn't to build impressive demos, but robots that deliver real productivity gains. Sudo AI Co-Founder Martina Hansen reinforced that point by highlighting the importance of product market fit and delivering a level of performance that creates real customer value. 💡 Great ecosystems aren't built overnight. Tianwei Li (COO, Galaxea) described Zurich as "a city of robotics", reflecting decades of investment in research and talent. Prof. Dr. Yulia Sandamirskaya shared my favourite analogy of the evening: Switzerland isn't a sprint, it's a hike. Success comes through endurance, resilience and long term collaboration. 💡 Global champions are customer obsessed. Whether it's Robotics as a Service, technical differentiation or adapting products to different markets, the companies that win will be those that stay closest to their customers while thinking globally from day one. A big thank you to Mingqi Xie and the Galaxea team, Florin Lanz and Greater Zurich Area, the DARE Campus team, and all panelists for an inspiring discussion and to everyone who joined us. #Robotics #EmbodiedAI #PhysicalAI #DeepTech #Innovation #Zurich #Switzerland Mingqi Xie Stefan Zimmer Andreas Brandl Lisa Brandenberger Thyda Hausheer Salim Benamira Danchun Chen Marc P. Bernegger Georg Stieler