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Language AI is a largely solved problem. Physical AI is not.
Robots and machines operating in the real world still have to be programmed from scratch for every task, or trained on massive volumes of video and simulation data, only to fail the moment reality shifts.
Inait, founded by neuroscientist Prof. Henry Markram, takes a fundamentally different approach. Its fast-learning AI gives machines a digital brain that learns the way real-world experience teaches us — through cause and effect — adapting on the fly, without retraining, without server farms, and without trillions of data points.
This has moved beyond the lab: early versions of these models are already deployed with industrial partners, handling a wide range of manufacturing tasks. That changes the economics of Physical AI: faster deployment, radically lower energy and data costs, on-site learning, and systems that keep working when the environment changes.
After the keynote by Prof. Henry Markram he’ll be joined onstage by a panel of Physical AI leaders with experience from Microsoft, Capgemini, and FedEx – unpacking what’s next for AI that operates, learns, and adapts in the physical world.
This event is part of a partnership between Swissnex and Frontiers.
This event is a part of #SFTechWeek—a week of events hosted by VCs and startups to bring together the tech ecosystem. Learn more here.
Program
- 6:00pm – Doors open
- 6:30pm – Keynote
- 6:45pm – Panel & Q&A
- 8:00pm – Tour of the Capegemini Physical AI Lab & networking
- 8:30pm – Doors close
iCal / Outlook
Event start time
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San Francisco
6:00PM
Speakers
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Speaker
Valerie Bertele
Startups and AI Partnerships at MicrosoftValerie Bertele works in AI & Startups Growth at Microsoft, where she partners with a select group of high-growth startups, helping them scale toward enterprise adoption and building strategic AI partnerships. She brings more than a decade of experience as a venture capital investor, alongside operating roles across technology, healthcare, and entrepreneurship.
Previously, Valerie spent four years at Google Cloud in business development and founded and exited her first company in China at age 23. A Stanford Graduate School of Business SEP alumna, she is also a recognized influencer and voice covering AI, San Francisco, and Silicon Valley.
Her work sits at the intersection of emerging technology, venture capital, and commercialization – helping breakthrough ideas become products and businesses that scale.
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Bio
Daniel Lütgehetmann
CTO of INAITDaniel Lütgehetmann is CTO of INAIT, the Lausanne-based deep-tech company building digital brains — AI grounded in two decades of biophysical brain reconstruction from the Blue Brain Project. A PhD mathematician in algebraic topology and computational neuroscience, he joined INAIT at its founding in 2018 and now leads research, engineering, and productization.
His focus is physical AI: turning neuroscience-derived learning algorithms into systems that run on real robots, under real constraints. He leads the teams taking INAIT’s digital brain technology from lab result to deployed product — models that learn from orders of magnitude less data and run at a fraction of the energy, with industrial robotics partners.
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Bio
Henry Markram
Co-Founder & Chairman, INAIT -
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Bio
John Robins
Head of Physical AI, frog, part of CapgeminiJohn focuses on building connected ecosystems where intelligent systems and humans work seamlessly together. With 18+ years in product strategy and innovation, he partners with innovative companies and senior leaders to shape new futures using AI, robotics, computer vision, smart sensing, and geospatial technologies.
He previously led product management at a major technology company and ran an industrial IoT startup. John holds an MBA from DeMontfort University, is pursuing an MS in Computer Science (AI) at Georgia Tech and frequently speaks on Physical AI. He is also a Gartner Product Management Ambassador.
Outside of work, John loves to explore new countries, hit the padel court, and catch live theatre.
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Bio
Rebecca Yeung
Former Corporate Vice President, Advanced Technology, FedExRebecca Yeung is a seasoned Fortune 50 senior executive and board director operating at the intersection of enterprise transformation, operational excellence, and technology innovation — with deep expertise in Physical AI, robotics and automation.
As FedEx’s Corporate Vice President of Operations Science & Advanced Technology and a member of the Strategic Management Committee, she led enterprise Physical AI and automation strategy across service lines, architected and governed a $100M+ robotics and autonomous systems investment portfolio, launched the Enterprise Robotics Center, and built strategic partnerships with Aurora, Nuro, Dexterity, Berkshire Grey, Volvo, and PACCAR. Earlier, she led the global institutionalization of FedEx’s Quality Driven Management operational excellence program, contributing $1B+ in combined revenue growth and cost savings.
She currently serves as an independent director of Columbus McKinnon (NASDAQ: CMCO), Venture Partner at Silicon Foundry (a Kearney company), and strategic advisor to robotics and AI companies — pairing active governance experience with an operator’s perspective on scaling technology, capital investment, and workforce transformation.
Rebecca is recognized for her unique persepctives on Physical AI and enterprise innovation – translating frontier technologies into scalable business value. She frequently shares insights on AI and innovation at forums such as Reuters Momentum, Fortune Brainstorm AI, CES, Automate, HBS Tech Conference, EmTech MIT, and TechCrunch Mobility. In 2024, Rebecca was recognized by Reuters Events as one of the Top 20 Trailblazing Women in Enterprise AI who demonstrated real influence, impact, and leadership in large-scale enterprise AI deployment.
