Georg Stieler is Managing Director of Asia at Stieler Technology and leads the firm’s robotics and automation practice. Based between Switzerland and Shanghai, he has spent 15+ years advising robotics companies, manufacturers, and investors on market entry, partnerships, supply chains, and scaling strategies across China, Europe, and the U.S. His clients range from Silicon Valley startups to global industrial leaders. A frequent commentator on China’s robotics ecosystem, his analysis has been featured by Reuters, CNN, and the BBC.
The relationship with China is complex. While powerful voices call for de-risking and the U.S. is working on a national robotics strategy, many startups (even some who claim the opposite) are sourcing heavily from China. Western companies claim leadership in robot foundation models, but does this hold true? The landscape of emerging Chinese robotics companies is highly uneven, yet we see promising approaches in robot brains and data flywheels there, too. In this talk, I will share the latest insights from our work on the ground in China and put them into global perspective. While some of our clients use the Chinese ecosystem for their global success, for others it is only a benchmark — but an important one.
